Big Money Wheel: Slot Overview

In the online slots world, the buzzwords are always turned up to 11—huge, mega, bonanza, gold, thrilling—and the idea is simple: everything has to sound BIG, whether it truly is or not. You’ll never stumble across a release called Averagely Flaming Fruit or Low to Medium Jackpot Bronze, even if the payouts are modest. That said, it would be unfair to describe the potential in NetEnt’s Big Money Wheel as modest. Alongside solid win potential, it also brings a decently sized wheel that can dish out prizes, plus respins, free spins, and bonus buys.

On top of that, Big Money Wheel dresses its gameplay in a slick presentation. The visuals lean a touch generic, but NetEnt still manages to give it a click-happy retro cartoon vibe—something like Hanna Barbera, Top Cat, or a similar era of animation. It also brought a few older slots to mind, though more on those later. The info sheet calls it a “groovy, jazzy game show,” and while game descriptions are often loaded with exaggeration, this one does carry a hint of truth.

One of the first things that stands out when Big Money Wheel loads is its 2-2-4-4-4-4 setup on a 6-reel grid. Asymmetrical layouts aren’t exactly mythical, but they’re not everywhere either. Pragmatic Play used a similar idea in Wild Wild Riches Megaways, and NetEnt has done it too in Rage. Sure, there’s a whiff of gimmickry to this kind of design, but it’s also a welcome change of pace. Also worth noting are the default RTP of 96.07% and volatility that sits on the high end for those who prefer it that way. Stakes range from 20 c to $/€40 per spin, and with this reel arrangement you get 1,024 ways to win.

Standard ways wins pay from the left side across consecutive reels. The lower-value symbols are the Jack to Ace royals, while the higher-value set includes records, shoes, double basses, and horns. Wilds can land on reels 3, 4, 5, and 6, and they substitute for any regular paying symbol.

Big Money Wheel: Slot Features

A key aim in Big Money Wheel is to gather the values shown on Coin symbols, which can be collected in the base game via respins or during the free spins bonus.

Coins, Colossal Coins, and Respins

In the base game, during respins, or in free spins, coins carrying random multiplier values of x1 to x25 can land anywhere on the grid, while those worth x50 or x100 may appear only on the two leftmost reels. On top of that, colossal-sized 2×2 coins are restricted to the two leftmost reels as well. In the main game, any Colossal Coin that lands with at least one other coin triggers a respin. If at least one coin shows up during the respin, you receive another respin. Once the respins finish, thecoin values are paid out.

Free Spins

A Colossal Big Money Wheel scatter can appear on the two leftmost reels in the base game. When it lands, it launches free spins on a 4×6 gaming area. The round begins with 3 free spins. Each time a Coin or Mystery symbol lands on the grid, the free spins count resets. All symbols remain sticky until the feature ends.

When the free spins counter hits 0 and there is at least 1 Mystery symbol on the grid, the Big Money feature activates. The wheel spins once and can stop on multipliers of x5 to x1,000, Double, or Triple rewards. Whatever the wheel lands on is added as a bet multiplier value to all Mystery symbols on the reels. If it lands on Double or Triple, the wheel spins again but can only land on multipliers. That multiplier is then boosted by Double or Triple (whichever applied), and the final value is assigned to the Mystery symbols.

Feature Buy

Using the feature buy, players can trigger free spins with 1 guaranteed Mystery symbol at the start for 90x the bet or free spins with 3 guaranteed Mystery symbols at the start for 150x the bet.

Big Money Wheel: Slot Verdict

Big Money Wheel ended up being a slot that improved the more time it was given. At first glance, the visuals and feature set didn’t really land, and it was easy to feel a wave of criticism coming on. But after pausing to properly take in what Big Money Wheel is doing, the overall impression became more positive. It didn’t quite reach “Wow, how did NetEnt pull that off?” territory, yet it does have its strengths—and if it reminds you of a bunch of earlier (even if better) games, it can’t be a total dud, right?

Those earlier titles included Slotmill’s Money Jar and Money Jar 2, Push Gaming’s Dinopolis, plus Relax Gaming’s Bill & Coin and Chip Spin. The shared coin focus—an increasingly common slot ingredient—clearly links them. Even with its unusual 2+4 grid, Big Money Wheel arguably feels less advanced than those alternatives. The base game offers a fairly straightforward hold-and-respin style coin mechanic, and the free spins round isn’t exactly the casino equivalent of a flight simulator. Still, NetEnt has smartly added a prize wheel element that can build tension—provided Mystery symbols are on the grid. Ending free spins without a Mystery symbol in sight could feel like a letdown. But if you do land some, the wheel can deliver seriously chunky outcomes, especially since Double and Triple can crank the anticipation up another notch if they appear.

The maximum win in Big Money Wheel is 12,026 times the bet, which, to be fair, is genuinely big money compared to a lot of what NetEnt was releasing around the same period—Golden Realms, Gladiator Clash, Mermaids, and so on. Even so, this is NetEnt, and it’s a little deflating to see rival studios outpace the veteran developer in overall sophistication. But Big Money Wheel delivers an enjoyable atmosphere, and its comparatively simple coin-based payout approach still has value.