Cash Truck Begins: Slot Overview

Plenty of casino developers have likely watched the runaway popularity of Relax Gaming’s Money Train franchise with a hint of jealousy, but not many have truly tried to challenge the studio on its own turf. One that has is software provider Quickspin, via a vehicle-led series that deliberately avoids trains. Up to now, the line has rolled through the desert of Cash Truck, the icy landscape of Cash Truck Christmas Delivery, the sci-fi setting of Cash Truck 2, and the darker realm of Cash Truck 3 Turbo. In a surprise twist, Cash Truck Begins heads into a fantasy-flavoured world, bringing with it a hefty hold ‘n win bonus round loaded with special symbols.

If Quickspin’s aim was to separate its games from the competition, it’s hard to imagine a bigger thematic contrast. Rather than futuristic rides—or even modern-day vehicles—Cash Truck Begins rewinds time to an era of swords, axes, and up-close combat. Instead of watching the rear of a truck tearing down a highway, players see a kind of barred wagon rig stacked with gold coins, rumbling toward a misty, otherworldly destination. The series may look refreshed, but Cash Truck Begins still captures that sense of fast movement… whether it’s heading for triumph or disaster is another matter.

Base game spins play out on a 5×7 in size grid, with the top 3 positions of every reel starting in a locked state. Cash Truck Begins uses a ways-to-win system for forming winning combinations, reaching up to 16,807 win ways once the grid is fully unlocked. Every Cash Truck release so far has been highly volatile, and Cash Truck Begins follows suit. With stakes ranging from 20 c to $/€100 per spin, the highest RTP setting is 96.19%.

Cash Truck Begins’ pay symbols include hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs as the low pays, an axe, hammer, swords, Garrik, Thulgrim, and Rogar the Red as the mid-tier symbols, with Valeria standing alone as the top payer. Landing 5 OAK combinations pays 0.25x for the lows, 0.5x to 2x for the mediums, and 5x for the high. Wilds and Big Wilds replace all symbols except the scatter. Any symbols that form winning combinations burst off the grid, allowing new symbols to fall in and occupy the gaps. The tumbling sequence keeps going while wins continue to land. Each tumble that produces a win also expands the play area by unlocking three random spots in the locked section.

Cash Truck Begins: Slot Features

Cash Truck Begins combines tumbling wins, a grid that opens up over time, Big Wilds, and a one-time second chance in the base game, before shifting into a souped-up hold ‘n win round.

Big Wild

The first time the base game reaches a point where there are no locked positions, once all tumbles have finished, a large 3×3 wild drops into the middle of the grid and a win evaluation takes place.

Second Chance

If there are exactly 2 scatters showing, the second chance hasn’t already been used in the current round, and the big wild is not triggered, then the second chance activates. It clears every symbol from the unlocked area except scatters, after which fresh symbols fall into the emptied spaces.

Bonus Game

Hitting 3 or more unlocked scatters anywhere on the grid triggers the bonus game. When more than 3 scatters start the feature, the bonus begins with one extra Expander symbol for each additional scatter. The feature starts with 3 spins, and whenever a new symbol lands, the counter resets back to 3. On each spin, cash and/or special symbols can appear. Any symbols that land remain in place for the rest of the round unless another feature removes them. Symbols are:

• Cash – adds its value upon landing.
• Grabber – adds the values of all other symbols in the unlocked play area to its own value.
• Brutal Grabber – acts like a regular Grabber but on every spin for the rest of the round when other symbols land.
• Doubler – doubles its value each time the counter resets to 3.
• Zapper – doubles the value of all symbols connected orthogonally to it in a chain of symbols.
• Brutal Zapper – doubles the value of symbols connected to its cluster by touching sides on every spin for the rest of the round where another symbol lands.
• Booster – adds its value to all symbols in the unlocked play area.
• Brutal Booster – acts like a Booster but on every spin for the rest of the round when other symbols land.
• Upgrader – upgrades orthogonally adjacent symbols. A cash symbol can become a Grabber or Booster. A Booster, Zapper, or Booster are upgraded to the Brutal version.
• Expander – unlocks 3 random positions from the locked area.

Feature Buy

Purchasing the bonus game triggered by at least 3 scatters is priced at 40x the bet, while purchasing the bonus game triggered by at least 5 scatters costs 185x the bet.

Cash Truck Begins: Slot Verdict

After the Money Train phenomenon finally slowed to a stop with Money Train 4 in 2023, not many studios have pushed out direct challengers in a serious bid to unseat the champion. If anyone was hoping Cash Truck Begins might do that, it’s probably wise to keep expectations in check. Cash Truck Begins is certainly a fun slot, driving the Cash Truck series into unfamiliar territory while delivering a punchy hold ‘n win bonus round, but it doesn’t quite reach its full potential. The main drawback is that it’s essentially a rework of Cash Truck 3 Turbo, bringing back almost the same feature set.

Without wanting to be overly harsh—and yes, it may sound painfully materialistic—Cash Truck Begins also drops a few points due to its win potential. A 20,000x the bet result is hardly something most players would complain about, yet it’s oddly the lowest maximum in the series and looks a bit underwhelming next to Money Train 4‘s 150,000x. As mentioned, few would regret landing 20,000x, but the reduced cap makes Cash Truck Begins feel less heavyweight and softens its overall punch.

That sense of reduction continues when you look at how mechanically close Cash Truck Begins is to Cash Track 3 Turbo. The fantasy-leaning reskin is a welcome change, but taking CT3, cutting the potential in half, removing the gamble, and swapping in more Expanders doesn’t exactly scream power move. On the other hand, value-focused players may like the lower costs for accessing the bonus games, and there’s roughly double the chance of reaching the win cap. In the end, choice matters, and Cash Truck Begins offers a newly dressed Cash Truck entry with tweaks to its win potential, even if there’s little to nothing new under the hood beyond the makeover.