Cats is an IGT pokie that made its way from casino floors to online play. The digital version? Pretty much identical to what you’d find in a brick-and-mortar venue: 5 reels, 3 rows, 30 paylines, and a bunch of feline faces staring back at you. Don’t expect cascading mechanics or cluster pays here—this one sticks to basics. What you should expect: stacked Wilds that can flip a dead spin into something worthwhile, and a Free Spins feature that kicks in when Diamond Collar symbols line up just right.
I’ve played Cats with actual money. Here’s what I noticed: the game lives and dies by those Wild stacks. You’ll spin through plenty of ordinary results, then—boom—a full reel of Wilds drops and suddenly half your paylines connect. It’s old-school design, no pretense about it.
Want to see how those stacks behave before risking your own cash? The free Cats demo on WinPockets lets you mess around with virtual credits.
How to Play Cats
Playing a round of Cats isn’t complicated:
The interface won’t confuse you—IGT keeps things consistent across their games. Paytable’s easy to access mid-session if you need to double-check symbol values. The demo uses the same layout, so you can poke around before committing real money.
Gameplay & Winning Combinations
You’re working with a 5×3 grid and 30 paylines. Three matching symbols minimum on a payline (sometimes fewer for the premium cats) running left to right from the first reel—that’s a win.
The Wild symbol? That’s where things get interesting. It shows up in stacks, meaning it can occupy part of a reel or swallow it whole. Since 30 lines cut through each reel position, one fully stacked Wild in the middle can suddenly complete wins across multiple lines in one go.
In practice, this creates a streaky rhythm. Most spins deliver small wins or nothing at all. The good stuff happens when Wild stacks align with stacked premium symbols. I appreciated how transparent this is—no meters to track, no collection gimmicks. You just watch where the stacks land and hope they cooperate.
What Are the Cats Pokie Symbols and Their Values?
The paytable mixes cat-themed symbols with lower-value filler:
Premium symbols
Lower-paying symbols
Special symbols
Payouts scale with your bet. Check the in-game paytable for exact values—the gap between premium cats and lower symbols is pretty significant.
How Do the Free Spins and Bonus Features Work?
Cats keeps it minimal. Two features, both centered on Wilds.
Stacked Wilds
This is the soul of Cats, really. It’s why you can grind through quiet spins and then suddenly hit a multi-line win that makes up for it.
Diamond Collar Free Spins
The Free Spins round is where Cats gets spicy. Five spins isn’t much to work with initially. The real appeal is retriggers—if you can extend the round, those stacked Wilds have more opportunities to do damage. But be warned: a short feature with no retrigger can fizzle out fast. I’ve had both experiences. Treat it as a variance play, not a guaranteed payout.
What Is the RTP and Volatility of the Cats Slot?
Cats runs at 94.20% RTP. That’s… not great, honestly. Most modern online pokies hover around 96%. RTP is a theoretical long-term figure calculated over millions of spins, so it won’t dictate your next session. But over time? That 94.20% means the house edge is a bit steeper than you’d find elsewhere.
Volatility sits at medium. Makes sense given the structure: regular small wins punctuated by bigger hits when Wild stacks cooperate and Free Spins retrigger. If you’re comparing pokies purely on return, that 94.20% is the weak spot here.
What Is the Max Win on Cats?
Cats doesn’t shout about a maximum win multiplier like newer pokies do. The biggest results come from premium cat symbols filling multiple paylines at once, usually with stacked Wilds doing the heavy lifting. The Free Spins round—especially with retriggers—gives the most room for these combinations to stack up.
Since payouts are line-based and scale with your stake, the paytable shows your potential top values based on your bet. Just know that the upper end of that paytable represents rare outcomes, not something you should expect regularly.
What Are the Theme, Graphics & Sound of Cats?
The theme? Cats. Shocking, I know. You’ve got cat portraits—domestic, wild, everything in between—plus the Diamond Collar adding a touch of glamour. The land-based roots show: graphics are clean and sharp, but animations are pretty restrained compared to modern online releases.
I didn’t mind the dated look. Symbols are easy to distinguish, and spotting a stacked Wild reel (which is what actually matters) is straightforward. Sound design follows typical IGT cabinet style—spin effects, win chimes, a slight shift when the bonus triggers. Functional, not memorable. If you’re after cinematic pokies with elaborate animations, Cats will feel plain.
Play Cats Free on Mobile
The online version runs in your mobile browser, and the WinPockets demo works the same way. No app download needed. The 5×3 grid translates well to phone screens, and symbols stay readable in both portrait and landscape modes.
Touch controls cover the basics: stake adjustment, spin, paytable access. Free Spins and stacked Wilds work identically to desktop, so the demo’s a practical way to learn the trigger mechanics before playing with real money.
Our Verdict
Cats is a no-frills IGT pokie. Its identity comes from stacked Wilds on a 30-line grid and a Free Spins round that can extend through retriggers. I like how readable it is—you always know what you’re waiting for, and when a Wild stack lands in the right spot, it’s immediately obvious.
The downsides? Equally clear. That 94.20% RTP lags behind most current online pokies, and the feature set is thin by modern standards. A Free Spins round starting at 5 spins can end abruptly without retriggers. The presentation is tidy but dated.
For me, Cats suits players who enjoy classic, land-based-style pokies with medium volatility and straightforward rules. If you want layered bonus mechanics, higher RTPs, or big advertised multipliers, look elsewhere. Try the free demo first—it’s a sensible way to see if the pace works for you.
