Bonanza

Provider

Big Time Gaming

Default RTP

96.0%

Volatility

High

Maximum win

12,000x

Core mechanic

Megaways

What Bonanza is

Bonanza is the 2016 Big Time Gaming slot that introduced Megaways, and it remains the reference implementation of the mechanic. Six reels of variable height, a horizontal reel above them, cascading wins and a free spins round with an unlimited multiplier.

Its return is 96.00%, volatility is high, and the maximum win is 12,000x your stake. Those are modest numbers next to what Megaways games advertise today — which is worth understanding rather than glossing over, because the original is tuned differently from the arms race it started.

For Australian players there is a footnote worth knowing: this game was designed in Sydney. The single most influential slot mechanic of the last decade came out of an Australian studio, not Malta or Stockholm.

The game that created a genre

Before Bonanza, slot reels showed a fixed number of symbols and the payline count was constant. Bonanza made reel height random on every spin, so the number of ways to win changes each time you press the button.

The mechanic spread so widely that "Megaways" is now treated by many players as a genre rather than one company's licensed engine. Pragmatic Play, Blueprint, Red Tiger, Relax Gaming, Quickspin and dozens of others build Megaways titles under licence — we cover that arrangement in detail on the studio page.

The important consequence for you: a Megaways badge tells you reel heights will vary. It does not tell you the game plays like Bonanza, because the free spins rules, multiplier caps, ceilings and return percentages differ enormously between implementations.

How the reels work here

Six reels, each independently displaying between two and seven symbols per spin. Wins pay left to right on adjacent reels, with the number of possible paths recalculated every spin.

The maximum configuration — seven symbols on all six reels — produces 117,649 ways to win. That is where the famous number comes from: 7 to the power of 6.

Winning symbols are removed and new ones cascade down to fill the gaps. If the new arrangement forms another win, it pays and the sequence continues until no new win forms.

The horizontal reel

Above the main grid sits a horizontal reel carrying four symbol positions, and it is easy to miss what it does. Symbols landing there add extra positions to reels two, three, four and five, which is how the ways count climbs beyond what the six main reels alone would produce.

The horizontal reel is also where the wild appears — it does not land on the main grid. That restriction is part of the maths: wilds are less frequent than in games where they can appear anywhere, but when they land they sit in the position most likely to complete combinations across the middle reels.

Free spins and the unlimited multiplier

Landing four or more scatter symbols triggers the free spins round, awarding 12 free spins, with additional spins for each scatter beyond four. Scatters landing during the round retrigger it.

The round's defining rule is the multiplier. It starts at 1x and increases by +1 with every cascade, and — critically — it does not reset between spins for the rest of the round.

That single rule is the engine of the entire Megaways genre. A round with a lot of cascades pushes the multiplier into the tens or higher, at which point ordinary combinations pay extraordinarily. It is also why short rounds are worth so little: a round that produces four cascades across twelve spins ends at 5x and returns almost nothing.

Long rounds with retriggers are where the 12,000x figure lives, and they are rare.

Symbols and paytable

Symbol	Role	Notes
Gemstones (premium)	Top paying symbols	Best combinations across six reels
Mining tools and lower symbols	Mid and low pays	Frequent, small on a high ways count
Wild	Horizontal reel only	Substitutes for all but the scatter
Dynamite scatter	Triggers free spins	Four or more awards 12 spins, extra spins per additional scatter

RTP and the 12,000x cap

Bonanza returns 96.00%, which is average by today's standards and below several other Big Time Gaming titles — White Rabbit sits above 97% and Extra Chilli at 96.82%. As with all major suppliers, reduced configurations circulate, so read the figure in the game rules at any new casino.

The 12,000x ceiling is also modest for a Megaways game now. Later BTG titles reach 20,000x and beyond, and licensed implementations from other studios frequently advertise more.

