Hello everyone, this is Dana Nikolic. I’m updating this article on July 12, 2024, to include more current information, as slot machines have recently evolved from bonus rounds to ‘bonus buy’ features.
Ten years ago, when this article was first written by Trevor Hallsey, players had to spin and spin to reach the bonus round. But what if you could just buy it? Well, now you can!
These bonus buy slots have exploded in popularity lately, both in Canada and internationally. Almost no one I know spins regular spins anymore; they just go for the bonus rounds right away. Sure, it’s way more expensive, but when they hit, they really hit. Before we dive deeper, let’s take a look at how bonus buy slots work.
How Bonus Buy Slots Work
Bonus buy slots let you buy into the bonus rounds without having to hit scatters or free spin symbols. The reason why they are so popular is because the bonus rounds usually unlock multipliers that aren’t always available in the base game. And also, the wins are significantly more frequent in the bonus rounds. Here’s a breakdown of how they typically work:
- Bonus Buy Feature: When you buy a bonus round, you pay a multiple of your current bet. The cost varies from game to game, but usually somewhere around 50x to 100x your bet. For example, the bonus round in Sweet Bonanza costs 100x your bet.
- Immediate Bonus Round: After you buy the bonus, you’ll jump straight into the bonus round. And here, the potential for high payouts is concentrated. It often comes with bigger multipliers, extra wilds, and other exciting features.
- Consistent RTP: The RTP for the bonus buy feature is usually the same as the base game. But when buying the bonus round, look for high volatility games. You don’t want to waste your money on a low volatility game bonus round. We want those big wins!
Five Most Popular Bonus Buy Slots
1. Sweet Bonanza 1000 (Pragmatic Play)
Sweet Bonanza 1000 is a serious banger developed by Pragmatic Play. It’s currently one of the most popular bonus buy slots. It’s candy themed and vibrant, and who doesn’t love colorful candies? But it mainly stands out due to its popular “tumble” mechanic. You might have heard about “cascading slots” – this is exactly it.
This feature causes winning symbols to explode, allowing new symbols to drop into their place and potentially create new winning combinations. This cascading effect continues until no new wins occur.
Features
- Reels and Paylines: 6×5 grid with cluster pays.
- RTP (Return to Player): 96.51%
- Volatility: High
- Bonus Buy Cost: 100x your bet
- Max Win: 25,000x your stake
- Special Features: Free spins with multipliers up to 100x. You can also retrigger the free spins during the bonus round. It also has super free spins which costs 500x your bet. These come with a minimum 20x multiplier on each spin.
Cluster Pays and Tumble Mechanic:
- Sweet Bonanza 1000 plays out on a 6×5 grid where wins are formed by clusters of eight or more matching symbols. When a cluster forms, the symbols explode, and new symbols drop down to fill the gaps, creating opportunities for additional clusters within the same spin. This tumble feature continues as long as new winning clusters are formed.
Multipliers in Bonus Rounds:
- The real excitement in Sweet Bonanza 1000 comes when you enter its bonus round. Here you can land multipliers represented as “Candy Bombs” that range all the way from 2x to a whopping 100x your bet. If multiple Candy Bombs land, their multipliers add together. For instance, if a 10x and a 5x Candy Bomb combines, you get a 15x multiplier on the win.
Triggering Free Spins:
- To trigger the free spins round without purchasing it, you need to land four or more lollipop scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. Four scatters award 10 free spins, but more scatters can award additional spins right from the start. During the bonus round, landing three or more scatters triggers even more free spins.
Bonus Buy Feature:
- Sweet Bonanza 1000 comes with a bonus buy feature. You can buy your way straight into the bonus round by paying 100x your bet. If you’re after those big juicy wins and don’t want to wait for four scatters to land, just buy the bonus round and start spinning for the big bucks. Just keep in mind that buying the bonus doesn’t guarantee you’ll make your money back. Like everything with casino games, it all comes down to luck.
