Original Release: IGT, 2020
A volatile online-focused slot with kind of a mixed theme of volcanoes and Aztecs
Cash Eruption (IGT, 2020)
Review by: C. M0use
Upon the first few spins, IGT’s Cash Eruption doesn’t make much of an impression. In terms of aesthetics it looks like a typical low-effort online slot, not offering much beyond “hey we’re in a volcano or something” (though the Monkey Island people might have a case over its background music).
What it turns out to be, with some experimentation, is a high-volatility slot that is mostly centered on landing six or more scatter “link” symbols to enter a bonus round that tends to be extremely generous. It’s the usual affair where you get three spins on the remaining empty spaces and any appearance of a new scatter symbol resets you to a fresh three spins, but it tends to pay out very well as each of the symbol values is usually well above your wager amount. I was testing the game with an equivalent of 25 cents per spin in “fun money” and my return the one time I hit this feature was a little over $100 (falling a little short of maxing all 15 spaces).
Of course, I also spent a little over $100 getting to that point, so the whole enterprise was pretty much a wash. There are two other more minor bonus features that might pop, but they can easily give you bupkis. The first is a set of six free spins if you land the three corresponding scatter symbols anywhere, but it moves to a new reel that has some giant single symbol in the middle. I don’t understand how this works as it indicated I got winning lines on some lemons, but I ended up getting no money out of it … the rest of the spins crapped out and I got literally 0 for my trouble.
The other bonus feature is that a wild may randomly expand to a full column, showing you an anime wall scroll of some nice heart-eating lady. The most I ever saw this return was 4x my bet, which happened a few times, but it’s also capable of doing nothing at all or returning a fractional win. It did nothing to keep my bankroll healthy despite appearing multiple times, I was getting steadily beat up until the central bonus link feature bailed me out. The game advertises that getting four of these sexy lady columns returns up to 1000x your wager ( I assume pending the symbols in the remaining column) but the chances of that are as rare as a blue moon.
Cash Eruption actually boasts a 95% payback (at optimal settings), but you’re absolutely hanging in there for the “link” bonus game to get there (as my own test run pretty much illustrated). It does offer the possibility of winning several thousand dollars off the minimum bet on any spin, if you get tremendously lucky. But you’ll need a big bankroll to absorb your way to wins like that, and given the “price” it asks (so to speak) I’d like to see a little more aesthetic effort and entertainment at the very least? Anyway, it’s solid enough if you want a “small bet for a potential big win on any spin” sort of high volatility game where the main bonus feature WILL take care of you when it pops, but there are definitely more exciting options if you’re in it for the thrill ride too (and I hate the way the stupid free spins work).
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