Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways Slot (Playtech) Slot Demo & Review

Game Provider Playtech are one of the most prominent and prolific creators of online slots in the past, so it’s a little surprising that we haven’t seen more Megaways releases from them up to this point; I struggle to think of more than a handful in addition to this new release, titled Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways. For whatever reason, Playtech has opted to reduce the maximum number of Megaways from the usual 117,649 down to a frankly-still-ridiculous 86,436, whilst the RTP of 94.88% is also a little lower than the industry standard of 96%. As for the maximum win, that comes in at 5,000x bet.

A special “cash collect” symbol is used throughout Sahara Riches, enabling the collection of special cash symbols, jackpot prizes, and free spins. The cash collect symbol only appears on the extra horizontal reel during the base game but will appear on all reels during the bonus round. This is particularly advantageous for the player, as the symbols will also become sticky for the duration of your free spins.

Have you seen many Playtech games featuring Megaways before? Perhaps you are interested in seeing what this developer can add to this formula. We have a free demo slot of Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways available to play below so that you can find out.

Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways Slot
ProviderPlaytech
Reels6
Rows7
Paylines86,436
Bonus Rounds1
Bet Range0.10 - 500
VolatilityHigh
Max Win5,000x
Bonus BuyNo
RTP94.88%
Our Rating6.5

Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways Slot Casino Bonuses


Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways Slot Free Play


Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols

Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways Slot Base Game
Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways slot base game

The name “Sahara Riches” is likely to make you picture sands or the desert, and that kind of imagery does feature heavily in the backdrop of the game. The reels, meanwhile, are filled with treasure chests, Middle Eastern knives, and women dressed in the kind of full-face veil that is sometimes now associated with female Ninja. If you have ever seen the female fighters in the Mortal Kombat video games, you will probably know exactly what I mean! For some reason, the terms “Arabian Nights” and “Prince of Persia” instantly spring to mind when I look at all of this imagery combined; the similarities between this game and earlier titles, such as 10,001 Nights, are plain to see.

Unsurprisingly, the actual payouts shown on the paytable are about what you would expect from a typical Megaways game. The treasure chest is the highest-paying regular symbol with a return of 5x your bet for each complete payway of six-of-a-kind, followed by the camel statue at 3x, a Middle Eastern jug at 2x, and then a sword and a sand timer, both of which return 1x the bet for all six symbols. Nothing too exciting here, but all of these symbols do at least appear in stacks meaning that you can win on a large number of pay ways simultaneously.

The minimum bet is set at a low-roller-friendly €0.10 per spin, while the maximum wager permitted in the game’s demo version is set at a frankly insane €500.00 per spin. I suspect this limit will be reduced when playing for real money at some, if not all, casinos offering this game for play.


Base Game & Modifiers

Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways Slot Base Game
Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways slot base game

If you have played a Megaways game before – and, let’s be honest, that has to be near enough every slot player active today – then you will feel right at home after loading up Sahara Riches. As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, this game offers fewer Megaways than most other slots that use the system. However, with a maximum of 86,436 payways still in play, this is more than enough to create some decent winning combos.


Cash Collect Symbols

The special “cash collect” symbols appear on the top horizontal reel only during the base game but are also added to the six main reels when the free games bonus round is in play.

You will notice there are many red cash symbols on the reels during all parts of this game, but in order to receive the prizes shown on them, you will also need to land at least one cash collect symbol on the same spin. The cash collect symbol is also used to facilitate the bonus round and jackpot features – see below for details.


Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways Slot Bonus Features

Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways Slot Free Spins Feature
Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways slot free spins feature

Unlike many other slots, Sahara Riches does not use typical scatter symbols to award its free spins. Instead, the cash collect symbol described in the last section will trigger a set of free games if it happens to land at the same time as one or more free spin symbols, signified by a plus and a number.

The number of free spins you will receive is determined by adding the values of all the free spin symbols currently on screen. Unfortunately, the game does not specify the lowest or highest number of spins that can be won.


Free Spins

While testing this game, I found that it would commonly award me free spins in batches of about ten to twelve, but you will usually win at least a few more spins whilst the bonus round is in play.

The cash collect symbol appears on all reels whilst this mode is active and remains sticky for the next three spins after each one lands. This is incredibly useful when it comes to collecting cash prizes or additional free spins, as well as one more treat: jackpots!


Jackpot Prizes

The jackpots included in Sahara Riches are not of the progressive variety, instead having a fixed value of between 20x your bet for the MINI and 500x your bet for the GRAND. The MINOR and MAJOR jackpots are worth either 50x or 200x your bet, respectively.

These prizes can be won during both the free spins feature and the base game, but you are much more likely to catch one during the bonus round because of the much higher number of cash collect symbols that are in play. You will need to land at least one of these in addition to the diamond symbol to win a jackpot, and which one you will receive is determined randomly by the game.


Sahara Riches Cash Collect Megaways Slot Review Final Thoughts

I’m a little torn about this one; on the one hand, I did have fun testing this game and even had some surprisingly good hits considering that I was only playing for a couple of hours. At the same time, there isn’t much in the way of unique features or interesting elements to get excited about in Sahara Riches. If you enjoy Megaways games, then I’m sure this one will appeal to you – just don’t set your expectations too high.


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