Concrete Cowboys Slot Review

About the Game

Concrete Cowboys is a 5-row, 5-column slot from ELK Studios that features a falling symbol mechanic. The game board can expand to a maximum of 8 rows and 8 columns.
All wins in the standard mode begin with first-payout gems on a 5-row, 5-column grid. The game has two modes: normal and bonus with Bonus Drops.

Theoretical Return to Player (RTP): 96.0%

Buy Bonus

• SUPER BONUS: Buy a game round that activates the Super Bonus Game. Cost: 250x your bet.
• BUY BONUS: Buy a game round that activates the Bonus Drop bonus game. Cost: 100x your bet.
• MINI GAME: Buy a game round that activates a randomly selected mini-game (Employee of the Month, Big Construction, Heaven). Cost: 50x your bet.
• MEGA HUNT: Buy a game round with a greater than sixfold chance of activating the Bonus Drop. Cost: x5 of the selected bet.
• BONUS HUNT: Buy a game round with a greater than threefold chance of activating the Bonus Drop. Cost: x2.5 of the selected bet.

X-iter

The X-iter feature can be purchased by clicking the X-iter button. Then, select the X-iter mode (the cost is displayed in the player’s currency) and click the Spin button.
The X-iter feature can only be activated in the regular game.
The theoretical return to player (RTP) for all game modes using the X-iter feature is 96.0%.

Game Rules

Winning symbols include gems, coins, and Wild symbols.
Wins are earned when the collector moves and collects winning symbols.
Each gem can be upgraded to increase its payout. The maximum payout level is seven.

Collectors

Concrete Cowboys features four collector symbols that can move around the game board. Each collector is associated with a gem of the same color as the collector.

Collectors move and collect feature symbols and gems of the same color.
Collectors collect symbols by moving to adjacent horizontal or vertical groups of symbols of the same color as the collector.

Collectors collect symbols as long as they can. A collector can move once before the board is filled with symbols again, and can also cross empty cells (except for symbols matching the color of other collectors). Collected symbols, as well as activated function symbols, are removed from the board. The remaining symbols move downward until they stop. New symbols fall into the vacated cells from above. Collectors are not affected by gravity. The filling continues as long as at least one collector can collect symbols.

Dynamite, an exploding transformation symbol, or the core function can destroy collectors in their path.

If a collector is destroyed, all remaining symbols of its color are replaced by Wild symbols. A destroyed collector will not appear the next time the field is filled with symbols. If all four collectors are destroyed, the “Heaven” minigame is triggered.

Above the game board is a symbol collection meter. This meter tracks the number of symbols collected. It fills only when gems and wild symbols are collected by the collector. The symbol collection meter continues to track collected symbols as long as collectors can collect new ones.

The first fill requires 20 symbols, the second requires 30, and the third requires 40. Up to three Delayed Cores can appear at a time.

When the symbol collection bar is filled, the core function goes into a deferred state and is triggered as soon as all wins and other features are completed. If a bonus game is triggered while the deferred core is present, the core is transferred to the bonus game and is triggered at the first opportunity.

The core flies onto the field, destroying all winning symbols and any collectors in its path. The remaining symbols fall under the influence of gravity. New symbols fill the empty spaces, and all remaining collectors receive a new opportunity to collect symbols.

Symbols of the destroyed collector’s color will not appear when filling until that collector returns to the field. Symbols of the same color as the destroyed collector turn into Wilds.

The Upgrade symbol increases the payout level of all gems of the same color as the collector that collected the Upgrade symbol. The payout level of gems can be increased by 1, 2, or 3 levels, up to a maximum of 7.

The General Upgrade symbol simultaneously increases the levels of gems of all four colors. The gem payout level can be increased by 1, 2, or 3 levels, up to a maximum of 7.

The Tunnel symbol allows the Collector to move to another group of gems of their color or to function symbols they otherwise couldn’t reach. The Tunnel symbol also allows Collectors to swap positions.

