Play Demo
The city skyline glows red behind the reels and a live paytable runs down the left side of the screen, updating in real time as the bonus pots build. That’s the first thing you notice loading up Big City 5’s — IGT has put the prize information front and centre rather than burying it in a separate menu. It’s a practical touch in a game that leans heavily on its Bonus Pots system. This 5×3, 20-payline slot from IGT keeps its visual identity firmly in classic casino territory: Jackpot Bars, card suits, playing card royals, all set against a dark urban backdrop. The gameplay hook is the Bonus Pots feature, where every symbol has its own accumulating prize pot that grows with near-wins and pays out in full on the right combination.
Every paying symbol except the Wild and Scatter has a dedicated bonus pot displayed on the left panel of the screen. The pot for each symbol starts at its base 5-of-a-kind prize value and builds upward as the game is played. Any 3- or 4-of-a-kind win, with or without a Wild, increments the corresponding symbol’s pot. A 5-of-a-kind win that includes a Wild also increments rather than awards the pot.
The pot is awarded in full when a 5-of-a-kind win lands without a Wild during the regular game. Once awarded, that symbol’s pot resets to its base value and starts accumulating again. Crucially, bonus pot values persist between play sessions at the same bet level, so a pot can grow across multiple visits. The displayed values update automatically when you change your stake, since all pot values are multiplied by coin value.
Any Red (a combination of Hearts and Diamonds) and Any Black (Clubs and Spades) combinations do not increment any bonus pot.
Triggered by landing 3 or more scattered 5 symbols on consecutive reels starting from reel 1. Three scatters awards 15 free spins, four awards 20, and five awards 25. The free spins reels are richer than the regular game reels, increasing the frequency of higher-value symbols.
The Bonus Pots rules change during free spins: every 5-of-a-kind win, whether it includes a Wild or not, awards the corresponding bonus pot rather than incrementing it. A 5-of-a-kind made entirely of Wild symbols awards the Jackpot pot. Bonus pots do not increment at all during free spins. The bonus can retrigger multiple times up to a cap of 200 free spins per bonus round, with the same scatter counts awarding the same additional spin amounts.
Winning combinations require at least three matching symbols on a payline, running left to right from reel 1 across consecutive reels. The Wild symbol substitutes for all symbols except the Scatter in both the regular game and free spins. There are no bonus buy options.
The paytable on the left of the screen shows live bonus pot values for each symbol at your current bet level, so it’s worth checking before you start as pots can vary considerably depending on how much has accumulated since the last award.
The RTP for this game is 94.05%, confirmed in the in-game payback information screen. This sits below the current industry average and is worth factoring in when deciding on session length and stake. Volatility is low, with wins landing regularly at modest values between the less frequent bonus pot awards.
Base game line win values shown in coins (multiply by your coin value for cash equivalent).
| Symbol | 5 of a Kind | 4 of a Kind | 3 of a Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jackpot Bar | 5,000 | 1,500 | 100 |
| BAR | 5,000 | 1,500 | 100 |
| Clubs | 2,000 | 500 | 50 |
| Hearts | 1,000 | 400 | 30 |
| Diamonds | 700 | 300 | 25 |
| Spades | 500 | 250 | 20 |
| A | 300 | 175 | 15 |
| K | 200 | 125 | 10 |
| Q | 150 | 75 | 7 |
| J | 100 | 50 | 5 |
| Any Red (Hearts/Diamonds) | 70 | 20 | 5 |
| Any Black (Clubs/Spades) | 70 | 20 | 5 |
The following coin values are added to each symbol’s bonus pot on the corresponding win.
| Symbol | 5-of-a-Kind (with Wild) | 4-of-a-Kind | 3-of-a-Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jackpot Bar | 200 | 40 | 25 |
| BAR | 200 | 40 | 25 |
| Clubs | 100 | 30 | 20 |
| Hearts | 70 | 25 | 15 |
| Diamonds | 60 | 20 | 12 |
| Spades | 50 | 15 | 10 |
| A | 45 | 12 | 7 |
| K | 40 | 10 | 5 |
| Q | 35 | 8 | 3 |
| J | 30 | 6 | 2 |
| Scatters | Free Spins Awarded |
|---|---|
| 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 20 |
| 5 | 25 |
The same amounts apply for retriggers. Maximum 200 free spins per bonus.
Big City 5's is a functional, undemanding slot that does one thing with some genuine cleverness: the Bonus Pots system turns every near-miss into something that actually matters. A 3-of-a-kind on the Jackpot Bar isn't just a consolation win, it's a contribution to a pot that will pay out in full when the right spin arrives. That's a meaningful reframe of how regular play feels, and it's the main reason to spend time with this game. Set against that, the presentation is dated, the RTP of 94.05% is below average, and the sound design is actively irritating — a short jingle fires on every spin with a repetitiveness that makes the mute button feel like a necessary step rather than an option.
The city backdrop makes a reasonable first impression and the live bonus pot display on the left is immediately useful; you can see at a glance which pots have built up and which have recently reset. The symbols themselves don’t add much: Jackpot Bars, card suits, and playing card royals are as generic as slot symbols get, and nothing on the reels helps the game establish any personality beyond the urban setting.
Sound is the biggest problem in practice. There’s no ongoing soundtrack, which isn’t unusual, but the spin jingle — a short three-second beat that plays on every single spin without variation, becomes irritating faster than almost any audio we’ve encountered. Smaller wins trigger their own brief jingle, and bigger wins prompt a seductive voice announcing the bonus pot. In isolation both are reasonable touches; combined with the spin jingle repeating relentlessly, the overall audio experience made the mute button feel like a necessary step rather than a choice.
The Bonus Pots feature does hold attention in the way it’s designed to. Watching the pot for a specific symbol creep upward across a run of 3- and 4-of-a-kind wins, knowing a clean 5-of-a-kind without a Wild will collect it in full, gives the regular game a low-level tension that pure payline slots don’t generate. Whether that’s enough to offset a below-average RTP and functional-at-best presentation is a question each player will answer differently. For a free play demo session, it’s worth understanding how the system works.
A reasonable return on our £2 stake