Theme and Visuals:
- This game is super gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve seen a better looking slot game in a while. This one along with the next one I’ll talk about easily takes the top two spots for me when it comes to visuals. Oh and the sound effects are amazing too.
2. Sugar Rush 1000 (Pragmatic Play)
Sugar Rush 1000 is another banger from Pragmatic Play. These first two games actually look very similar. A bit like that mobile game Candy Crush that was ultra popular a few years back.
So both Sweet Bonanza and Sugar Rush are cluster pay slots, but Sugar Rush comes with a little twist: Winning symbols mark their positions, and if new wins occur on these marked spots, multipliers are added and can increase up to 128x.
Features
- Reels and Paylines: 7×7 grid with cluster pays.
- RTP: 96.50%
- Volatility: High
- Bonus Buy Cost: 100x your bet
- Max Win: 25,000x your stake
- Special Features: Free spins with progressive multipliers. This one also has super free spins for 500x your bet that come with a minimum 20x multiplier on each spin.
Cluster Pays and Tumble Mechanic: Sugar Rush 1000 uses a 7×7 grid where wins are formed by clusters of at least five matching symbols. Basically the same functionality like Sweet Bonanza but with a larger grid.
Marked Positions and Multipliers: A cool feature of Sugar Rush 1000 is its marked positions. Whenever a winning symbol explodes, it marks its position on the grid. If another win occurs on a marked spot, a multiplier is added to that position. These multipliers start at 2x and can increase up to 128x. I personally think this feature makes everything much more exciting, and is the reason why I have a hard time deciding which game I like more, this one or Sweet Bonanza.
Free Spins with Progressive Multipliers: And another thing with this one is that you only have to land three or more scatters to trigger the bonus round. Depending on how many scatters you hit, you’ll enter the bonus round with 10 to 30 free spins. And during the bonus round, the multipliers from marked positions do not reset between spins. This allows them to grow throughout the bonus round which can lead to significant wins if you accumulate multiple multipliers.
Bonus Buy Feature: The bonus buy feature allows you to jump straight into the action for 100x your bet. Here, each winning cluster increases the multiplier for subsequent wins. So if you’re after the big bucks, just get the bonus round right away.
Theme and Visuals: These two games almost give me diabetes. They are both candy themed and super gorgeous to look at! Both have super cool soundtracks too.
Max Win Potential: While the base game offers ways to win through its cascading wins and multipliers, the bonus round elevates your winning chances to a new level. During the bonus round, the multipliers from marked positions do not reset between spins, allowing them to accumulate and grow. This unique feature can lead to massive wins that have the potential to reach up to 25,000x your stake. The ability to build and combine multipliers throughout the bonus round creates an intense and exciting experience, making every spin in the bonus round an opportunity for a juicy payout.
3. Hand of Midas 2 (Pragmatic Play)
If you’re a fan of Greek mythology, here’s an amazing bonus buy game for you. Hand of Midas 2 takes you to the mythological world of King Midas, where every touch turns to gold. The game is set against a backdrop of ancient Greek temples, with symbols reflecting the rich culture and mythology.
Features
- Reels and Paylines: 5 reels, 20 paylines.
- RTP: 96.07%
- Volatility: High
- Bonus Buy Cost: 100x your bet
- Max Win: 8,000x your stake
- Special Features: Free spins with sticky wilds, guaranteed wins in the bonus round.
Cluster Pays and Game Mechanics: Hand of Midas 2 comes with a standard 5-reel, 20-payline setup where you get multiple opportunities for forming winning combos. The gameplay is pretty straightforward, but is enriched with special features that make it oh so exciting!
Sticky Wilds in Bonus Rounds: The excitement in Hand of Midas 2 really kicks in during the free spins round. You can access the bonus round by either landing scatter symbols or through the bonus buy feature. And what’s cool about this game is that it introduces sticky wilds in the bonus rounds. These wilds remain fixed in their positions for the duration of the bonus round and can lead to massive wins. They basically give you more opportunities to win as the bonus round progresses.
