Last updated: 13-07-2026
There are two versions of Chicken Road floating around AU casino lobbies, and they don't pay the same. The original runs at 98% RTP. Chicken Road 2.0 — the sequel most sites now push as default — drops to 95.5%. I checked FastPay's game info panel directly before writing this, because most reviews don't even mention the split exists. If you've been playing the sequel thinking you're on the 98% version, that's a 2.5-point gap working against you every round. It's the kind of detail that gets buried in a game's info panel and never mentioned on a lobby tile, which is exactly why it's worth five minutes to confirm before you commit a session bankroll to it.
What is Chicken Road and how does it work?
Chicken Road is a crash-style step game from InOut Games, not a traditional pokie — no reels, no paylines. You send a chicken across a road, and each safe step raises a multiplier. Cash out any time. Miss the timing and hit an obstacle, and the round busts at zero. There's no autoplay in the base version, which means every cashout decision is manual — something worth knowing before you start, since it's more hands-on than most instant games in FastPay's lobby.
Every round runs on provably fair SHA-512 verification, so the outcome is generated before you play and can be checked afterward. That's a meaningful difference from a standard pokie's RNG, where you're trusting the system without a way to verify any single spin. In practice, the server generates a hashed seed before the round starts; once the round ends, you can compare the revealed seed against the hash to confirm nothing was altered mid-play. It's a technical process, but the short version is: the outcome wasn't adjusted based on how you played.
The visual presentation is simple by design — a chicken, a road, a row of tiles, and a multiplier ticking upward with each step. There's no bonus round, no free spins, no wild symbols to track. That simplicity is part of the appeal for players who find traditional pokies too cluttered, but it also means there's nowhere to hide from a bad decision — every cashout is entirely on you.
Difficulty modes — how they change the risk
FastPay's Chicken Road runs four difficulty modes: Easy, Medium, Hard and Hardcore. Easy mode means smaller multiplier steps but a much higher chance of reaching the next safe tile — closer to Low volatility. Hardcore flips that completely: multipliers jump fast, but the obstacle probability per step is high enough that most rounds bust within the first few steps. I've seen players move straight to Hardcore expecting bigger wins without realising how quickly a A$100 session can burn through on that setting alone.
The trade-off isn't just about how often you bust — it's about how the multiplier curve is shaped underneath each mode. On Easy, the multiplier climbs slowly but steadily, so a cautious player can bank a modest profit across several rounds without ever pushing their luck. Medium sits in the middle and is genuinely the setting most regular players gravitate to once they've had a few sessions to get a feel for the game — enough risk to make cashing out feel meaningful, without the whiplash of Hardcore's early busts. Hard and Hardcore are where the game earns its crash-game reputation: multipliers can look tempting within the first three or four steps, but the maths behind those modes means a large share of rounds end before you get anywhere near a decent cashout.
- Easy — frequent small cashouts, best for building session length on a tight bankroll
- Medium — balanced step risk, the most commonly played setting
- Hard — fewer safe steps before a likely bust, higher multiplier per step
- Hardcore — extreme step risk, multipliers climb fastest but busts come early and often
Worth noting: switching modes mid-session doesn't carry over any state from the previous mode — each round starts fresh regardless of which difficulty you were on before. That means there's no "warming up" advantage to starting on Easy before moving to Hardcore; the maths resets every single round.
| Parameter | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | InOut Games | — |
| RTP (original) | 98% | Verify version in-game before punting |
| RTP (Chicken Road 2.0) | 95.5% | Most sites default to the sequel |
| Volatility | Variable | Low on Easy, Very High on Hardcore |
| Max win | A$20,000 per round | — |
| Autoplay | Not available | Base version is manual cashout only |
| Provably fair | SHA-512 | Verifiable per round |
| Demo mode | Yes | No registration required |
Author's tip from Zoe McAllister, Pokies & Casino Review Writer: "Check which version you're loading before you punt — the info panel will show whether it's the original 98% build or Chicken Road 2.0 at 95.5%. That gap matters over a long session."
Does the welcome bonus cover Chicken Road?
Crash-style games like Chicken Road are treated differently to pokies under most wagering terms, and eligibility isn't always obvious from the promo page alone. Worth checking FastPay's bonus terms directly before assuming your playthrough contributes at the same rate as a standard pokie session — contribution percentages for instant games commonly sit lower than the 100% pokies get, and in some cases crash games are excluded from wagering entirely.
This matters more than it might seem, because if you're working through a bonus playthrough and Chicken Road only contributes at, say, 10%, a A$100 wager on this game only counts as A$10 toward clearing your bonus. Playing it as your primary game while trying to clear a wagering requirement can stretch a session out far longer than expected, or leave you short when the bonus expires.
Bankroll guidance by difficulty mode
On a A$100 session, Easy mode typically stretches furthest — smaller, steadier cashouts mean the bankroll depletes slowly even across a long run of rounds. Medium is where most players land after a few sessions: enough risk to make cashing out feel like a decision rather than a formality, without the rapid drawdown of the higher settings. Hard and Hardcore both eat through a A$100 bankroll fast if played continuously — Hardcore especially, where a string of early busts can clear a session bankroll in a fraction of the rounds it would take on Easy.
A practical approach: start a session on Easy or Medium to get a read on how the round pacing feels, then decide whether Hard or Hardcore fits your risk appetite for the rest of the session — rather than jumping straight into the highest-risk setting on the first round.
Who Chicken Road actually suits
This isn't a game for players who want to set a spin count and walk away — the lack of autoplay means you're actively involved in every single round, deciding whether to push one more step or bank what you've got. That makes it a good fit if you enjoy games where the decision is entirely yours rather than watching reels resolve automatically, but a poor fit if you'd rather queue up 50 spins and check back later.
If you're coming from pokies and want something with a similarly quick round time but without reels, Easy or Medium mode is the more comparable experience — steady, incremental, and less likely to wipe a bankroll in a handful of rounds. If you've played other crash-format games like Aviator and enjoyed the tension of watching a number climb, Hard or Hardcore mode captures more of that same feeling, just with steps instead of a continuously rising multiplier.
Set a session limit before you switch modes — Hardcore burns through a bankroll far faster than the multiplier ceiling suggests. Curious what other terms like "provably fair" or "playthrough" actually mean? Check the glossary. Already got an account? Head to login, or browse the full lobby from the homepage.
Fancy something with reels instead? Gates of Olympus and Sweet Bonanza are FastPay's most-played pokies, or stay in instant-game territory with Plinko and Aviator.
