The Amazing Money Machine

The Amazing Money Machine Review

The Amazing Money Machine from Wild Streak Gaming is a mysterious, multifeatured game with a Marvellous Money Machine Mechanic that’s sure to make heads turn. Get your steam engines running and see what the commotion is about.

Read on for the full review.

SLOT FEATURES	Free Games, Jackpots, Respins, Random Prizes
RELEASE DATE	6th May 2021
GAME PROVIDER	Wild Streak Gaming via Pragmatic Play
SLOT TYPE	Video Slot
THEME	Steampunk
REELS, ROWS, PAYLINES	5 Reels, 3-5 Rows, 10-60 Paylines
BET LEVELS	0.20-200.00
MAXIMUM WIN	5,100x
SCATTER SYMBOL	Yes: Clock
WILD SYMBOL	Yes: Gemstone
BONUS GAME	Yes
FREE SPINS	No
RESPINS	Yes
MULTIPLIERS	No
JACKPOT	Yes – Fixed
RETURN TO PLAYER	96.42%
VOLATILITY	Very High

The Amazing Money Machines is developed by Wild Streak Gaming and distributed via Pragmatic Play. The founders of Wild Streak are ex Aristocrat USA and their game DNA is evident from their origins. This slot includes a bunch of slot features inspired by land-based hits, all wrapped in a Steampunk theme.

Features

Don’t even attempt to read the rules as they are far more complex than the game actually is. The rules are written to appease regulators rather than players. Here’s what you need to know.

The Money Machine:

There’s a device beside the reels containing instant prizes, jackpot wins and wilds. On any Base and Respin Game, the Money Machine may gift you with any number of these to either award instant prizes or enhance reel outcomes.

Respin Feature:

Any 5 or more MONEY symbols triggers the Respin Feature, where the number of Respins awarded is the same as the number of MONEY symbols that triggered the Respins. If the Respin trigger spin has a full reel of MONEY symbols on reel 3, the Respins are played on a 4 row or 5 row reelset. Otherwise, the Respins play on the standard 3 rows. During the Respins, all MONEY symbols that land are sticky until the end of the round. Each MONEY symbol awards one extra Respin.

At the end of the Respins, all values on the MONEY symbols are added and awarded. The Jackpot feature can also be won if 3 Jackpot symbols land. In summary, the Respin feature is triggered and played in a similar way to Aristocrat’s Lightning Link.

Jackpot Feature:

The Jackpot Feature can be won the Base Game or from the Respins. Land 3 Jackpot symbols on reels 2, 3, and 4 in the Base Game or Respins, or get an INSTANT JACKPOT from the Money Machine gifts.

In the Jackpot Feature, pick from 12 images until 3 matching jackpots are revealed to win the corresponding jackpot. This jackpot feature in The Amazing Money Machine is identical to the one in Shufflemaster’s 88 Fortunes.

Paytable Review

The Amazing Money Machine has a tidy, easy to read symbol hierarchy. 2 High Pics with full symbol borders, 2 Mid Pics with circular borders and 2 Low Pics without borders, plus 5 royals and an oversized Wild and Jackpot symbol. Lovely.

Including the 4 Jackpot prizes, 45% of prizes are at-or-below bet. Although this figure is nice and low, the high-end paytable prizes are quite flat and uninspiring. The ‘meat’ in the game comes from the Respins Feature and the Jackpots. Its smallest and most frequent jackpot of 500 coins (or 25x your bet) comes in above all Pic symbols and between 4- and 5 of-a-kind WILDS, making it a nice little rescue.

Playability

The Amazing Money Machine has decent playability and is very well choreographed. Having land-based roots, the developers are attuned to creating games that meet even the most stringent regulations and such a mindset is evident in the design and build. Although the written rules are quite complex and difficult to grasp, the game intuitively teaches you as you play. All the sounds and gestures are in the right place, making the whole experience enjoyable. The game isn’t as complex as the rules make it out to be.

The math model is a mash of ideas from Aristocrat and Shufflemaster land-based slots, but the Money Machine beside the reels is something out of the ordinary. Technically, it’s a reel enhancement mechanic and gifting device but, having it displayed as a glass jar with monetary values that adjust with your bet, tells me what I get without having to read rules or guess. Without knowing what it does, the gems and monetary values on the gold coins inside immediately shout ‘Bonus’ and, sure enough, within a few spins it comes to life, throwing wilds across the reels. Interest captured! Aside from the Money Machine, the features are a little dated.

Don’t expect huge wins in the base game, as most of the RTP seems locked away in the Respins bonus.

The minimum bet of 20 coins is fairly standard BUT, you should remember, we’re playing a 10 line game. The additional 10 coins are used to lighten the load on the game’s RTP, making its high-return features affordable. As a crazy guess, I’d say the ante bet is used to fund the Money Machine, allowing the Respin feature additional RTP for higher returns. If the ante bet was not included, either the Money Machine would have been dropped, the Respin feature would have lower prizes allocated and/or the jackpot feature hit rate would have been extended further.

There’s no jackpot bias in this game as the jackpot values are static and change linearly with bet. The chance to hit a jackpot remains consistent throughout the bet range. So, you don’t have to be a high roller if you want to play for the jackpot.

The Glory Spin

The max win is capped at 5,100x your bet which equates to a whopping 1,020,000.00 in currency if playing at the higher-than-most 200.00 max bet. The Glory Spin is in the Grand Jackpot of 5,000x your bet.

Delights and Surprises

• The Respin feature pays quite well IF it’s triggered with a full reel of MONEY symbols on reel 3.

Shortcomings

• The Respin feature is heavily disadvantaged if it’s triggered without full reel of MONEY symbols on reel 3,
• Difficult to hit a decent win in the Base Game,
• Dated feature types based on land-based slots,
• The 10-coin forced ante bet is a little steep.

Conclusion

A thoroughly enjoyable game to play. It’s well built and trustworthy with worthwhile features. If they play well and they’re interconnected with co-triggers then, dated or not, I’m playing.

There seems to be a smaller than average amount of RTP in the Base Game so don’t expect to be rewarded highly unless you hit the Respins or Jackpot features.

The Amazing Money Machine gets 79 Spins out of 100 based on the following ratings:

PLAYABILITY	75
ORIGINALITY	90
BUILD QUALITY	90
MARRIAGE	70
IMMERSION	75
RUN FOR MONEY	65
INTEGRITY	90
TOTAL	79