Cowboy Coins Review
Every developer is hoping to emulate the success of Relax Gaming, which is leading the way when it comes to Wild West-themed slot games.
Heavy duty outlaw-themed games aren’t a staple for Pragmatic Play, but they’ve tossed their hat into the ring with this latest production. Is it as good as the hype suggests? There’s only one way to find out, and that’s by taking it for a spin!
Design
Pragmatic Play often takes a cartoon-style approach to subjects, but in Cowboy Coins, it’s aiming to show its darker side. Or maybe not, as the graphics, smart though they are, don’t quite manage to match the atmosphere of similar games.
It’s all very competent but tends towards the generic, so there’s nothing we haven’t seen before. There’s some country-rock guitar music to keep things moving along – nothing to complain about, but nothing to get excited about either.
Gameplay
There are technically no paylines in Cowboy Coins, so you’ll need to match up symbols on adjacent reels to win prizes. It’s unusual for a game like this not to include a Wild, but there are several special symbols that influence the outcome of your spins, two of which feature during the base game.
- Payer: Moneybags can only appear on reel I, activating when they land in conjunction with one or more coins. The Payer adds its own value to all coins, then awards its own value plus the combined value of the coins.
- Collector: Safe icons only appear on reel 5 and activate when they land along with coin symbols. They award their own value plus the value of all coins in view.
Respin bonus
Land three Scatters to activate the respin bonus, which starts with 3 spins. The game now moves to a new set of reels, in which only coins can spin up in the main grid. Payer symbols can land to the left of the grid.
Collector symbols land to the right. A new row appears above the grid for Multi Collector symbols, while a row below is for Double Booster symbols.
- Multi-collector: Awards its own value, plus the value of a random coin, between 2 – 30 times.
- Double Booster: Selects 2 – 5 random coins and doubles their value.
Any of the special symbols can appear as Super symbols. They activate in the same way as the regular symbol, but continue to apply their mechanic for all subsequent respins.
Throughout the respin bonus, only coins and special symbols can land, all of which are sticky. Landing any new symbols on a spin resets the counter to 3, so if the symbols land in your favour there are some big cash prizes available. The bonus round ends when no more spins remain, or when you fill the grid with coins.
Win potential
Cowboy Coins comes with some excellent winning potential and a solid RTP above 96%. It’s a high volatility game, as you’d expect when there’s a top payout worth 30,000x stake on offer.
As far as paytable wins go, six-of-a-kind Aces awards double your stake, but a full hand of cards triples it. The cowboy with a cigar tops the paytable with a maximum payout worth 10x the bet, so the bonus features are the gateway to the game’s serious winning potential.
Coins are worth up to 9x the bet during the base game, increasing up to a maximum of 50x during free spins. Activate the special symbols to generate the biggest cash prizes – although you shouldn’t expect the bonus to come around too often.
Some jurisdictions let you buy the bonus round. It’s not an option available in the UK, and it’s definitely not a fast track to a win. Different bonus features can be activated at varying costs, but big winning outcomes aren’t guaranteed, as a few spins in demo mode will prove!
Our Verdict
Pragmatic Play can’t be making a play for the Relax Gaming crown. As good as Cowboy Coins is – and it definitely has its moments – the graphics and animations simply can’t compare with some of the other big-hitting western slots that have been launching recently.
Playing the game is both frustrating and thrilling, as there’s nothing particularly exciting about the main game. The respin feature is where you’ll find the serious action – if you can manage to spin it up!
This is a slot that deserves at least a few trial spins, and if you’re lucky enough to activate the bonus round, some exciting gameplay is assured, even if a big cash prize doesn’t come your way.
Marianne's interest in slots was sparked by a win on a one-arm bandit at an old-fashioned seaside arcade. These days she's turned her back on classic games, and has made it her mission to track down the most exciting slots offering innovative bonus features - and a great soundtrack!
Learn more about Marianne here