After all the collectors have had a chance to collect symbols, the collected Level Up symbol expands the field by 1 row and 1 column and also triggers a re-spin of all symbols and collectors. Any delayed Dynamite symbol or Transformation symbol acting as a delayed Dynamite symbol is carried over to the next level.

A collected Transformation symbol transforms a group of paying symbols adjacent to a creature into the color of the creature that collected it. If a Transformation symbol cannot transform any paying symbols, it acts as a delayed Dynamite symbol.

After being collected, the Dynamite symbol goes into a delayed state and remains there until the next reroll. When activated, it removes Collectors and horizontal, vertical, or diagonal paying symbols. If a Collector is removed, all remaining symbols of its type are replaced by Wild symbols. A removed Collector will not appear the next time the reroll is filled. If all four Collectors are removed from the reroll, the “Sky” minigame is triggered.

When collecting a radio, Karen appears on the board.

Karen is a special collector who, when activated, can replace 1 to 4 other collectors. When Karen appears on the board, 1 collector is removed from it. Karen appears in one of the uncollected groups of symbols of the same color as the removed collector and collects them along with any other symbols of that collector’s color that she can reach. If Karen is adjacent to another collector after collecting, she removes that collector and also begins collecting symbols of its color.

A coin symbol collected by a collector pays its value multiplied by the active bet level.

Two adjacent collectors can automatically swap places if the active collector is unable to move to collect additional symbols or features from its current position, but can reach a matching group of symbols or features from the position of another collector. An active collector cannot swap places with a collector that has already moved during the current drop.

Game Modes

Once all winning symbols have been collected from the field, a special mini-game, “Employee of the Month,” is launched. Employee of the Month is activated immediately, and any previously activated features remain in a suspended state.

Employee of the Month

Employee of the Month is played on a 6-column, 7-row grid and begins with a single collector in the lower left corner. Landing one or more coins, a walkie-talkie, a ladder, or a storage device awards additional spins as long as new symbols continue to land. The collector then moves along its row, collecting all symbols.

When Karen triggers the Employee of the Month mini-game, only coins, accumulator symbols, and dot symbols appear. The mini-game begins with ladders already placed, connecting all levels.

The accumulator symbol is only available in the Employee of the Month mini-game. Once it appears, when all reels stop spinning, the accumulator symbol turns into a coin worth the sum of all other coins on the reels at that moment.

The Ladder symbol is only available in the Employee of the Month minigame and allows the collector to advance one level above their current level. Ladders disappear after use.

The Walkie-Talkie in the Employee of the Month minigame adds another collector to the queue. Each collector in the queue activates one re-spin in the minigame.

Collecting the Big Construction symbol immediately starts the Big Construction mode, and any functions that may have already been activated remain in a pending state.

Big Construction

The “Big Construction” minigame is played on a board with 5 columns and 6 rows. Voids, gems, general upgrade symbols, coins, and distributor symbols fall to form rows, corresponding to the multiplier values ​​on the side. The sum of the gem and coin values ​​in a filled row is multiplied by the multiplier for that row. Each of the 4 collectors activates one drop. Once a row is filled, the collectors are discarded. If a row is not filled after the drops, the game ends.

In “Big Construction,” the Distributor symbols fill all adjacent empty spaces in a row or column with copies of themselves.

If all four Distributors are destroyed, the “Heaven” minigame is triggered. “Heaven” is played on an 8×8 grid with symbols that pay the maximum value. Only payout symbols, coins, and tunnel symbols can appear in “Heaven.” The Core meter and bonus inventory are disabled in “Heaven.” “Heaven” continues until the end of the game round or until the next bonus appears.

Bonus Game

The Bonus Drop bonus game is activated when players collect 3 bonus symbols during a single active game round. Five Bonus Drops are awarded.
A bonus symbol collected during the bonus mode awards an additional Bonus Drop.
In the Super Bonus game, all upgrade symbols are general upgrade symbols.
The bonus game ends when there are no more Bonus Drops or when the winnings reach their maximum.
Winnings are paid out at the end of the bonus game.
You cannot change your bet once the round has started.
When you reach the winning limit, the game round ends and all winnings are paid out.

Pros & Cons