9 Coins review
9 Coins is a Wazdan slot released on 7 July 2022 that launched the studio’s whole Coins series. Treasure and heads-or-tails coins set a simple theme, but the design is unusual: on a 3×3 grid of nine separate reels the base game pays nothing at all. Every prize sits in the Hold the Jackpot bonus round, and the base game is simply the route there.
Coins, blanks and Cash Infinity
The studio pitches the game as a coin toss: flip coins, uncover hidden Bonus symbols and see which way luck falls. Golden coins fill the grid and nothing else. No card ranks, fruit or characters need learning, so the screen reads instantly: a cell either holds a coin or it is empty.
Each cell shows a Bonus coin, Cash Infinity or a blank. One or two coins alone do not pay. Three Bonus symbols of any kind landing on the middle reel activate Hold the Jackpot. Cash Infinity retention is separately described using the middle row. That difference in terms should not be flattened into a rule that any three coins anywhere trigger the feature. The original product description does not give its starting respin counter.
Cash Infinity can appear randomly during base play and remain in position until the feature starts. A retained symbol stays in the current layout instead of needing to land again on every spin. Several held coins should not be treated as money already paid: the original game awards its prizes through the bonus.
A retained coin changes the current layout without guaranteeing a soon-arriving bonus. A middle-row position carries a money value into the feature; no such guarantee is stated for the upper or lower row. Symbol, trigger and full-grid probabilities are undisclosed.
Hold the Jackpot symbols and Collector
| Symbol | Role | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | Standard prize symbol | 1x to 5x the bet |
| Cash Infinity | Carried in from the base game when it sat on the middle row | 5x to 10x the bet |
| Collector | Adds up every Cash and Cash Infinity value | total multiplied by 1x to 9x |
| Mystery | Turns into any other Bonus symbol except Cash Infinity | depends on the reveal |
| Magic Mystery | Reveals a jackpot symbol | Mini, Minor or Major |
| Mini, Minor, Major | Can also land directly | corresponding jackpot; multiplier undisclosed |
| Grand Jackpot | All nine positions filled with Bonus symbols | 500x the stake |
Mini, Minor and Major award their corresponding jackpots, but the public original-game description does not list their exact multipliers. A tier name alone does not establish a cash amount. Filling the grid awards a 500x Grand, and Wazdan lists the same multiplier as Max Win. Adding those two labels together would not establish a separate 1,000x ceiling. The total-award limit and the portion eligible for Gamble need the rules of the particular version.
An illustrative Collector example has Cash Infinity x7 and Cash x2, x3 and x5 summing to 17 bets. Collector x4 records 17 × 4 = 68 bets. This is one symbol’s pay in an invented layout, rather than a typical result or an established whole-round total formula. Mystery can reveal Collector, Cash or a jackpot; possible reveals establish neither equal odds nor Magic Mystery’s superiority on every grid.
Peppers and the distribution of wins
Volatility Levels lets you pick the variance: one red chilli for more frequent small wins, three for rarer bigger ones, two for a balance. The switch sits in the main interface and can be changed between spins.
The original carries a Medium-High risk rating and 96.06% RTP. That is its overall product rating; the peppers let you choose a payout distribution within the game. The lowest setting does not promise to recover the cost of each spin. Neither individual symbol frequencies nor a fixed interval between features is disclosed.
There are no line wins to return part of the stake between bonuses. A run of non-paying spins is therefore possible even at one pepper. Choosing more frequent smaller awards does not make the next paid spin a guaranteed cash result.
Stakes, buying and Gamble
Buy Feature provides direct entry to the bonus. The public original-game card gives neither its price nor a separate return percentage. The four entry levels described for 1000 Edition cannot automatically be assigned to original 9 Coins. Comparing entries requires both the total price and the starting symbols supplied.
Cash, Cash Infinity and Grand multipliers refer to the stake rather than the purchase price. For example, 5x a base stake of 0.20 is 1.00 in the same currency. With a separately priced entry, an award of five base stakes need not mean a profit on the purchase. The public product specification does not give a universal stake range with a named currency, so one launch’s limits should not be presented as limits for every operator.
Regular RTP cannot be treated as the separate RTP of a bonus buy without confirmation. Gamble offers up to seven doublings, each with a 50/50 chance; a miss loses the win placed at risk. With independent steps, the chance of completing the chain is 1/128. This calculation does not override limits on eligible amounts.
How the Coins series developed
| Edition | Date | Reels / RTP | Max | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Coins 1000 Edition | 29 Sep 2022 | 9 / 96.14% | 1,000x | High |
| 12 Coins | 24 May 2023 | 12 / 96.13% | 750x | High |
| 9 Coins Extremely Light | 30 Aug 2023 | 9 / 96.06% | 500x | Medium-High |
| 9 Coins Grand Diamond Edition | 5 Oct 2023 | 9 / 96.15% | 5,000x | Very high |
| 25 Coins | 26 Jan 2024 | 25 / 96.17% | 2,000x | High |
| 16 Coins Grand Gold Edition | 27 Mar 2024 | 16 / 96.15% | 2,000x | High |
| 36 Coins | 29 May 2024 | 36 / 96.16% | 2,000x | High |
The table lists separate releases rather than settings within one game. In 1000 Edition the Grand rises to 1,000x and four purchasable entries supply different starting symbols. 12 Coins has twelve positions, needs four Bonus symbols on the middle row to start its feature, and gives three respins that reset when a new symbol arrives. Its Collector multiplies the sum by 1x–20x. These are that edition’s rules, rather than replacements for the nine-position original.
Grand Diamond Edition adds Chance Level, with the stake price increasing by up to 10x, and Cash Out. Cash Out accumulates Bonus symbol values and pays a portion after 20 spins during base play. A tenfold stake cost does not establish a tenfold probability increase. The rule that money is won only in the bonus describes original 9 Coins, rather than the entire family.
25 Coins uses a Cluster Collector that collects adjacent symbol values. Original 9 Coins instead has a Collector that adds every Cash and Cash Infinity value on the field. 36 Coins expands the layout to 6×6, while Sticky to Infinity can retain Cluster Collector, Mystery and Jackpot Mystery until the next bonus ends. Position matters differently when collection is limited to neighbours.
Extremely Light is a separate release with reworked graphics and a lower device load. Matching 96.06% RTP and a 500x Grand does not establish the same frequency for every event across all configurations. 16 Coins Grand Gold Edition lists a 2,000x Grand; neither its grid size nor the word Gold establishes how often that award appears.
The series also has an awards history. The original was nominated for Online Slot of the Year at the Global Gaming Awards 2023 and picked up nominations at the International Gaming Awards 2023, EGR North America Awards 2023, CasinoBeats Game Developer Awards 2023 and AskGamblers Awards 2023. In 2024 the whole Coins series was shortlisted again by CasinoBeats for Game Mechanic of the Year and Game Feature of the Year.
Wazdan builds the original around Bonus coins; Buffalo Hold and Win by Booming combines coin retention with regular lines and pays between features. An original 9 Coins stake funds a search for the bonus without intermediate line pays. In Buffalo, the spin can pay regular combinations as well as build towards its cash feature. The shared Hold and Win format therefore sits within a different base-game rhythm.
