Bonanza Slot

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to dig for treasure while listening to banjos and existential despair, then Bonanza by Big Time Gaming is your golden ticket to self-inflicted misery. This is the slot that launched the Megaways slot empire, a format that makes you feel like you’re winning something when, in fact, you’re not. With up to 117,649 ways to win, Bonanza gives you all the illusion of hope with none of the substance.

But hey, it’s still one of the most played online slots of all time in top casinos, mostly by people who don’t realize they’ve aged five years since they started spinning. You can try the free demo right now at Casinos.com, or read on to discover if this game really is the mother lode, or just another hole in the ground.

The Bonanza slot plays on 6 reels with anywhere between 2 and 7 symbols dropping onto each one, thanks to the Megaways mechanic. This gives you between 64 and 117,649 ways to win, which sounds impressive until you realize most of them pay less than the cost of your spin.

You can bet between $0.20 and $500 per spin, which is great news if you enjoy financial ruin at different speeds. The game’s RTP sits at 96%, and it’s high volatility, meaning you’ll spend most of your session waiting for one big win, like a miner praying the next stick of dynamite doesn’t blow off both his hands.

Wins are formed by landing matching symbols on adjacent reels from left to right. The highest-paying symbol is the white diamond, worth 50x your stake for six in a row. So, if you’re betting the max at $500, you’re looking at a potential jackpot of $5,000,000. Sure, it could happen, but so could a talking canary offering you life advice.

There’s no bonus buy here, because Big Time Gaming released Bonanza before developers realized people are happy to skip foreplay and go straight to the good stuff.

Bonanza is the game equivalent of finding fool’s gold, shiny, exciting, and ultimately worthless. The Megaways mechanic is clever, the cascading wins are satisfying, and the free spins can deliver serious payouts… sometimes. But the theme, the sound effects, and the sheer repetition make this feel more like work than play.

Still, it’s an industry-defining slot, and for that, it deserves a respectful nod before being buried in a shallow grave. If you’ve never tried it, play the free demo at Casinos.com before you start digging into your real money stash at top slot sites.