Description
Bonanza: Megaways from Big Time Gaming is played on six reels and up to seven rows, with an incredible maximum 117,640 Paylines. It takes the theme of a gold mine during the Wild West’s gold rush. You’ll see greenery, rocks and a hut in the background, and can enjoy some quirky, upbeat background music, too.
Bonanza is not the first slot to use MegaWays™, an influential random reel modifier concept which allows any given spin to create a varied number of symbols across the reels so that players enjoy a completely fresh game on each whirl. But it’s the most closely linked with it, and one of the most popular games running via the MegaWays™ engine.
Read on to learn why this game has become a cult classic.
How to play
Play Bonanza: Megaways from 20p a spin up to a modest maximum of £20 a whirl, on your device of choice.
The lowest-paying symbols are, as is standard, the playing-card values, 9, 10, J, Q, K and A, in turquoise, yellow, green, blue, red and purple respectively. These are followed by the more lucrative gemstone icons – including the sapphire, ruby, emerald and amethyst. The latter pays up to 50x wager for six in a row.
Every turn of the reels displays between two and seven symbols. As ever, you land a win with adjacent symbols, working from left to right. At the top of your screen, you’ll see the maximum number of ways of winning.
Another important thing to note is that you get help from the mining carts above the reels, which transport four additional emblems to help you win.
Bonanza: Megaways special features
Special symbols
The blazing sticks of dynamite serve as the Wild in this game. As usual, the Wild replaces all icons bar the Scatter.
As for the Scatter, as ever it’s your ticket to free spins, and here the Scatter is getting the symbols G, O, L and D in a line.
Bonus features
Free spins
This is where you’ll find the best winning opportunities. Initially, you rake in a dozen free whirls, but more are up for grabs during the bonus round. However, land more Scatters and you’ll enjoy a further five freebies.
While playing this feature, look out for exploding reels. If there’s a winning combo after an ‘explosion’, you get a multiplier, kicking off at 1x and rising by a factor of one at each ‘explosion’ after that, up to an unlimited maximum.
At the same time, those mining carts could have gold bars – three and you get five more whirls, four and you’re in line for 10 freebies.
Explosive reactions!
After a winning combo, the symbols explode, to be replaced by fresh ones, enhancing your chances of winning still further. It means you could enjoy several wins from a single spin, always a bonus.
What’s more, the ‘explosions’ continue until there are no more winning combos, so you’ll have a blast!
Jackpot
While there’s no progressive prize, the most you can win on one spin is 10,000x stake, which is more likely to happen during the free spins feature.
Return to Player (RTP)
You should find this a mid-variance game, offering a nice balance between size and frequency of wins. Equally, there’s a fairly average but healthy enough RTP or Return to Player of 96% here.
Verdict
Bonanza: Megaways is a game which has spawned numerous imitations since its release, and it offers lots in the way of action. One reviewer even described it as simply ‘one of the best online slots ever made’. It has cemented this operator’s reputation and popularised the MegaWays™ concept.
Visually, it’s also great, even if the graphics aren’t the sharpest in town. Give it a go, and tell us your thoughts.
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