Bonanza

05 / The SlotsCollector take

The SlotsCollector take on Bonanza

Bonanza is Big Time Gaming's landmark Megaways slot, with up to 117,649 ways to win and a reel system that can change the number of symbols in view from spin to spin. Winning symbols trigger Dual Reactions, so new symbols can arrive from more than one direction. The bonus is built around spelling GOLD with Scatters, after which Free Spins use a win multiplier that increases as reaction wins continue.

Bonanza matters because its headline "117,649 ways" is easy to quote and easy to misunderstand. The number is the maximum number of active ways, not a promise that every spin is evaluated across 117,649 combinations.

Megaways changes the reel heights. That means the shape of the board is part of the math you see on every spin. A low-way spin and a high-way spin are visibly different states of the same game.

The reaction system is the second piece. Once a win lands, the game removes the winning symbols and refills the board. That gives a single stake the chance to produce a chain of results. You are not watching six static reels resolve once; you are watching the reel state rebuild until the reaction sequence stops.

Free Spins then add the mechanic that made Bonanza especially memorable: the running multiplier. The multiplier grows as reaction wins occur. This creates a clear tension inside the bonus because a long chain can improve the multiplier before the next paying combination.

It is worth distinguishing this from multiplier-symbol games. There is no need to wait for Zeus or another special multiplier icon to land. The bonus itself owns the multiplier state, and reaction wins advance it.

The GOLD trigger is also unusually readable. Four Scatter letters spell the word across the reels and open the bonus. The visual language makes the feature easier to follow than a bonus where several unrelated symbol types feed the same meter.

The checked demo identifies itself as v2.97.0-Relax. Its Help page gives 96.00% overall RTP, twelve initial Free Spins and the reaction-based multiplier. Those concrete rules describe the distribution used for this guide.

The menu and all captured Help pages did not expose a Bonus Buy. That observation is limited to this distribution; it does not establish absence across every casino version.

Buy availability in other distributions is unconfirmed here, so no price is inferred. That leaves the normal GOLD trigger as the fully described route into Free Spins. Follow the top-cart Scatters, the opening spin count and the running reaction multiplier when learning how that bonus develops.

Separating observed menu availability from a universal feature claim keeps the guide useful when you compare it with the version at your casino.

As a playing experience, Bonanza remains much simpler than modern Megaways slots that stack several modifiers, meters and bonus menus on top of the variable reels. Most of the interest comes from reel height, reactions and the Free Spins multiplier. That simplicity makes it a useful reference point for comparing what later Megaways games added.

Players who like changing reel states and cascading wins can understand Bonanza quickly. Players looking for constant modifiers in the base game may find it sparse compared with newer Megaways releases. That contrast is valuable editorial content because it explains why the original still feels structurally different from its descendants.