Bonanza by Big Time Gaming - Online Slot Review

The first contact with Bonanza Megaways may be slightly overwhelming for those players who are used to a classic 5x3 or even 5x4 reel setup. Symbols of different sizes, each reel containing a different number, plus an extra reel at the top that spins horizontally. However, that first confusion seems to dissolve quickly, making way for entertaining gameplay filled with anticipation on every spin.

With a 12,000 times bet win potential and a super-rewarding free spins round, which is said to be as rare as striking gold itself, Bonanza Megaways is a perfect casino game for those who prefer to "go big or go home."

How To Win On Bonanza Megaways Slot - Features and Mechanics

Bonanza is one of the first online slots that featured the MEGAWAYS™ mechanic. It was a huge step forward from the omnipresent 10 and 20-liners and the more innovative productions that offered 243 or even 1024 ways to win.

Big Time Gaming was not about to compromise, and they had hit the online casino industry with 117,649 possible ways of creating a winning combination. Surprisingly enough, not everyone considered this a groundbreaking feature, and Bonanza's beginnings were relatively slow, with even some of the biggest casinos turning the game down initially.

It was only after the gambling streaming community noticed the slot's potential, or rather its elusive bonus round, that the fame started to spread rapidly. Probably within a year, Bonanza became a permanent occupant of the top 10 best-performing games chart with most of the online casinos.

Base Mechanics

In simple terms, this massive number of ways comes from having 2 to 7 symbols in view on each of the 6 reels. The "ways" part makes it seem easy to create wins, as all you need to care about is having matching symbols on at least 3 adjacent reels (in case the top paying one, just 2) to get a payout.

Additionally, the "reaction" (or "cascading") mechanic doesn't end the round after the first win. Winning symbols explode, making any remaining ones above them fall down to fill the empty spots while making room for more new symbols dropping from outside the screen.

Regular symbols come in three categories:

- low-paying: royals from 9 to A

- mid-paying: gems – green, blue, red

- top-paying: diamond

Bonanza Slot Features and Bonus Round

Bonanza's only base game feature is the Wild symbol, which appears only on the top horizontal reel and takes the form of a cart filled with dynamite.

In the base game, you will occasionally spot symbols in the shape of a golden plate with one of the four letters on it – G, O, L, or D. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you need to score a complete word, to trigger the bonus round.

And that's when the real fun begins.

Initially, you get 12 free spins, but there is a possibility to get more:

- while still in the base game, any extra Scatters aside from the already scored G.O.L.D., will award 5 additional free spins,

- a different kind of Scatter comes into play in the bonus round – a cart filled with gold bars. Like the Wild, it is available only on the top, horizontal reel. Landing 3 will grant you 5 additional free spins, and landing 4 awards 10.

So what is so special about this bonus round that everyone is chasing it? The answer comes in three words: unlimited progressive multiplier.

Every win will increase the multiplier by x1. Together with the reaction mechanic, this produces unbelievable potential. Remember that one spin can turn into multiple cascades/reactions, and each counts as a win. So technically, you can increase that multiplier by more than just x1 on each full spin.

With the option of extending the bonus round by achieving more free spins, that total multiplier can grow to a monstrous size.

Graphics and Audio

You open the game, and suddenly you're taken to an entrance of a 19th-century mine. Massive boulders sit on the slope, covered with moss and grass. At the foot, there's a little shack where you can rest after a full day of searching for gold. The setting sun is reflecting from the windows, letting you know it's time to sit back and enjoy the view while listening to the calming hum of a nearby waterfall.

The feel of Bonanza's artwork is difficult to classify. Something about it reminds us of video games of the 90s. Not much is going on in terms of background animations, aside from the waterfall that powers a giant wheel. The reels are set in a frame of boulders, giving the impression of being inside the mountain.

All symbols on the main reels rest on fragments of stone that will explode when winning combinations land. The symbols on the extra top reel ride on the carts and roll into the screen horizontally from the right.

When the game is idle, there are hardly any sounds to pick up. From time to time, you can catch a faint trickle of lazy banjo sounds and heavy footsteps across a wooden floor. All that accompanied by a distant, echoing sound of a pickaxe working its way through the rocks.

Everything changes by 180 degrees when you hit that spin button. The music instantly picks up the tempo, and between different, random fragments, you'll be able to recognize a theme tune from a classic western tv show under the same title – Bonanza.

Bonanza Megaways On Mobile

Bonanza Megaways is available on all mobile devices in both portrait and landscape modes. While the latter is an exact copy of the desktop view, the vertical orientation needs significant improvements.

The main view of the reels floats in the center of the screen, surrounded by darkness. Solitary U.I. buttons sit at the bottom of the screen like they are worlds apart from the game itself. Of course, it doesn't take anything away from the slot, but it feels strange that the studio didn't adjust the background to fit the entire screen estate nicely.

Bonanza Slot – The Conclusion

Big Time Gaming mixed all the right ingredients in Bonanza. Even though the road to the bonus round is long and brutal, it's clear that it can turn one's fate around.

Among all slots, those with MEGAWAYS™ offer the easiest way of scoring wins, theoretically. Combine that with cascading symbols and a growing, unlimited multiplier, and you get a bunch of gears that were born to work together.

We wish everyone could strike G.O.L.D. at least once in Bonanza!