What you get in exchange is the original tuning: a game where the unlimited multiplier does the work without the maths being stretched to fund an enormous tail. Whether that is a better deal depends on whether you are playing for the experience or the ceiling.

Volatility and session shape

High volatility, and the shape is structural rather than stylistic. When a free spins round carries an unlimited multiplier, the theoretical return has to be concentrated there for the maths to balance — so the base game is deliberately thin.

What that means in practice: cascades keep the screen busy without moving your balance much, scatter triggers are infrequent, and most triggered rounds end below the cost of reaching them. The rounds that run long are the ones that matter and they are uncommon.

The ways counter changing every spin makes the base game feel more eventful than it is. Do not mistake activity for return.

Stake sizing in practice

• Stakes commonly run from around $0.20 to $20 or more per spin depending on the build. Read the total bet field.
• Budget for at least 300 spins. On an unlimited-multiplier game the feature is the whole proposition, and reaching it takes time.
• Anyone playing at a stake that allows fifty spins is buying a lottery ticket, not a session.
• Take a large win off the table. A round that reached a high multiplier will not repeat soon at the same stake.
• Do not raise stakes after a drought — scatter probability is identical on every spin.

Bonanza versus licensed Megaways games

Title	Studio	Return	Ceiling
Bonanza	Big Time Gaming	96.00%	12,000x
Extra Chilli	Big Time Gaming	96.82%	20,000x
White Rabbit	Big Time Gaming	97%+	12,500x
Great Rhino Megaways	Pragmatic Play (licensed)	96.58%	20,000x
Madame Destiny Megaways	Pragmatic Play (licensed)	96.56%	5,000x

Note the spread among licensed versions: two Pragmatic Megaways titles at nearly identical returns have ceilings four times apart. The badge guarantees the reel mechanic and nothing else. Compare the free spins multiplier rules specifically — that is where implementations differ most.

Common misconceptions

The first is that a high ways count on a given spin improves your chances. It does not — the paytable divides by the ways, so a 117,649-way spin pays proportionally less per path.

The second is that the free spins multiplier carries between rounds. It does not. Every round starts at 1x, and a previous round that reached 40x gives the next one nothing.

The third is assuming Bonanza is the best Megaways game because it was first. On the numbers it is one of the weaker BTG titles — a 96.00% return and a 12,000x cap are both beaten by stablemates. Its value is historical and mechanical, not mathematical.

Who this suits

This suits a player who wants the original, cleanest expression of Megaways and has the bankroll for several hundred spins. The unlimited multiplier structure produces genuinely dramatic rounds when it runs, and the game is well built.

It suits less well anyone choosing on maths. Within the same studio, White Rabbit offers a return above 97% and Extra Chilli offers 96.82% with a larger ceiling. If Bonanza is not specifically the game you wanted, one of those is the better bet.

FAQ

Reading the game rules

Megaways interfaces bury the useful information, so it is worth knowing where to look before you commit a stake.

• The return figure. On this title 96.00% is standard, and reduced builds circulate industry-wide. It sits in the game rules pages, not the paytable summary.
• The free spins multiplier rule. Confirm that the +1 per cascade persists across the whole round rather than resetting each spin. This is the single most important rule in any Megaways game and the biggest difference between implementations.
• The retrigger condition and whether there is a cap on additional spins.
• The scatter award table — how many spins four, five and six scatters grant.
• The ways counter, displayed above the reels. Useful for reading the grid, irrelevant to your odds.

Where this fits in a session

Bonanza works as a deliberate high-variance session on a decided budget — several hundred small-stake spins with the understanding that the free spins round is the entire proposition and you may not reach a good one.

What it is not is a value play. Within the same studio, White Rabbit returns above 97% and Extra Chilli 96.82%, both with equal or larger ceilings. Bonanza's claim is historical: it is the original, it is well built, and it plays the mechanic straight without a gamble wheel or a purchase button pressuring you. For some players that cleanliness is worth the percentage point. Make that trade knowingly rather than by default.