Bonanza Slot

After so many times of being surprised upon loading a new slot machine, you’d think we’d be prepared for anything, but then we opened Bonanza and was amazed all over again. The title fits, but only after you’ve tried out the madness that is the various ways in which you can play and win.

Big Time Gaming have gone all out here, providing a great combination of well crafted graphics and well thought out features. This means that, even despite the lack of variety in the extras given, the variance is medium to high due to how many times you can end up with a new set of icons. The reason for this is because of the Reaction Feature, a simple yet effective way of pumping up the action, without having to lay on an extravagant show; not that the animation isn’t enjoyable to watch.

While this slot has no specific theme as such (though it has plenty of novelty), it still won’t appeal to everyone, for it’s lavished with a lot of 3D imagery and flamboyant sound effects.

Mining for Wins

The game takes place in a woodland setting, with a cute cottage tucked away on one side of the 5 reels and a water wheel on the other, no doubt helping to power the kettle for all the cup of teas you’ll be needing whilst mining.

We grant you that the theme doesn’t fit, that it’s disconnected from the title, but luckily the theme matches the gameplay, and as a result a sort of continuum is formed along the way. Personally, we quite like the aesthetics at work here, but maybe that’s because Big Time Gaming have thought outside the box and delivered something fresh and innovative.

One aspect we can’t stand, though, is that hillbilly style music that plays as you spin the reels. It’s so corny and repetitive that your ears start to bleed from prolonged exposure. Enough with brands trying to be clever with the sound effects, sometimes it’s better to have minimal sounds or none at all, for it proves less annoying in the long run.

Carting off

No doubt you’ll have spotted the carts of symbols rolling along above the grid? They’re hard to miss, and carry with them the potential to alter the course of the game.

This exclusive design only impacts on the second, third, fourth and fifth reels, but it feels like it covers the whole of the matrix, such can be its generosity. That being said, with the collapsing reels and carts coming in and out, the game can get too busy and in turn overwhelm you as you play. It’s not the variety that overpowers, but the way it works.

Going for Gold

You can literally spell out the word ‘GOLD’ and get yourself a lot of prizes, which makes the scatter symbol one of the quirkiest we’ve found to date. You’ll need every letter for the feature to begin, but once it does gamers will be awarded 12 extra games. What is more, should a +5 scatter symbol show up during this time, another set of spins will be added to the total.

Although you’re still within the same game, the appearance of the mine will change to one underground, the earthy tones in full force as you watch the reactions work their magic to secure multiplied wins. Every time you successfully blow up another section of the mine, the multiplier will increase; it starts off at x1, but as it has no limitations it can grow to a monstrous size.

Megaways!

This isn’t your typical 3x5 grid: not only are there 6 reels, but there’s also up to seven symbols that can land on any one of these reels at a time, making this an ever changing array of outcomes and rewards. As such, there’s a staggering Megaway of 117,649. Think of this as a fancy and exclusive term that Big Time Gaming have come up with to make their multiple ways to play sound cooler.

Even though it sounds exciting, we didn’t find we won any more than expected, which is disappointing given the fact that the volatility (theoretically) should be much lower.