No matter how quick on the draw someone may be, how accurate their shot, how fast they can reload, eventually someone somewhere wandering the prairies and canyons of the Old West will eventually out gun them. We're speaking metaphorically here, of course, but this situation applies to many areas of life, certainly when it comes to online slots. In the arena of Western-themed hold ‘n wins, Relax Gaming's Money Train range may be the top dog, yet others are tapping at their heels. Here comes one from Pragmatic Play titled Cowboy Coins, packing significant firepower and an evolved set of features. Is it enough to dethrone the champ? Let's find out.
For the outer wrapper, Pragmatic Play has experience making games in this part of the planet and Cowboy Coins is another one that's easy on the eyes. There's nothing overly remarkable about the game's dusty frontier town setting, but the bright artwork and larger-than-life characters set a good-looking, if a little genetic scene. One of the most intriguing things is Cowboy Coins' game grid. It has been constructed in a 3-4-4-4-4-3 formation providing 2,304 ways to win and drops certain feature symbols on certain reels.
>For bonus buy players with deep pockets, Cowboy Coins provides several enticing offers. Before launching into one of them, though, a base bet of 20 p/c to $/€100 must be selected, and players may use any device to do so. With five bonus buys, RTP can vary, though as a baseline, its default max value when playing normally is 96.08%, while the volatility has been rated as high.
Regular symbols pay left to right from the first reel onwards and count ten amongst their number. These are 10-A royals as the lows, then cards, a pistol, and three characters as the five premium tiles. Players are awarded 1.25 to 2 times the bet for a six-symbol royal win or 3 to 10 times the bet for six high pays. No wilds are used to help link wins in Cowboy Coins.
>Other symbols to look out for in the base game are Money, Collector, Payer, and scatters. Money symbols land on reels 2, 3, 4, or 5, holding values of 1-10 times the bet. Payers land only on the first reel, also with values of 1-10 times the bet. When a Payer hits, it adds its values to any Money symbols in view then its value plus the Money symbol values are paid out. Should a Collector hit with Money symbols in view, its value plus any Money symbol values are awarded.
Landing 3 scatter symbols in the base game triggers this feature. Now, 3 respins are awarded, and only Money symbols or special symbols may land. Money symbols land on the main grid, and special symbols land on new reels added to the edges. Symbols lock when they hit and reset the number of respins to 3 again. Special symbols are these:
When edge reels are filled, +1 additional position is added - just the once. The last point is the round starts with a number of Money symbols equal to the number of triggering scatters.
Where available, users may pick one of five options from the feature buy menu. These are normal respins for 100x the bet, or by paying 500x the bet, users can buy respins with the Super version of the Special Symbol they would prefer after the first respin. RTPs for all are clearly displayed on the paytable from 95.99% to 96.27%.
>Cowboy Coins put up a good fight, but for our money, at least, not quite enough to topple the current big dog of the Western hold and win space. There are far more positives than negatives to uncover here, though. However, one area where Cowboy Coins loses a few points is its relatively generic presentation. Nothing wrong with it, though its standard frontier town with its standard cast of characters isn't the most imaginative. It's certainly no steampunk-infused train, rolling in all chrome skulled, like an unstoppable force of nature.
No biggie, Pragmatic Play went the more conventional route, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's the features which make Cowboy Coins shine anyway, and having a base game as well as bonus game versions of Money symbol collecting bulks everything up. From the simpler version of the base game to the extra sophistication of the respins round. None of the special symbols is massively original, yet they each have a task to perform and can help boost a round. So much so that being able to buy the one you prefer will no doubt be an enticing option for some. It might have been interesting if the game had an ultra option which included all four super special symbols, but imagine the price tag. As it is, respins have the goods to be as exciting as they are potentially lucrative, topping out at 30,000 times the bet.
So when the battling died down, and the dust cleared, it became apparent Cowboy Coins didn't quite pip the champ for the top Western hold and win spot. That doesn't make it a bad game by a long shot, though, as the particular way Cowboy Coins conducts itself while constructing what might lead to impressive wins displays a high degree of creative class. It also has arguably a more interesting base game, though feel free to debate that point.
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