Guaranteed Wins in Bonus Round: Another unique aspect of Hand of Midas 2 is the guaranteed wins feature in the bonus round. So basically you’re guaranteed a minimum payout during the bonus round. Not many games come with this feature, so try it out and see what you think. I personally like it, because it doesn’t burn my bankroll quite as fast as other games.
Triggering Bonus Rounds: To trigger the bonus rounds naturally, you need to land three or more scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. The number of free spins awarded depends on the number of scatters you landed.
Bonus Buy Feature: And just like the other games in this list, Hand of Midas 2 also offers a bonus buy option so you can land those sticky wilds and big multipliers. You can get the bonus round for 100x your current bet.
Theme and Visuals: The game’s theme is rooted in Greek mythology. More specifically, the legend of King Midas. The visuals are rich and impressive, depicting ancient Greek temples, statues, and other mythological symbols. The graphics are top-quality and immersive, bringing the mythological world to life like no other game. The soundtrack complements the theme with epic, engaging tunes that enhance the gaming experience.
Max Win Potential: Hand of Midas 2 also offers a maximum win potential of 8,000x your stake. The game’s high volatility means that while wins may be less frequent, they are typically larger when they hit. Basically the perfect game if you’re looking for high-risk, high-reward gameplay. The combination of sticky wilds, guaranteed wins, and a high max win potential makes this game a pure gem.
4. Pixel Farm (Twist Gaming)
Finally a retro game! You have no idea how much I’ve been longing for a good retro game. Pixel Farm by Twist Gaming is a bonus buy game that brings that old school arcade feel to slots. So much nostalgia!
Features
- Reels and Paylines: 5×5 grid with cluster pays.
- RTP: 97.00%
- Volatility: Medium to High
- Bonus Buy Cost: 80x your bet
- Max Win: 10,000x your stake
- Special Features: Free spins, cascading reels, progressive multipliers.
Cluster Pays and Game Mechanics: Pixel Farm comes with a 5×5 grid where you land wins when you form clusters of five or more matching symbols. Just like the other cluster slots, when a cluster is formed the winning symbols disappear and new symbols cascade down to fill the empty spaces. This lets you create multiple wins within the same spin. This cascading effect continues as long as new clusters are formed.
Free Spins and Progressive Multipliers: Pixel Farm comes with progressive multipliers in the bonus rounds. This means that each win within a single spin sequence increases the multiplier. You can win up to a whopping 10,000x your stake here if you get lucky.
Bonus Buy Feature: Pixel Farm only costs 80x your current bet to buy the bonus. Slightly cheaper than the other games we’ve talked about so far. But it also has a super bonus game for 200x your bet size. This one gives you even bigger chances to win and has a progressive multiplier of up to 25x that doesn’t reset until the bonus round is over.
Theme and Visuals: The retro pixel art graphics give Pixel Farm an arcade feel and makes this slot truly stand out among thousands of other slots. This whole design evokes nostalgia for classic video games, with bright, colorful symbols and a playful theme. The pixelated farmyard setting is brought to life with engaging animations and a cheerful soundtrack. Super cool nostalgic experience if you ask me.
Max Win Potential: Pixel Farm offers a maximum win of 10,000x your stake. The combination of cascading reels and progressive multipliers in the free spins round significantly enhances your chances of hitting big wins. This makes Pixel Farm a solid option if you’re looking for a game with both high entertainment value and the potential for substantial payouts.
5. Top Dawgs (Relax Gaming)
If you’re a fan of hip-hop like me, I included something for you as well. Top Dawgs by Relax Gaming is a hip-hop slot with a cool and laid-back theme. This one comes with a max win of 25,000x your stake! The biggest max win among all slots I’ve mentioned here so far.
Features
- Reels and Paylines: 5 reels, 15 paylines.
- RTP: 96.10%
- Volatility: High
- Bonus Buy Cost: 90x your bet
- Max Win: 25,000x your stake
- Special Features: Sticky wilds, mystery respins, free spins with multipliers.
