Cash Truck 3 Turbo

Cash Truck 3 Turbo: Slot Overview

When it comes to best-in-class hold 'n win games, a certain range of locomotive-related slots has been leading the pack for a while now. And don't worry, we'll bang on about them soon enough. However, at the start of 2022, developer Quickspin sent Cash Truck careening through the scene like a runaway locomotive, impressing with its immersive game world and ingenious collection of features. A Christmas special followed, as did Cash Truck 2, though neither managed to crack the same wow factor of the original despite being utterly playable games in their own right. Now we've got Cash Truck 3 Turbo, and if you liked what came before, then no doubt there'll be big hopes resting on how the third one plays out.

Where Cash Truck took place in a dystopic desert, and the sequel hit the road leading into a futuristic city, Cash Truck 3 Turbo trundles along a pine tree-lined track in a mountainous region with a towering spot-lighted robot on one side and an eerie villain's lair type building on the other. Atmospherically, there's a lot to take in with hints of 'The Iron Giant', Dr Kahl's robot boss fight from 'Cuphead', and a sprinkle of 'Necromunda's' Delaque gang. All sorts, in other words, and the theme change provides a thrilling clean slate from past releases. In the middle of the screen is the fabled Cash Truck, as players chase it down from a first-person POV.

On the back of the truck is a 5-reel grid, with 7 positions on each reel, though at the start of the base game, 4 rows are active. The other three are locked. Players are able to pick stakes of 20 c to $/€100, and two bonus buys have been provided for launching into the bonus round. The default RTP for regular betting is 96.06%, and the math model powering the machine is highly volatile (rated 5 out of 5). Possessing a hit rate of 21.85%, the game uses a left-to-right, from the leftmost reel, ways-to-win system where up to 16,807 ways are possible when all 7 rows are in play.

Cog-shaped hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs are the low-pay symbols; a knife, a grenade, a gun, Shock Trooper, Kowalski, and Doctor Kriegsmann are the mediums, and Maximillian 'Max' Turbo is high. When 5 OAK winning lines hit, they pay 0.25x for the lows, 0.5x to 2x for the mediums, or 5x for the high. Wilds – the regular and the big wild, substitute for all symbols except the scatter.

Cash Truck 3 Turbo: Slot Features

The Truck Raider Bonus Game is Cash Truck 3 Turbo's main event, while its remaining features are tumbling reels, expanding play area, Big Wilds, Second Chance, gamble, and bonus buys.

Expanding Play Area

Winning symbols are removed from the grid by the tumbling reels feature, and new symbols drop down to fill the vacant spaces. Tumbling continues if new winning combinations occur. Each tumble that creates a winning combination expands the play area by unlocking 3 random positions from the locked area, revealing the symbol underneath. Unlocked positions reset between base game spins.

Big Wild

A 3x3 Big Wild may be placed in the centre of the grid. This happens the first time there are no locked spots in the base game, and all tumbles have been completed.

Second Chance

If there are exactly 2 scatters in the open area after tumbles have been completed, plus the Second Chance has not occurred in the round yet, and the Big Wild is not triggered, the Second Chance will occur. The Second Chance clears the open play area of symbols except scatters, and then new symbols drop into the cleared spaces.

Gamble

When the bonus game triggers, players can gamble for a chance to start with more Expander symbols. This happens as long as players have initially won less than 3 Expander symbols. If the gamble is won, players get an extra Expander. If the gamble is lost, the bonus round is forfeit.

Truck Raider Bonus Game

Hitting 3 or more unlocked scatter symbols in the base game awards the Truck Raider Bonus Game. If there are more than 3 scatters, the Truck Raider Bonus Game starts with +1 extra Expander symbol for each additional scatter. The Truck Raider Bonus Game starts with 3 spins. Landing a symbol on the screen restores the spins to 3. The round ends when no spins are left. On each spin, cash and/or special symbols may land. Landed symbols remain in place for the rest of the round unless removed by another feature. Values displayed by the symbols are multipliers of the bet. The symbols are:

• Cash – lands with a bet multiplier value.
• Grabber – adds the values of all other symbols in the unlocked play area to its own value upon landing.
• Turbo Grabber – adds the values of all other symbols on the unlocked play area to its own value upon landing and on each following spin where another symbol lands.
• Doubler – doubles its value each time the spin counter resets to 3.
• Zapper – doubles the value of all symbols orthogonally connected to it in a chain of symbols upon landing.
• Turbo Zapper - doubles the value of all symbols orthogonally connected to its cluster by touching sides and on each following spin where another symbol lands.
• Booster – adds its value to all other symbols in the unlocked play area upon landing.
• Turbo Booster - adds its value to all other symbols on the unlocked play area upon landing and on each following spin where another symbol lands.
• Upgrader – upgrades orthogonally adjacent symbols. A Cash symbol can be upgraded to a Grabber or a Booster. A Grabber, Zapper, or Booster gets upgraded to the Turbo version.
• Expander – unlocks 3 randomly chosen locations from the locked area.

Buy Bonus

In the base game, players can buy the Truck Raider Bonus Game triggered by at least 3 scatters for 75x the bet (RTP 96.36%) or the Truck Raider Bonus Game triggered by at least 5 scatters for 375x the bet (RTP 96.66%).

Cash Truck 3 Turbo: Slot Verdict

Something debatable about the Cash Truck series is that it hasn't progressed as it has gone along in the same way Relax Gaming's Money Train range did. Each Money Train release tended to be bigger, better, bolder than the last in a clearly defined stairway of progression. Cash Truck, not so much. The first was outstanding, providing players with a clear and obvious Money Train alternative that was packed with excellent ideas. The second one (and the Christmas edition) was good, no doubt, though not clearly better than the first. Cash Truck 3 Turbo, again, is a brill game, though it doesn't represent the sort of paradigm shift seen in, say, Money Train to Money Train 2. Not trying to tear Cash Truck 3 Turbo a new one by any means; it's a fine game; just doing a comparison.

The theme change provided an enjoyable move away from the Mad Maxian nightmare of the original, the Blade Runner 2049 of part 2, to the retro comic book/thriller touch of part 3. The tone shift is a good way of clearing away what came before to experience Cash Truck 3 Turbo afresh. Well, fresher than it might have been. Another neat add-on, if you can get it, is the Big Wild symbol slam-down. No, not something that is likely to happen a lot, but it's a nice base game reward to look forward to for unlocking the whole board. Still, the Truck Raider Bonus Game is by far the main event in any Cash Truck slot. This Truck Raider Bonus Game is definitely not lacking in special symbols. They arguably don't interact with each other as extensively as they can in a Money Train slot, but there is quite a variety of adding and grabbing going on. Potentially. Winning potential has edged its way up as well, now reaching 40,000x the bet, which, during Quickspin's testing phase, apparently, was achieved once in 73,345,418 spins. It's good to see the Doubler is still there, and the Upgrader, aka the Arms Dealer, is a welcome inclusion.

All in all, Cash Truck 3 Turbo didn't have the same wow factor as the original, but it's a top slot, and one which bolsters a series that was already one of the biggest Money Train competitors in the hold 'n win sector of the market.