Bonanza Megapays slot review

Bonanza Megapays is one of the latest releases by Big Time Gaming and it harkens back to some classic styles. The slot brings us into a busy mine where they are digging for gems and fortune. Players can enjoy a Megapays feature as well as wilds and free spins.

This slot might not look like it but it was released in 2021 and makes it one of the newest games by the studio. The graphics reminded me a lot of the type of slots that came out in the early days of the last decade. If that’s a good thing or not I will let you decide. The fact is that most of it is 3D with some limited animations. The game is built around a 6-reel playing field with variable rows.

There is also an extra row that is only 4 reels long on top of the playing field. This adds together into a slot with the number of paylines varying between 64 and a maximum of 117,649 paylines. Obviously, this depends on the random number of rows that each reel can have. This can be between 2 and 7 rows. The game is further loaded with a number of different features that are surely interesting for people who enjoy the Megapays functionality.

I was personally a bit disappointed by the graphics. Where other developers and slots make use of more natural-looking graphics and art, this game makes heavy use of 3D. The problem here is that it makes it look very fake and bland. The different items and symbols simply look like they’re smooth and ill-defined. This made it difficult for me to feel immersed.

Symbols

Bonanza Megapays makes use of a simple collection of symbols. There is the usual divide between low- and high-paying symbols. The low-paying ones are card letters that are printed on the side of rocks as they drop down. This does make sense in the context of it being a mine. The high-paying symbols are gems in different colours, also embedded in the rock. The extra row at the top meanwhile brings in extra symbols on a series of minecarts.

The gameplay is balanced around the slot’s High Volatility. This means players are less likely to get a big win, but once they do it is more often very big. In this game, it’s not like the player will never get any wins. It’s only that the payouts are generally too low to really help recover from the spins. Instead, players will have to focus on reaching the free spins mode where I found the biggest wins to be hiding.

This slot has an RTP of 96.4% which I would consider about average for a slot with this volatility. The player can tweak their risk a bit by either reducing or increasing their bets. This can be done with a number between £0.20 and £30 per spin. Meanwhile, there is a massive jackpot of 3,000,000x your bet waiting to change your life.

The symbols in this game include:

• Scatter: Get the letters GOLD to appear on the screen to activate the free spins mode.
• Dynamite: This symbol acts as a Wild, substituting all paying symbols in the game.
• Diamond: Max. 50 coins with 6-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Red Gem: Max. 7.5 coins with 6-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Blue Gem: Max. 2.5 coins with 6-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Green Gem: Max. 2 coins with 6-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Ace: Max. 1.75 coins with 6-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• King: Max. 1.75 coins with 6-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Queen: Max. 1.2 coins with 6-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Jack: Max. 1.2 coins with 6-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• 10: Max. 1 coin with 6-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• 9: Max. 1 coin with 6-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.

Features

Bonanza Megapays is a slot that comes with quite a lot of different features. Although the look of the slot might be somewhat outdated, these features definitely aren’t.

They include:

• Cascading Reels: Whenever there’s a win, the winning symbols drop away to make room for new symbols.
• Megaways: Each spin, all reels will have their own random number of rows. This changes with every spin.
• Megapays: During the base game, a random symbol can be selected to be the Megapays symbol.
• Respins: When a Megapays symbol is selected, respins are triggered. As long as a Megapays symbol appears on the screen the respins continue. If the player gets 4 or more of these symbols on the screen, they win one of the jackpots.
• Free Spins: When the letters GOLD appear on the screen, the free spins mode is activated. During the free spins mode, additional free spins can be added.
• Multipliers: While playing the free spins mode, any win will increase the multiplier by 1. This can continue indefinitely.

Most of the game will take place on the main screen as I found it difficult to trigger either the Megapays feature or the free spins. This meant that my funds kept dropping since it very much feels like the slot was built around these two features in order to get any big wins.

The Megaways feature and cascading reels help keep things interesting but you shouldn’t expect any big wins. The extra reel at the top is mostly useful during the free spins mode as it often helps plug gaps in the payline. This in turn creates a win which increases the multiplier.

The few times I did manage to activate the free spins mode it was mostly the multiplier that helped me win back most of my funds, although it was not a guarantee.

In Conclusion

Bonanza Megapays will probably not age well when it comes to their looks. I was instantly reminded of Netent’s Ghost Pirates which was released in 2009. It has the same 3D style with flat textures and a lack of depth. Unfortunate, but it’s a stylistic choice the studio made.

The gameplay is more interesting but I can’t say I was particularly enticed by it. On paper, the gameplay is definitely the strongest part of the game. There is a lot here that can help players win some big rewards. However, the free spins mode and Megapays functionality prove almost impossible to trigger.

As a result, we’re left with a pleasant but unrewarding base game. The cascading reels, Megaways function and extra row are nice but not enough to keep the player’s funds high. As a result, only the most dedicated players will get everything out of this slot.