Reels and Paylines: Top Dawgs comes with a standard 5-reel, 15-payline setup. The paylines are fixed, so all the lines are active during every spin. This gives you the potential to land lots of winning combinations.
Sticky Wilds: Here’s another bonus round that comes with those popular sticky wilds. They only appear in the bonus rounds and they can lead to massive wins.
Mystery Respins: Top Dawgs also comes with a mystery respin feature, where certain symbols can transform into mystery symbols. You can get some serious wins if you reveal identical symbols. This makes it so much more thrilling. As if the game wasn’t exciting enough already.
Bonus Buy Feature: Top Dawgs comes with a bonus round that costs 90x your current bet. Slightly lower than many of the other games, but still pricey. Though this one is really worth it if you ask me.
Theme and Visuals: Speakers, wu tang symbols and gangster dogs. What’s not to love? There are not many other hiphop slots out there, so this one really stands out. It has that GTA 5 feel. And of course, the soundtrack is out of this world. One of the best ones I’ve heard in slots.
Max Win Potential: Top Dawgs offers a maximum win of 25,000x your stake, which is absolutely crazy if you ask me. High volatility slot at its finest. The combination of sticky wilds and mystery respins makes this game one of my absolute favorites.
Why Are Bonus Buy Slots So Popular?
Bonus buy slots have grown so popular because they offer the chance to skip directly to the most thrilling part of the game: the bonus round. Basically a shortcut to instant gratification, who doesn’t want that? So by paying a set amount (usually 100x your bet), you can bypass the base game and dive straight into the high-payout bonus game.
Not only that, but almost every big streamer you see on kick.com plays these bonus rounds. In order to keep the viewers watching, they need to provide something exciting to the stream. And just spinning base spins isn’t that tickling. So when viewers see these bonus rounds one after the other, it’s going to be difficult to go back to spinning base spins after that.
How Much Does It Cost to Buy the Bonus?
The cost to buy a bonus in these slots somewhat varies, but typically you’ll be looking at a range between 50x to 100x your bet. The costs generally correlate with the game’s volatility and the potential rewards from the bonus round.
For instance:
- Sweet Bonanza 1000: 100x the bet
- Sugar Rush 1000: 100x the bet
- Hand of Midas 2: 100x the bet
- Pixel Farm: 75x the bet
- Top Dawgs: 90x the bet
Is It Worth It?
Is it worth buying into the bonus rounds? Heck yeah it’s worth it! But it’s expensive. And it doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll make your money back. That being said, if you get lucky you can win up to several thousands X your bet. So for the excitement alone it’s worth it I think.
Here are some other reasons why it’s worth it:
- Immediate Access to Big Wins: Buying the bonus lets you skip the base game and jump straight into the feature that offers the highest payout potential. This is especially beneficial in high-volatility games where the base game might not get you frequent wins.
- Cost vs. Potential Reward: The cost is pretty high for the bonus rounds, often ranging from 50x to 200x your stake. So it’s important to weigh this cost against the potential rewards. For instance, Sugar Rush 1000 offers a max win of 5,000x your stake, and the cost to buy the bonus is 100x your stake. In this case I’d probably rather go for Sweet Bonanza 1000 that offers 21,100 X your stake.
- RTP and Volatility: Unless the game is high volatility, I don’t buy the bonus round. Reason is because the high volatility games usually land much bigger wins. Of course, winning is not a guarantee, but if I win, I want it to be life changing.
Play Bonus Buy Slots at eCheck Casinos in Canada
Please note that “bonus buy” is a typical slot machine feature, and not a promotion/incentive or bonus offer of any kind. These do not apply to Ontario players anyways due to regulations.
Betway
Betway is one of the most internationally popular online casinos. It accepts Ontario players, and also Rest of Canada.
Betway offers a comprehensive selection of bonus buy slots from leading providers such as Pragmatic Play, Relax Gaming, and Massive Studios.
Oh and Betway accepts eCheck deposits too! With conditions similar to the ones from Cadtree regarding terms of use.
