Bonanza Megaways slot review

In for a bumpy ride? Bonanza sees us go on a mining adventure, which is a lot more eventful than it sounds, so it’s no surprise that this is one of Big Time Gaming’s more popular slots. Along with immersive graphics and music, there are some fun bonus features in which you can win big too, so there’s plenty of excitement here. If you think you might be interested in going down the mines, keep reading...

Key features:

Reels: 6

Paylines: Megaways

Min bet: 20p

Max bet: £20

Slot RTP: 96%

Provider: Big Time Gaming

The hills have eyes

The graphics here are quite realistic in nature, depicting a mine and cart on the side of the mountain. It could almost be a photograph, if not for the waterfall in action and of course the spinning reels. The colourful symbols - particularly the jewels - are juxtaposed against the grey rock they live on, and there’s plenty of lush, green vegetation growing too, showing a real mix of natural and man-made.

A song plays when you’ve got the game on, but it’s not distracting until you actually spin the reels. Give them a spin and a loud folk track, full of energy, starts to play - you can hear sound effects of the cart moving along the rocks too, so it’s quite immersive. It definitely feels as if more thought has been put into the soundtrack and graphics of Bonanza than many other slots of a similar nature.

Mines and paylines

This slot has six reels in total, but the number of symbols in each reel is never certain! From spin to spin, the number can change, with up to seven symbols appearing on each reel during a spin. As a result, there are up to 117,649 ways to win on each spin. To win, simply match symbols from the leftmost reel rightwards, and symbols don’t have to be directly touching for them to win.

There are a lot of symbols to look out for, from numbers and letters to four precious gemstones. The most valuable, the purple jewel, can get you £50 from a £1 spin! Meanwhile, above the middle four reels is the mine train, complete with four carts. These each contain a symbol, adding it to the reel they’re above. When you get a win, all winning symbols disappear, and are replaced by new symbols coming in, so you could get more than one win from the same spin.

Unlimited Bonanza wins?

There’s a wild symbol here - it takes the form of dynamite - and it substitutes for every symbol apart from the scatter symbol. Speaking of the scatter symbols, they give you the chance to win free spins, as matching four will get you a total of 12 to use. Should you get additional scatter symbols, they’ll each give you an extra five, so 12 is really the minimum!

While you’re playing your free spins, you might come across some free spin scatter symbols appearing in the carts. Three of them will give you five extra free spins, while four will give you another ten to add to your lot! There’s also an unlimited multiplier to make the most of while you’re playing too. It starts at one, and increases after every reaction, so you could end up with some big wins as a result!

Conclusion

You might not have played any other mining-themed games previously, but Bonanza is definitely a good one to start with. The theme stays interesting throughout, with some fun features like reactions and the carts really tying in with the premise of the slot, and the potential for some big wins too. With fairly-high volatility, it might not be the right slot for players less-inclined to take risks, but otherwise is another great offering from Big Time Gaming.

Provider

A smaller provider, Big Time Gaming is independent and based in Australia. They offer a number of Megaways slots from Bonanza to the likes of Dragon Born Megaways - the very first Megaways offering. They tend to put a lot of care into their games with great graphics and design, so although they’re less well-known than others, they’re definitely on the rise. Why not try out some of their other games?