Our Payday Express review takes you on a rather bumpy train ride to the outskirts of an historical Wild West city. The place is packed full of dynamite-wielding, gun-toting outlaws, seeking a big and presumably ill-gotten payday. But Fantasma Games also offers you a promising reward, in the form of a 6,254x maximum win.
Despite its below-average RTP, Payday Express offers the allure of intense action, an engaging theme and crisp graphics. Learn all about the slot’s features and have a crack at the demo, right here in our Payday Express review.
| Software Provider | Fantasma Games |
| Release Date | August 2023 |
| RTP | 94.46% |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 6,254x |
| Reels x Rows | 5 x 3 |
| Minimum – Maximum Bet | $0.20 - $30 |
| Number of Paylines | 10 |
| Themes | Wild West |
Payday Express Details, RTP and Volatility
Fantasma Games opts for a traditional layout in the Payday Express slot, cramming the entire Wild West showdown into a 5x3 grid with 10 paylines. Players can wager between $0.20 and $30 per spin and there’s a maximum win of 6,254x on offer.
However, the slot does feature a high level of volatility, suggesting that sizable returns may be few and far between. The game’s RTP of 94.46% is also disappointing, considerably below the average Return to Player configuration for online slots.
Theme & Graphics in Payday Express
Wild West themes are quite common, but the bulk of games weave their storyline around clichéd saloons and revolvers. Payday Express takes the path less trodden - quite literally. Behind the reels is a deserted railroad track, riddled with overgrown cacti, animal skulls and broken train wheels.
Despite the slot’s unconventional approach to portraying the Old West, the central idea of violence and lawlessness remains predominant. You’ll find boxes of TNT dynamite flanking the reels at both ends, for instance.
As for the characters, Fantasma maintains the standard cowboy vibe, with four outlaws making up the higher-paying symbols. Complementing all of the above is an upbeat Western music soundtrack.
Payday Express Slot Features
There’s not too much to unravel in the Payday Express slot, unfortunately. Its major features are the Payday Wild and a Free Spins round. Nevertheless, we’ll run through all other aspects of the gameplay next, including the regular and special symbols.
Regular Symbols
Like most modern casino games, Payday Express adopts playing cards 10 through A as its lower-paying symbols. Landing of the icons 10, J and Q pays 4x your wager. On the other hand, K and A playing cards return 10x for five on a payline.
As already mentioned in this Payday Express review, outlaw cowboy characters are the premium paying symbols. You can identify these bandits by their background colors and the instruments they wield. The blue outlaw, for example, holds a shovel. This thuggish-looking chap also pays 25x when you land five of a kind.
Other icons include a female brigand brandishing a revolver, an older outlaw holding a stick of dynamite and the chief bandit with a cigar. In this order, they return 30x, 100x and 500x when you land five on a payline.
Wilds
The wild symbol is a golden safe surrounded by three sticks of dynamite. You’ll find the word “WILD” inscribed beneath the symbol, too. Whenever it lands on the reels, the wild substitutes for any other regular symbol except the scatter. Independently, it also pays 5x, 30x, 100x and 5,000x for two, three, four or five symbols.
Payday Wild
Besides the monetary returns, hitting at least three wild symbols triggers the Payday Wild feature. Once triggered, each wild symbol will replace regular icons in random positions to create a winning combo.
Scatters
A train symbol is the slot’s scatter. Landing three on the second, third and fourth reels activates the free spins round. You’ll start this bonus game with 15 free spins.
Free Spins
During the free spins round, any base win on a payline triggers a respin. Essentially, all regular symbols and wilds involved in the win stay locked in position for another spin. Winning combinations or wilds that land from the respin also remain locked, retriggering the respin feature. This feature only ends when no new wild symbol or line win appears on the reels.
If the Payday Wild feature is activated during a respin, it doesn’t trigger its regular sequence until the end of the respins. However, it’s worth noting that respins count towards your free spins total.
How to Play Payday Express Online
The Payday Express gameplay is quite straightforward. You’ll receive a prize whenever you land three or more symbols on a payline, from left to right. There is also a range of additional features to help you on your quest.
First is the Autoplay function, where you may configure up to 100 automated spins, as well as stop-loss settings. There’s also an option to control the game’s speed. Most importantly, you have a Bonus Buy feature, which automatically launches you into the free spins round for a fee of 70x your bet.
Try the Payday Express Demo for Free before playing for real money
Finally in this Payday Express review, we strongly recommend trying your hand at the demo available on this page. Exploring free slots is always a good way to prepare yourself for real money play, and this game is no exception.
Payday Express Review – Our Final Verdict
Fantasma Games deserves real credit for not recycling the same old saloon gunfight that you’d typically find in Wild West-themed slots. Instead, the developer settles for a more original storyline, while creating belligerent characters and lucid imagery.
Unfortunately, a rich aesthetic is about all we get from Payday Express, as the rewards are not the greatest. For instance, the RTP of 94.46% is far below what we expect from modern video slots. The maximum potential win of 6,254x is adequate. But it pales into insignificance compared to a similarly-themed slot like Tombstone RIP, with its 300,000x top payout.
Typically, a maximum bet amount of $30 would lead us to assume that the slot is designed for casual gamers, rather than harcore players. Given the simplistic gameplay and lack of innovative features, that seems like a fair conclusion to draw.
Overall, Payday Express is proof that Fantasma Games has the potential for authentic and exciting releases. However, the developer probably needs to find a spark that’ll revolutionize its approach to rewards and payouts.
Similar Slot Games
Below are a few similar Wild West-themed slots that you can play at online casinos.
- Bounty Belles: This iSoftBet release tells the tale of three cowgirl bandits in the Wild West. It has a max win of 10,877x and an RTP of 95.99%.
- Money Train: Quite similar to Payday Express, this Relax Gaming slot also takes place on a railroad track. There is a 5x4 layout here with a 20,000x max win.
