Money Mouse (Pragmatic Play): Overview

Update: since this review was published, the provider has informed us that the game is intended solely for the Asian market. Unfortunately, this might not be entirely reflected in the review which can appear skewed due to the fact that Europe and Asia are two very different markets. We ask our readers to keep that in mind.

Rounding out Pragmatic Play’s Asian slot pair is Money Mouse. While Magic Journey tried a fresher recipe to deliver something different, Money Mouse leans on a very well-worn template. It’s the kind of release that instantly brings to mind a long list of similar titles. Jin Ji Boa Xi is an obvious comparison, and so is Caishen’s Cash (without the same upside). If everything feels déjà vu, that’s because it is: Money Mouse is essentially a copy of another Pragmatic slot called Wolf Gold, matching it in almost every respect aside from the surface-level visuals and audio. Pragmatic clearly enjoy producing Asian themed slots—their library is packed with them. Reusing a popular theme isn’t a problem if that’s your preference, but it’s harder to excuse when the final product feels this unoriginal. Even so, there are three jackpots plus several added mechanics, so it’s not something to dismiss outright.

Within the wider Asian category, surely there’s a specific label for this particular sub-style. There are enough of these games around to justify a more precise classification. From the screenshots you can likely tell the type: red or green backdrops, loads of gold, and souvenir-shop symbols everywhere. Not a criticism—just an observation. Money Mouse is themed around Chinese New Year and is expected to arrive right on schedule for it. In the Chinese calendar, 2020 is the Year of the Rat. Money Rat doesn’t sound quite as appealing as Money Mouse, though, and the imagery isn’t nearly as charming.

Set against a vivid red backdrop, the reels are laid out as 5 reels, 3 rows, and 25 paylines. The interface is the familiar Pragmatic Play setup, which works well thanks to its tidy, smooth layout. Wagers are adjusted via coin count and coin value, resulting in stakes from 25 p/c and go as high as $/€125 per spin. Money Mouse uses the same underlying math as Wolf Gold, giving it an RTP of exactly 96%. Volatility is unchanged too, sitting at 3/5 lightning bolts, i.e. a medium-high profile. In the paytable you’ll find 8 standard symbols overall—four low and four higher-value. The low symbols are the royals J – A styled with brush-like strokes. The premium set includes oranges, drums, firecrackers, and a dragon mask. Payouts are fairly average across the board, with the dragon mask paying 20 times the stake for five of a kind. The cheerful mouse character acts as the wild, substituting for other paying symbols, and it also awards up to 20 times the stake when five appear on a payline.

Money Mouse (Pragmatic Play): Features

If you’ve played Wolf Gold, then you already know the feature set here, because it’s been kept intact. The gold-coin-covered golden tree is the scatter and can land on reels 1, 3, and 5. Landing three pays 1x the stake and activates 5 Free Spins. In the free spins round, the middle 3 reels fuse together and only display oversized 3×3 symbols. Scatters can still appear during the bonus, and getting three visible awards 3 additional free spins, with no cap on retriggers.

Impossible to miss above the reels are the three Jackpots. These are fixed prizes that scale with your bet size. The Minor pays 30x, the Major pays 100x, and the Grand Jackpot awards 1000 times the stake when it hits.

The last key icon is the lantern. This is the Money Symbol, and it can show either a number or MINOR or MAJOR on its face. When 6 or more of these land in the base game or during free spins, they launch the Money Respin feature. Money Respins begin by locking the triggering Money Symbols in place and clearing away all standard symbols. You receive three respins. Each time a new Money Symbol lands, it locks and the respin counter resets back to 3. The round ends when the respins drop to zero, or when the entire grid is filled with Money Symbols. Once finished, all symbol values are added up and paid to the player. If all 15 spots are occupied by Money Symbols, the Grand Jackpot is awarded as well.

Money Mouse (Pragmatic Play): Verdict

The contrast between Money Mouse and Magic Journey is striking. It feels like the team produced something genuinely different, then the finance side panicked that it was too far from the familiar and that players needed something they already understood. So a Wolf Gold clone was pushed out, conveniently timed for the new year. The outcome is bland.

Money Mouse will mainly appeal to players who already enjoy this particular slot style (and it’s likely geared toward the Asian market); otherwise there’s little here to spark much excitement. The maximum potential is decent and is found in the free spins round, where mega symbols can help players land up to 2,500 times the stake.

Because it’s such a direct copy, it’s difficult to avoid the impression that Money Mouse is a budget imitation. Like those Louis Vuitton bags sold by street vendors for a few dollars. Or a “Rolax” watch that starts shedding its gold coating the day after you’ve bought it.