Bonanza slot: the game that started Megaways, still keeping its own numbers quiet
Every Megaways title in this catalogue, from Big Bad Wolf Megaways to Book of Tut, traces its variable-ways mechanic back to this one game. Bonanza is where Big Time Gaming first built the system that varies how many symbols land on each of six reels every spin, changing the number of ways to win from one spin to the next rather than fixing it at a set number. The studio’s own page states a ceiling of up to 117,649 ways when every reel is fully loaded — the number the entire mechanic is now known by across the industry.
What that same page doesn’t state is almost as notable as what it does. No RTP figure, no maximum win, no release date. For a game this influential, the gap in disclosure is worth flagging plainly rather than letting a borrowed number from elsewhere quietly stand in for it.
Symbols, paytable and the DuelReaction system
DuelReaction is Big Time Gaming’s own name for the cascading mechanic paired with Megaways here: winning symbols clear from the reels and new ones drop in from both directions, top and bottom, rather than only from above, a genuinely distinct approach compared with the single-direction cascades most tumbling-reel slots use. A single spin can resolve several wins in a row this way, each one recalculating the number of ways to win before the next cascade settles. Wild West mining imagery sits over the top of the mechanic, but the reels themselves are the actual attraction.
Free spins exist and can retrigger, per the studio’s own description, though the exact scatter count and spin award aren’t detailed on the page in a way that can be cited precisely here. The honest summary: this is a mechanically dense game whose studio prioritises describing the innovation over publishing the maths behind it.
That prioritisation makes some sense given the game’s place in the industry: Bonanza’s own reputation rests almost entirely on having introduced Megaways, and Big Time Gaming’s marketing leans into that history rather than into a spreadsheet of return figures aimed at players comparing games side by side.
The maths: a gap worth being direct about
96.0% RTP and a volatility rating of 4 out of 5 appear in the catalogue data behind this site, sourced from the game feed rather than Big Time Gaming’s own page, which states neither figure. That distinction matters: a studio-published RTP carries a direct line of accountability back to the company that built the game, while a feed-sourced figure is one step removed from that. Neither figure here is fabricated, but only one of the two would count as a citable studio disclosure, and this game doesn’t have that kind.
If 96.0% holds, the house edge sits at 4% over a long enough run, roughly typical for a mainstream video slot. Put numbers on it: at 100 spins an hour, a €0.20 average bet moves €20 through the reels for an expected cost of about 80 cents; at €1 a spin, that same hour’s expected cost sits near €4.00. Those figures assume the feed’s 96.0% actually holds, which is a reasonable but unverified assumption given the studio itself doesn’t confirm it. Run that figure, or your own casino’s disclosed number if it differs, through the house edge calculator before deciding how a €0.20 or €1 session might actually play out.
Playing it in Ireland
Big Time Gaming’s catalogue, now under Evolution’s ownership following the 2021 acquisition described in this site’s separate guide to the studio, reaches a number of the larger operators in the industry, though this review could not confirm Bonanza’s presence in any specific Irish-facing lobby among the nine partner casinos checked. Nomini, with over 11,000 games across 104 providers listed on its own site, and Wild Fortune, with roughly 8,000 slots across 87 providers, are the two largest catalogues on this site’s partner list and the most likely places to find a Megaways staple like this one, though neither was confirmed to carry it specifically.
The in-account game search at any reviewed casino remains the only reliable way to check, since studio-level distribution and individual lobby content are two different questions.
Demo play needs no account or deposit. Real-money play at Irish-facing operators currently sits under MGA or UKGC licensing, since the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland’s own online casino licences aren’t expected before 2027. Once that framework activates, a €10 maximum stake will apply to certain casino-style games under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, a limit that would bite hard on a mechanic capable of stacking several cascading wins into one spin.
Who this actually suits
Bonanza suits a player primarily interested in the mechanic itself, the game that made Megaways a licensable industry standard, more than one who wants a fully documented return figure to plan a session around. For that, Big Bass Bonanza publishes its 96.71% RTP directly on Pragmatic Play’s own page with no ambiguity. Fans of Big Time Gaming’s house style specifically should also look at Danger High Voltage, the studio’s other title in this catalogue, which carries the same disclosure gap but a different theme entirely.
Whichever number ends up governing your session, it’s worth knowing which one actually came from the studio and which one didn’t, and treating the feed-sourced figure as a helpful estimate rather than a guarantee is the honest way to play this one.