Bonanza

Bonanza review

Big Time Gaming has been around for a really long time. Much longer than even we thought they were, actually! Their first slots date back all the way to 2013, making this year their sixth in the business! Despite that, we found a lot of people never heard of them before Bonanza came along. This is not a general rule by any means, but it was common enough to stick out to us. So what was so different about this game?

The videoslothas a huge playing field with six reels and up to seven or eight rows per each reel. The number of total ways to win could reach a staggering 117649! Wins were paid for collecting three or more identical symbols in adjacent positions, from left to right only.

The slot’s special features are quite easy to grasp. Carts above the second, third, fourth and fifth reel means you always have extra icons to complete wins with! Collect four Scatters to win free spins, with an unrestricted multiplier! There is also no limit as to how many extra free spins you can win, so go wild!

Theme & Symbols

To be perfectly honest with you, dear readers, we never expected one of our favorite games to be about mining! But Bonanza is all about the satisfaction of ripping large, chunky gems out of bedrock and winning big! Thanks to the mechanization present on the reels, you do not even need to do any manual labor! Just press the button and let the magic happen.

We were quite pleased with the visuals. Water slowly pouring down the wheel and turning it made for a nice touch. We like the animation where the stone blocks first crack, and then explode! The slot is hardly a visual powerhouse, but knows how to highlight its best parts.

But it’s not just rushing mine carts and exploding rocks disturbing the nearby peaceful plant life. The symbols are also there, and they are a mixed bag. The precious gemstones are easy to swallow. Miners dig them up, you pluck them in your pocket, and net yourself some tidy earnings.

We find that to be a much more difficult sell when we are supposedly mining playing card icons. We would have killed for a little more icon diversity!

How to Play

Bonanza is played on six reels, with varying heights on each spin. Each reel can have between two to seven symbols horizontally. This is randomly selected, and is separate for each reel. Naturally, this also changes the number of available ways to win every time you spin. The game helpfully gives you that information at the very top of the screen because of that.

And while there is a lot to love about this Big Time Gaming release, gameplay diversity is not one of them. It is not without its redeeming qualities! Cascading reels, or reactions, as the developer calls them, is still one of the best slots additions in recent years. Unfortunately, outside of some notoriously difficult to trigger free spins, the gameplay can be very boring and full of dead spins.

While each spin has a chance to grant 117649 ways to win, the game helpfully likes to pretend like it actually has 20 paylines. This is fantastic value for casual and mid-range online gamblers, who can bet at a minimum of €0.20 per spin. High rollers can already be seen gritting their teeth, since they are restricted to €20 per spin. But we imagine they will stick around regardless, thanks to the massive winning potential!

Bananza Bonus Features

Understanding Bonanza’s bonuses is the first step towards mastering it! Fortunately for you, we are here to give you the simple version.

• Carts

Above the second, third, fourth and fifth reel, you will find carts with symbols in them. They are quite useful for completing wins that might otherwise not go through. When a cart contributes to a win, it drives off back into the mine, and a new one takes its place.

• Reactions

This is Big Time Gaming’s way to refer to cascading reels. What does that actually mean, however? When a winning combination happens, the icons that were part of it blow up! Existing symbols then fall into these empty spaces, filling them up. Meanwhile, new icons fall from the top of the reels to fill out any empty positions. Under the right circumstances, this allows for multiple wins from a single spin.

• Free Spins

Winning free spins is simple mechanically – and annoyingly diffuclt in practice. Collect four GOLD Scatters to win twelve free spins. Any extra Scatters that land grant five more free spins! After the bonus starts, Scatters only appear in carts, and you need three or four to win more extra turns.

• Unlimited Win Multiplier

This special feature is only available during free spins, and is what made Bonanza so popular. Each time a Reaction takes place, your multiplier goes up by one. And since they do not reset between reactions, you can get some stupidly high wins as a result. If you wanted to know why free spins are so incredibly difficult to trigger? It’s this mechanic, right here.

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Payouts

This Big Time Gaming release has an incredibly high volatility. So much so that we have to warn players. While you can bet small and win big, you will have to make a lot of small bets. Make sure you top off before playing, or you will find yourself penniless very quickly!

There is no technical limit as to how high wins could possibly go. Unrestricted multipliers and the ability to win more free spins will do that to you. The RTP for Bonanza is a flat 96% – which is the current industry average.