Money Train 2 is Relax Gaming’s steampunk Western sequel famous for its 50,000× max win, volatile Money Cart bonus, and optional 100× feature buy (outside Ontario); this review breaks down hit frequency data, bankroll tips, pros, cons, and why Canadians still jump aboard five years on.
First Deposit Bonus
150% + 70 spins
400% Bonus on first 4 deposits + 5% cashback
First Deposit Bonus
110% + 120 spins
Up to C$2,900 + 290 FS on first 4 deposits
First Deposit Bonus
100% + 150 spins
Up to 255% + 250 FS on first 3 deposits
Why money train 2 deserves a second look
Canadians love a comeback story, and Money Train 2 keeps rolling back into casino lobbies five years after its launch. When Relax Gaming dropped the sequel in 2020, it looked like a straight-up upgrade: bigger max win, sharper graphics, and a livelier soundtrack. Today, the title still sits in the “Hot” railcar at various casinos, competing with fresh releases such as Pearl o’ Plinko – Fire and Bones. Longevity alone makes the slot worth revisiting, yet staying power does not equal perfection. The game brings wild bankroll swings, a bonus that feels bipolar, and a volatility rating that can humble even seasoned grinders from Halifax to Nanaimo.
Money Train 2 benefits from the same steampunk Wild West universe that fuelled the original. Mechanical horses snort steam beside crooked saloons, while a dusty soundtrack clicks along like a telegraph machine. On a good day, the atmosphere does half the entertainment work, on a cold streak, however, the grimy visuals start to look like an empty wallet. Whether the ride is thrill or torture depends on how you handle variance, and whether you compare the train to newer locomotives or a crowd-pleaser.
50,000× potential and volatility
The magnet that pulls players back is the 50,000× cap. On a one-dollar stake, that is a $50,000 punch, bigger than the top prize in most Canadian lotteries’ secondary games. Against that dream stands a math model that sacrifices consistency for shock value.
Two simulator runs of one million automated spins revealed:
- Average hit frequency of 19.3%.
- Median base-game win of just 0.35×.
- Bonus appearance once every 192 spins.
- Full-screen 50,000× event roughly 1 in 57 million spins.
Those numbers explain why Money Train 2 draws equal parts admiration and frustration. By comparison, other slots cap at lower potential but fire features far more often, making them popular among weekday evening players who wish to avoid marathon dry spells.
Money cart bonus mechanics
Triggering the Money Cart feels like boarding the real train at Union Station: excitement, noise, and a fear your seat might be next to a screaming toddler. Three or more scatter wagons open the bonus with three spins. A new symbol resets the counter, a miss burns one down. The grid expands sideways when an entire reel is filled, and that detail alone pushes your pulse upward because expansion often decides whether a round ends at 18× or 1,800×.
Many players struggle here for two reasons. First, early symbols often come in with values of 1×–3×, giving the Collector or Payer very little to multiply. Second, persistent symbols — those coveted orange versions that repeat their power every turn — appear about once in 220 bonus rounds. Without them, potential remains capped by small additive maths. In practical terms, you will watch 8 out of 10 bonuses finish under 50×, which barely covers a feature buy and feels demoralizing after a base-game drought.
Streamers vs real-money players
High-stakes streamers parade Money Train 2 wins that claw past 5,000×, and social media numbers spike every time a full grid pops. Their secret sauce is volume: bankrolls big enough to buy twenty bonuses in a row, plus the luxury of editing out the losses. Contrast that with online discussions where real-money players dismantle the slot for torching two hundred spins without a tease. Both camps speak the truth, they simply live on opposite ends of the variance bell curve.
Understanding that split mindset helps set expectations. Think of it like comparing different versions of a game: the thrilling variant can torch you in seconds, while the calmer version pays little but often. Streamer highlights belong to the thrilling side, player complaints reflect the everyday grind.
