Origins is a well known game studio operating under the Playtech umbrella. They are well known for producing the Age of the Gods Series, Jackpot Giant, and many of the branded slots Playtech are famous for.
It’s exciting news then that they have come up with a brand new in game feature they are calling Cash Collect.
The first game to boast the new feature is Sahara Riches which was released in April, so players have had plenty of time to try the game out and the reports are pretty positive.
I’ve had a good go at it too, and i’ll let you know what I think below.
What is the Cash Collect Feature?
The main talking point for the game is the Cash Collect feature, and we can expect to see it crop up in a series of games looking forwards.
The idea behind the feature keeps things exciting until the very last moment of each spin, because during the base game the Cash Collect symbol only lands on the 5th reel.
Should you have already landed special cash, free games, or jackpot symbols, the Cash Collect symbol is the trigger to make them active. What’s more, if a mix of all of these symbols have landed along with the Cash Collect symbol you get them all.
So, if you know after reel two has landed that you have no winning paylines, there is still a chance for the spin to be lucrative.
Is Sahara Riches a Good Slot Game?
Let’s get the basics out of the way:
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| RTP | 95.67% |
| Paylines | 30 |
| Reels | 3×5 |
| Max Win | 500x |
| Min/Max Stake | 10p-£500 |
Really then, without the Cash Collect element Sahara Riches is a very basic game with a fairly low max win, as the base game is only capable of 180x maximum.
However, the Cash Collect element is present, so the game really nips along with plenty of exciting moments, and includes:
- Free spins
- Wilds
- 4 Jackpots (fixed)
- Cash Wins
- Turbo Spins
- Autospins
In my personal experience the feature triggers fairly often as well, so it’s very satisfying to play.
Let’s look at each feature in turn.
Jackpot
The Jackpot symbol is the first special prize, and if this lands along with the Cash Collect symbol then one of the 4 jackpots will be awarded at random.
The jackpot payouts will adapt depending on your stake, but the levels are as follows:
- Mini – 20x Stake
- Minor – 50x Stake
- Major – 200x Stake
- Grand – 500x Stake
The jackpot symbol can also show up during freespins.
Cash Symbols
The cash symbols can show any amount but will always be a multiple of your bet from 0.5x to 10x – so the minimum and maximum cash symbol on a £1 bet would 0.50p to £10.
You can land multiple Cash Symbols on the same spin, and even on the same reel, so a grid scattered with Cash Symbols followed by a Cash Collect can be a great payday, but smaller wins are also a great way to get your balance topped back up.
During freespins nothing changes, so this is probably the simplest special symbol.
Free Games
The Free Game symbols can show +2, +3, +4 etc. and this is the number of free games you will receive if you manage to land a Cash Collect symbol at the same time. If you land multiple Free Game symbols they all combine.
During freespins the Cash Collect symbol can land on all 5 reels, and what’s more, it is sticky for 3 spins. This massively increases the chances of winning special prizes, and if you get more than one sticky symbol at the same time any cash symbols will get banked twice, once for each Cash Collect symbol.
You can’t win more free games during the round, but you can win jackpots.
Verdict
The Cash Collect feature gets the thumbs up from me, and i’m looking forward to see what Playtech do with it next.
As far as the game itself goes it is nothing without the feature, in fact, the majority of the game is the feature, so I don’t really have an opinion on it in isolation.
The theme is executed well and everything but it isn’t really tied into the gameplay at all it’s just pretty pictures.
For Cash Collect to be a success long term, I think Playtech Origins will need to be a little more inventive with how it is used going forward. If the next in the Cash Collect series does nothing new then it will effectively be the same game with a different skin.
Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen because this feature has real potential.