3 Lucky Minecarts Hold and Win Slot Review

Prospect Gaming adapts the mining theme with aplomb in 3 Lucky Minecarts, bringing us a colourful world of cartoonish prospectors and chunks of mineral wealth. The high-paying prospector symbol comes to animated life whenever making part of a winning combination, while the low-pays are formed out of minerals found in the earth. Then there are the minecarts on top of the reels, whose bouncy appearance promises wealth even as their animations don't actually affect the game in any way beyond the visual. 

Other symbols on the reels include a set of mining tools (an axe, lamp, and a gold panning dish), a crystal wild that can double the payout of wins it makes part of, and a scatter found on reels 1, 3, and 5 complete with gold bars. There are also coins in different colours that can activate the Hold and Win feature if you land at least 6 anywhere on the reels. Don’t forget the wilds, which can substitute for all paying symbols and come in two flavours, regular and with a 2x multiplier.

J, Q, K, A: 3 - 0.2x  / 4 - 0.5x / 5 - 2x

Axe: 3 - 0.5x / 4 - 1.25x / 5 -  5x

Lamp: 3 - 0.6x / 4 - 1.5x / 5 - 6x

Dish: 3 - 0.75x / 4 - 2x / 5 - 7.5x

Prospector: 3 - 1x / 4 - 2.5x / 5 - 10x

Wild: 3 - 1x / 4 - 2.5x / 5 - 10x

Scatter: 3 - 2x

3 Lucky Minecarts features a pair of bonus rounds - free spins and Hold and Win. The free spins are triggered by the scatters, while the Hold and Win feature requires you to land at least 6 coins on the reels. There is also a random Coin Shower feature which can add even more coins to the reels. Let’s go through all these bonuses in order, shall we? 

Free Spins

Land the 3 scatters found on reels 1, 3, and 5 and you will be awarded with a round of 8 free spins. These can be retriggered by, once again, landing the 3 scatters. 

Hold and Win 

The Hold and Win feature is triggered whenever you land 6 or more coins anywhere on the reels. This round consists of 3 respins used to land as many more coins on the reels as possible. Landing at least 1 coin resets the number of respins back to 3. Each coin holds a multiplier value that will be added up and applied to your bet once the round is over. As for ending the round, this happens when you either run out of respins or fill all reel positions with coins. 

During the Hold and Win round the reels hold empty spaces, regular coins, and special coins. These are the special coins: 

Blue: doubles the values on all coins, then turns into a random multiplier. 

Purple: turns into a multiplier or a jackpot value. 

Red: takes the total sum of the multipliers on screen as its multiplier. 

Jackpot coins: These come in either Mini, Minor, or Major versions. When landed these will award you with their respective jackpot prize. 

Coin Shower

Any random spin that does not trigger a special feature may randomly activate a Coin Shower. As the name suggests, this adds exactly 6 coins to the reels to award you with the Hold and Win round.

With its bright, animated visuals and lively country soundtrack 3 Lucky Minecarts makes a charming addition to the mining slot genre. The positive impressions are further improved by the addition of both free spins and Hold and Win bonus rounds. That said, the combination of high volatility and lower than average 95.25% RTP does sour the game slightly, depending on your tastes as a slot player. 

All of that said, Prospect Gaming’s main issue here is its finding itself in an overcrowded arena; there are plenty of mining-themed games out there, never mind ones with a hold and spin-style bonus rounds. And while that doesn’t detract from 3 Lucky Minecarts’ qualities, it remains a game that doesn’t provide anything too new to the table. It’s a game worth playing, sure, but not one that’s set to become your next favourite. 

Rating 7.5