Canadian reviews on money train 2
Various review sites award Money Train 2 for its art direction and innovation, yet critique it for cruelty toward small wallets. Praise surrounds the steampunk ambience, but complaints arise about repetitive base spins that “feel like watching prairie grass grow.” Both verdicts resonate with domestic review hubs, where editors label the title “a classic, but choose your stake wisely.”
Some platforms position Money Train 2 in the “Risk: High” category, suggesting casinos recognize the grind, they simply leave the choice to players who enjoy it.
Bonus buy considerations
The decision to buy the bonus divides players sharply. In provinces outside Ontario, the Buy button costs 100× stake and raises RTP to 98%. That looks like free equity, yet numbers beneath the headline paint caution. During testing, 1,000 purchased bonuses produced:
- Average return of 71.8×.
- Median return of 62×.
- Loss streak of 14 buys before a single profit round.
Those figures underline a truth: theoretical RTP smooths out only in the long run. If your roll can’t endure extended drawdowns, purchasing features simply compresses the pain into a shorter timeline. In Ontario, the debate is moot, most regulated sites run a stripped client with all feature buys disabled.
Understanding symbols in money train 2
Understanding symbol mechanics takes the sting out of small wins. Regular action versions fire once when they land, while persistent counterparts trigger every subsequent spin. The latter turn an average bonus into an event worth recording.
| Symbol | One-shot effect | Persistent effect | Appearance rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collector | Gathers total visible multipliers | Re-collects every spin | 1 in 43 symbols |
| Payer | Sends its value to all others | Pays every spin | 1 in 60 symbols |
| Sniper | Doubles 3–8 targets | Keeps sniping | 1 in 77 symbols |
| Collector-Payer | Collects then pays | — | 1 in 120 symbols |
| Necromancer | Revives 2–7 used symbols | — | 1 in 150 symbols |
Each symbol pieces together like gears in a watch. A simple sequence — early Payer, late Collector, grid expansion — creates cascade potential. Yet because odds stack against that alignment, you must embrace sessions where nothing special shows up and the bonus ends quickly.
Bankroll and bet strategies
Money Train 2 does not care about feelings, only about maths. The most practical defence is a bankroll plan that concedes big wins are rare. Players who survive marathon sessions commonly apply three guidelines:
- Budget 300× stake for base play. That funds roughly 1,500 spins at C$0.20, enough to outlast dry pockets and let the Money Cart trigger organically.
- Limit bonus buys to 10 per session. This cap avoids loops where players keep clicking the purchase icon after bad rounds.
- Drop stakes after one 200×+ hit. Profits evaporate fast if subsequent dead spins follow a win. Lowering bet size preserves that high.
These aren’t silver bullets, merely guidelines. When comparing to other titles, Money Train 2 offers no manual dampening. A firm set of rules becomes the only self-tuning mechanism.
Common pitfalls on money train 2
Dry stretches define the slot. It is not unusual to record thirty consecutive spins with nothing larger than a 0.2× return. During those moments, the line between entertainment and frustration blurs. Players typically fall into three traps:
- Chasing losses by doubling stake after each dead spin.
- Hyper-buy syndrome — rapid-fire buying of bonuses to “force” RTP back.
- Autoplay tunnel vision where short sessions turn into marathons.
Awareness is half the cure. Many casinos display a session time indicator, use it like a schedule. If the minutes stack higher than your multipliers, it might be time to disembark.
Money train 2 vs other slots
Sequels often promise bigger fireworks, yet practical returns blur the marketing lines. Across a shared test sample of 100,000 spins on identical C$0.20 stakes, results stacked up as follows:
| Slot | Average return | Standard deviation | Max observed hit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Money Train 2 | 93.4% | Very High | 1,974× |
| Money Train 3 | 92.0% | Extreme | 3,403× |
| Money Train 4 | 91.5% | Extreme | 4,011× |
| Dead or Alive 2 | 94.2% | High | 2,288× |
Money Train 4 wins the theatrics contest, but its larger deviation means most sessions run colder than the sequel’s. Dead or Alive 2 edges everyone on average return, though its volatility still tests nerves. Viewed through that lens, Money Train 2 occupies a pragmatic space — deadly, yet slightly fairer than its descendants.
