The Inca Queen acts as the game's Expanding Wild, substituting for regular paying symbols while also having the ability to expand. Pragmatic Play specifically identifies the expanding Queen as one of the game's base game mechanics.

It's a useful addition because the ordinary 20 payline game would otherwise be fairly quiet between Respin activity. A well positioned Queen can help several paylines at once and gives the character herself an actual role in the gameplay rather than simply making her the most expensive symbol on the reels.

For someone important enough to get her name above the door, that seems only fair.

Coin Money Symbols are the game's Cash Symbols, carrying random values reaching as high as 250x the stake. They form one half of the collection system that drives virtually all of Inca Queen's bonus action.

Coins can matter before you've even reached the main Money Respins feature because landing them during normal play can randomly activate Coin Respins.

That gives them a little more presence than Cash Symbols that spend the entire base game doing nothing until exactly six happen to appear together.

Landing Coin Money Symbols can randomly trigger Coin Respins. The feature continues collecting Coins until the required six have appeared, at which point it feeds directly into Money Respins.

I like the idea more than the name suggests. Instead of Coin Respins simply being a small standalone prize, they're effectively a route towards the main event.

That makes the sequence feel as though it's going somewhere. Once several Coins have been collected, you're not just watching another Respin. You're trying to finish the set and push the game into its stronger feature.

Fiery Frames have their own Frame Respins, operating as the other half of the game's collection system.

Like Coins, Frames can randomly trigger their dedicated Respin sequence during the base game. Collect enough and the game progresses into Money Respins.

Frames don't have the immediate appeal of seeing a large cash value printed on a Coin, but they become much more important when Coins and Frames start working together.

That's really the recurring theme with Inca Queen. One piece of the feature often looks fairly ordinary until another piece turns up beside it.

The stronger preliminary feature is Coin and Frame Respins, where both symbol types are collected together.

Reach the required number and the resulting Money Respins feature gains an important advantage: the collected Coin values receive a random multiplier of up to 10x at the end.

This is the route I'd most want to see.

You're not simply reaching Money Respins through a different animation. Successfully building both sides of the feature actually improves what happens when you get there.

That gives the otherwise rather busy Respin system a proper hierarchy. Coins are useful. Frames are useful. Getting both to cooperate is considerably better.

Money Respins is the game's main Hold and Win feature.

It can trigger directly by landing six or more Money Symbols or six or more Frames, or it can be reached through the smaller Respin features. You begin with three Respins, with Coins and Frames locking into position as they land. Every new qualifying symbol resets the counter to three.

The clever part comes when a Coin and Frame occupy the same position. That position becomes active, and creating six or more active positions retriggers the feature. Once the Respins finally run out, the accumulated Coin values are awarded.

This is where the slightly confusing setup finally starts paying off. You're not simply trying to fill empty spaces with numbered Coins. Frames can combine with them, activated positions can keep the feature moving and a successful sequence can effectively feed itself into another round.

It's familiar Hold and Win territory, but there are more moving parts under the bonnet than the usual three Respins and a grid full of Coins.

Reach Money Respins through the combined Coin and Frame route and the accumulated Coin values can receive a Random Multiplier of up to 10x.

This is probably the best reward for successfully navigating the more complicated feature route.

A multiplier isn't particularly exciting by itself, but applying it to an entire collection of Money Symbols gives it some weight. More importantly, it makes the way you reached Money Respins relevant to the eventual result.

The Queen rewards anyone who manages to bring both halves of the treasure hunt together.

Coin Money Symbols can include Mini, Minor and Major fixed jackpot prizes, while completely filling all 15 positions during Money Respins awards the Grand, listed at 2,000x the stake. The overall game remains capped at 5,000x.

I like the Grand implementation because there's a clear target attached to it. You can physically see the 15 positions you're trying to fill rather than waiting for an unrelated jackpot wheel to appear.

These are fixed prizes rather than a network progressive, so they don't receive our progressive Jackpot Modifier.