Go for firearms, yella-belly. Sorry, that was odd, but playing Fantasma Games’ Payday Express online slot had me recite Western clichés. The Swedish slot developer has worn Stetson and stirrups for cowboy-themed fun for the second time. Payday Express is a simple game with a Payday Wild feature, free spins with a sticky symbol respin, and a bonus purchase option.
Payday Express is distinct from Fantasma Game’s last West journey and resembles iSoftBet’s game. Maybe Bounty Belles? Payday Express maybe brought back iSoftBet memories. Payday Express’s game grid is on a railroad track in the middle of nowhere, instead than a dusty village outside a bar like other Westerns. Besides cacti, dynamite sticks and towering rocks border the reels. Unsure what’s happening behind the grid. A strange golden light flashes behind the gaming grid like Marcellus Wallace’s suitcase in Pulp Fiction. That contained what? The case may have housed Wallace’s soul, but who knows?
Payday Express’s lights may represent a train rushing into the game grid, but they’re more likely the sun rising or setting. The grid has 5 reels, 3 rows of symbols, and 10 paylines for win evaluations. The 94.46% RTP is underwhelming, but strong volatility should satisfy gamblers. Bets vary from 20 p/c to £/€30, and players may buy free spins for 70 times the wager. The RTP for free spins is 94.55%.
Payday Express rewards regular line winnings for left-to-right matching symbols from reel 1. Despite 10 paylines, the game has chunky symbol values at the top. Premiums include 4 character symbols, which pay 25 to 500 times the wager for 5 OAK, while 5 low pay symbols of the 10-A card royals pay 4 to 10 times the stake. Wild symbols appear on any reel and can replace normal paying symbols during win assessments. Hit a 5-wild winning line and win 2,000x the stake.
Payday Express Slot Features
The Payday Wild and free spins features spin on its index fingers like firearms.
Payday Wild
The Payday Wild feature activates with 3 or more wild symbols. Each wild symbol randomly adds new wild symbols on the grid.
Free Spins
Payday Express scatter symbols are trains, and 3 of them in the basic game earn 15 free spins. Any line victory activates Respins in free spins. The reels respin with all winning and wild symbols locked. Any new line win or wild symbol on a respin locks in place and retriggers Respin. Respin stops when no line win or Wild symbol appears. Wait until Respins ends to activate Payday. Free spins are non-retriggerable.
Payday Express Slot Results
Fantasma Games’ Western rodeo isn’t new. Bounty Showdown was quite different from Payday Express. Payday Express has various lighter aspects. The theme treatment, while not hilarious, is made funnier by its driving music. Payday Express is more like Yosemite Sam than dark Westerns like Dead or Alive 2 or Deadwood. He has attitude, but he’s funny, which softens it. Payday Express isn’t a slapstick comedy, but it’s different from Nolimit City’s Tombstone RIP, El Paso Gunfight xNudge, and True Grit Redemption.
The gameplay is light, but the features are effective. Like waiting for a late bus, two or three arrive at the same time. Sometimes you find a feature you haven’t seen in a while, and two games come along with it. The sticky respin feature was utilized here and in a slot we evaluated a day before Payday Express. Thunderkick’s Grand Melee was the prior game for sticky respin fans. Collectors appreciate that both companies handled the sticky respin technique differently. Grand Melee’s use was more creative, but Payday Express’ is too. This one shines when Payday Wild activates. Extra wild symbols increase the opportunity for linking pay symbols and may sprout in ultra-conducive areas to achieve the legendary 2,000x the bet wild symbol win. Though implausible, it stalks the landscape like a mythical white buffalo.
Payday Express is simpler than other Fantasma Games Westerns and may appeal to anyone seeking a light to medium-weight game. Despite a reasonable max win of 6,254 times the stake to chase, Payday Express’ simple gameplay and low return value may hurt its long-term appeal.