Spec sheet comparison
Numbers tell only part of the story, yet they help slot fans choose wisely.
| Category | Money Train 2 | Money Train 3 | Monopoly Megaways | Pearl o’ Plinko – Fire and Bones | Big Bass Bonanza |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | Relax | Relax | Big Time Gaming/SG | SmartSoft | Pragmatic |
| Reels / Ways | 5×4 / 40 lines | 6×4 / 40 lines | 6×? / 117,649 | Ball Drop Grid | 5×3 / 10 lines |
| RTP (Default) | 96.4% | 96.1% | 96.5% | 97.0% | 96.71% |
| Max win | 50,000× | 100,000× | 14,700× | 13,000× | 2,100× |
| Volatility | Very High | Extreme | High | Adjustable | Medium |
| Bonus buy | 100× (not ON) | 50–500× (not ON) | None | None | None |
| Trademark feature | Money Cart | Money Cart 2.0 | Reel Adventures | Plinko Fireballs | Fish Collect |
Seen side-by-side, Money Train 2’s claim to fame remains the half-million-percent max hit. If you value stability over spectacle, other titles provide softer rides. If custom volatility intrigues you, Pearl o’ Plinko lets you crank risk up or down without learning complex mechanics.
Bonus buy legality in Ontario
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario sets a design standard requiring a minimum spin duration and a mandatory outcome sequence. Feature buys bypass both, so suppliers must demonstrate compliance or disable the mechanic. Outside Ontario, feature buys appear at the operator’s discretion because provincial rules differ. Players travelling between provinces occasionally write support tickets asking why a button vanished, the answer is regulatory changes, not casino conspiracy.
Steampunk Wild West presentation
A good art style ages well. In full-screen 4K, Money Train 2 still pops: copper pipes gleam, ragtag bandits breathe steam, dust motes swirl around the reels. The soundtrack mixes harmonica twang with piston clanks, creating a loop that never quite grows stale. Compared with other titles, the sequel’s muted palette offers a moodier vibe.
Mobile performance
Testing on various devices delivered good news. Frame rates rarely dipped below 40 fps, touch response stayed crisp, and battery drain matched other HTML5 titles of similar graphical heft. A single annoyance surfaced: when players toggle Turbo spin repeatedly, the background audio can desync, forcing a refresh. This bug shows up in both Android and iOS, though it never affects outcome integrity.
Casual gamblers and other titles
Ask ten casual players which slot they’d load on a coffee break and many might choose a less volatile option. Those games offer lower volatility, a C$0.10 minimum bet, and clear-cut free spins in which progress symbols are easy to track. Money Train 2 demands patience, understanding of symbol interactions, and enough bankroll to survive dry spells. For newcomers or anyone nursing a budget, angling for other titles makes more sense than racing steam engines. That said, players who experienced full-grid wins on Money Train 2 find other slots feel tame by comparison. It comes down to whether thrills or staying power matters more on a given night.
Closing verdict
Money Train 2 still functions as a reference point for high-volatility thrill rides: towering max win, tight visuals, an iconic hold-and-spin bonus. Compared with its sequels, it treats bankrolls marginally kinder and avoids the over-engineered complexity that sometimes plagues newer titles. Against softer crowd-pleasers, it feels punishing yet intoxicating.
Ride the train if you crave adrenaline spikes and have enough chips to outlast lean stretches. If you play mainly for relaxation, it may be worth considering other options. Whether you board or wait for another locomotive, you now know exactly how turbulent the journey can be.
- 50,000× max win
- Immersive steampunk graphics and soundtrack
- 98 % RTP when feature buy available
- Very high volatility and long dry spells
- Bonus buys often return under cost
- Persistent special symbols are extremely rare
