Slingo Money Train: Slot Overview

If you’ve never come across it before, “Slingo” can sound like a word someone invented on the spot. Technically, all words are invented, but Slingo is simply a mash-up of “slot” and “bingo,” which gives you a good idea of what this review is heading toward. The studio behind one of the most iconic series ever, Relax Gaming, has effectively handed over one of its engines to provider Gaming Realms, which has delivered Slingo Money Train—a title that fuses the muscle of Money Train with the familiar bingo format.

Along with Money Train’s bonus round and the train theme, Slingo Money Train also lifts a lot of its look and feel from a Money Train online slot—Money Train 2, specifically. So you get brooding skies, a dusty stretch of land, a wrecked windmill, rundown shacks, and, naturally, a massive spiked train. Because this is Slingo, the base game doesn’t use a typical slot layout with spinning reels, rows, or ways. Instead, there’s a central card showing 25 random numbers from 1 to 90, alongside a prize ladder, a bottom reel, and the UI. It feels familiar, yet the different route to potentially hopping aboard the train does a great job of building tension.

How it works: start by choosing a base bet from 20 p/c to $/€25, then press spin. You receive 10 spins to match as many numbers on the bottom reel as possible with the numbers on your 5×5 game card. Completing lines (known as Slingos) advances you up the pay ladder. Slingo lines can be horizontal rows, vertical columns, or corner-to-corner diagonals. There are 12 lines and 11 pay ladder awards, because the final number always completes 2 winning lines. Once the first 10 spins are done, you can continue spinning, but each additional spin is individually priced based on which numbers have already landed—and the cost can climb fast.

A couple of special symbols can also appear on the bottom reel to give you a boost. These include the standard wild, which allows you to choose a number on the reel above it to mark off, and the super wild, which lets you mark any number on the board. Free spins symbols may also land, awarding an extra spin.

• When achieving 4-6 Slingos, players can activate the Bronze Wheel, awarding 1 to 15 times the bet or entry to the bonus at 0.25x the stake.
• Hitting 7 Slingos awards the Silver Wheel with rewards of 4 to 25 times the bet or entry to the bonus at 0.5x the stake.
• Landing 8 Slingos awards the Gold Wheel, which has prizes of 8 to 50 times the bet or entry to the bonus at 1x the stake.

To ensure the bonus is triggered, you need 9, 10, or 11/12 Slingos, which also pays 10x, 30x, or 65x the bet—these tiers are classed as Bronze, Silver, and Gold, respectively. Before heading into the bonus, note that Slingo Money Train’s RTP is 94.42% using the best strategy in the standard game, or 94.47% using the best strategy for each extra spin. The recommended approach is outlined in the game info screen.

Slingo Money Train: Slot Features

Once you reach the bonus round, Slingo Money Train switches into what is essentially the Money Cart Bonus round, awarding 3 respins with 3 bonus symbols already on the screen. Whenever new symbols land on the 5×4 grid, the respin count is reset, and all symbols become sticky. If you fill a reel with symbols, an extra reel is added to the grid—up to two extra reels. Symbols carry x bet values, and when the feature ends, you’re paid the combined total. The symbols available in this round are:

• Bonus symbol – have values of 1x to 200x the bet.
• Payer – reveals a value of 1-10x and adds it to all other symbols.
• Collector – reveals a value of 1-10x and collects all values in view.
• Collect Player – reveals a value of 1-200x and collects all values in view. Then, it adds this total value to all other symbols.
• Sniper – reveals a value of 1-10x and doubles the value of 3 to 8 other bonus symbols.
• Necromancer – reveals a value of 1-10x and brings back to life 2 to 7 non-persistent special symbols.
• Reset Plus – reveals a value of 1-10x and increases the respin starting count by 1.

Persistent versions of the Payer, Sniper, and Collector can also appear, activating their effect on every spin until the feature finishes. If every position is filled, including the 2 extra reels, the round ends and a 500x prize is awarded. Also worth noting: the Bronze Level bonus is played at 0.25x the stake, Silver Level at 0.5x the stake, and Gold at 1x the stake.

Slingo Money Train: Slot Verdict

For players, the Money Train franchise really does keep delivering. It’s rolled from Money Train through to Money Train 4, Money Cart 1 to 3, and Money Train Origins Dream Drop, and now it’s powered straight into the Slingo world. If you assumed bingo was a gentle, low-key way to pass the time for small stakes, this will change your mind—Slingo Money Train is about as “full-on” as gambling gets. You can play it cautiously or lean into it aggressively. You can stay within the fixed 10 spins and try to complete Slingos, or you can hammer the extra spins to see where they lead. Just be aware that the second approach can be rough on your bankroll as the per-spin price increases, though—as shown in the review—pushing on can open the door to the Money Train Bonus Game, which anyone familiar with the standard slot knows can be seriously explosive.

In terms of max potential, Slingo Money Train tops out at 10,000x the bet, and that peak is, unsurprisingly, only achievable in the bonus round. The base game has a more limited ceiling. Still, there are some smart touches: the wild and super wild are genuinely enjoyable to use, since you’re choosing the spot you think will connect the most Slingos. And of course, you’re not forced to feed those extra spins like a maniacal train engineer. It’s also possible, in theory, to trigger the bonus round by completing enough lines within the standard spins. The RTP might put off anyone used to 96%+ games, but beyond that, if you expected bingo and Money Train to clash, you may be surprised by how well they actually fit together.