Slot Review: Triple Cash Eruption Brings The Fire(balls)

Here’s a not-so-fun didja-know when it comes to online slots: Expected payback — you know, RTP, return-to-player — can differ within the same game from casino to casino.

For instance, at Borgata’s online casino, Triple Cash Eruption has an RTP of 94.3%, whereas at FanDuel, the posted RTP is 96.3% (and higher if you engage in the Bonus Buy options).

So now you know that. You can’t even play a simple slot anymore without having to compare the RTPs. To horribly misquote Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross: Always be comparing.

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s a review of Triple Cash Eruption. Yield to your Aztec goddesses and read on …

The nitty gritty

Triple Cash Eruption, from IGT, is a spin-off of the wildly popular Cash Eruption slot, which debuted in 2020. Combining classic 5×3 slot play and the typical lucky 7s and fruits with Aztec imagery and an Aztec goddess that pops up when you hit a wild, the game has legions of fans.

It has also spawned numerous spin-offs, such as Slingo Cash Eruption, Mega Jackpots Cash Eruption, Vegas Cash Eruption, Hoggin Cash Eruption, and more.

And this iteration? It’s basically Cash Eruption on steroids, with what amounts to triple the chaos. You’re still playing 20 fixed paylines with expanding wilds and the same fruit-meets-fire-temple vibe, but the free spins feature is replaced entirely by three colored fireballs (red, green, blue) that activate different volcano-themed free spins games. (And the goddess is gone when you get a wild, replaced with a volcano. #Sad)

The Triple Cash Eruption Bonus triggers when any fireball lands and activates its matching volcano. You can trigger one, two, or all three features simultaneously: There’s the red fireball, which is a multiplier and each respin reveals a 2x, 3x, or 5x multiplier for any fireballs that land. Green is a collect fireball, which gathers all visible fireball values into one mega prize. And blue is a doubler, where you play on two independent reel sets at once.

From there, standard respin rules apply. You start with 3 respins, and each new fireball prize resets the counter. Fireballs reveal cash prizes or one of three fixed jackpots (Major at 100x, Minor at 25x, and Mini at 10x). Fill all 15 positions to win the Grand jackpot at 1,000x, which can only be awarded once per bonus.

You can buy the bonus for 50x your bet (where you get a random feature, up to all three) or 130x for a guarantee of all three features being active. 

The pattern feature from the original Cash Eruption still exists: Fill reel 1 with red 7s and reels 2-5 with wilds for 1,000x your stake.

Outside of that, red 7s pay the most, followed by blue 7s, bells, watermelons, grapes, plums, oranges, lemons, and cherries — you know, the standard stuff the Aztecs dealt with.

Over at FanDuel, the minimum bet is 20 cents, with the maximum set at $30.

Let’s spin

First off, the music: Dun-dun-DUN-dun, or something to that effect, repeated on an endless loop. It’s a locomotive in its intensity. Not exactly something you’d listen to if you were trying to meditate.

Hit spin, and the reels do their thing. Nothing exciting here.

When you get one of those colored fireballs while spinning, it shoots up to the corresponding volcano above it. Generally speaking, the volcano gets bigger with each fireball that hits it, but please keep in mind that has no bearing, whatsoever, on whether the bonus will be triggered. It can grow and grow and grow without triggering, or it can trigger from its tiniest point. 

One item I appreciate: If your spin yields a win in excess of the cost of the spin, you get the amount won displayed over the symbols with a corresponding ding-ding-ding. But if your “win” is below the cost of the spin, you get nothing noting the “victory.” Which is nice, as there’s nothing more annoying than spinning for 20 cents and “winning” a penny and it sounding like you can retire.

As for the bonus rounds … well, I got pretty lucky. I spun 87 times, and hit each bonus once. Mileage may vary, of course.

The multiplier (red) round saw each spin get a different a multiplier, which added to the excitement.

The collect (green) round got me a few “collect” symbols, but nothing for big money.

The double (blue) round was by far the least exciting, as there were no ways to increase the amount won on each spin, despite there being two separate boards to choose from.

Worth noting: On those 87 spins, and hitting the three bonuses, I turned $20 in $24.87. In short: Just because you’re hitting bonuses does not mean you’re hitting big money.

The verdict

Well, if you like the Aztec goddess, you’re out of luck.

Outside of that, if you’re a Cash Eruption fan, you’ll like this one. There’s a little bit more variance with what seems to be about as much chance for a big payday.

When it comes to downsides, the RTP is going to come over time in the bonus rounds. The spin-to-spin winners aren’t coming with much regularity, and I didn’t win more than 5x on any single non-bonus.

Call this a solid but not spectacular addition to the Cash Eruption line.