DraftKings
DraftKings Casino is another excellent choice for Ontario players. They offer bonus buy slots from Pragmatic Play, Twist Gaming, and Relax Gaming.
It was initially started as a daily fantasy and sports betting platform, but DraftKings has now also expanded into the online casino market.
DraftKings accepts eCheck deposits (via VIP Preferred) and all the other popular Canadian payment methods. So this is another great choice alongside Betway for bonus buy slots.
Caesars Palace Online Casino
Caesars Palace Online Casino is another great choice for Ontario players. The casino accepts eCheck deposits and has bonus buy slots from NetEnt.
What’s good about Caesars Palace Online Casino is that they also have native apps for iOS and Android. So you’ll get a slightly better performance when playing slots.
While NetEnt is super popular, I’d still like to see more of the new and modern game providers here. But that being said, it actually feels a bit refreshing to play bonus buy slots from NetEnt.
Best Bonus Buy Slot Providers 2024
Pragmatic Play
Pragmatic Play has absolutely EXPLODED these last two years. They are just pumping out popular games like no other developer. Many of the most played slots right now are developed by Pragmatic. Sweet Bonanza, Hand of Midas, Big Bass Bonanza, and many many more.
Hacksaw Gaming
Hacksaw Gaming is not far behind. Hacksaw and Pragmatic are probably the most played game providers by slot streamers.
Hacksaw has released popular titles such as Benny the Beer, Chaos Crew 2, Le Bandit, Dork Unit, Pug Life, and many more.
Twist Gaming
Twist Gaming combines retro aesthetics with modern gameplay. Their slots often feature innovative bonus rounds that can be accessed through bonus buys, providing an exciting gaming experience.
Relax Gaming
Here’s another studio that has grown like crazy this year. Relax Gaming’s portfolio includes some of the most popular bonus buy slots like Money Train 2 and Top Dawgs. Their games are really well designed and come with insane payout potentials in the bonus rounds.
Massive Studios
Massive Studios is also up there among the big boys. They have released popular titles such as Drac’s Stacks and Bonsai Banzai. I actually play Bonsai Banzai quite a lot myself.
In summary, bonus buy slots offer an exhilarating way to experience the best parts of slot games without the wait. Whether you’re looking for instant gratification or just enjoy the heightened risk and reward, these slots are a fantastic choice for Canadian players.
Historical Context on Online Slots with Bonus Rounds
For almost a hundred years, slot machines didn’t change very much from Charles Fey’s 1898 invention. Spinning reels, paylines, and a big jackpot as the top prize were the industry standard, even after the introduction of computer and video technology to the games in the 1980s.
But in 1996, a major departure occurred. A Chicago-based company called WMS introduced a fishing themed game known as “Reel ‘Em In.” What made it so different was the placement of not one but two video screens in front of the player—one for displaying the slot symbols and paylines and a second for something called a “bonus game.” Cartoon characters shown in boats on a lake would fish for special prizes in the waters below. The machine was an instant hit with the public.
WMS soon followed up its success with an entire line-up of bonus slots, including Jackpot Party, Boom, and Filthy Rich, which can still be found on slot floors even today. What was truly new was their use of a multi-line, multi-coin format tied to secondary bonus games. This provided more animation and more ways to win big than any of the classic slots previously developed. Winning bonuses didn’t even requite the alignment of special symbols on a payline.
Plenty of Bonuses
The WMS games opened the door to an entirely new generation of video slots. The appearance of bonus symbols in the slot window might trigger free bonus spins, hold wild symbols in position to match up on the next spin, award “scatter bonus” payouts, or take the player into an entirely separate mode, where additional prizes could be won in a non-slot format.
None of this was really possible prior to the marriage of computer and video technologies, but once the knot was tied, manufacturers engaged in a race to see who could push out more creative bonus games. Themes became commonplace, from beer-drinking contests and wild west shoot outs to motor racing, luxury shopping sprees, and drilling for oil. Eventually the competition would spill over into movie and television tie-ins, such as South Park and Family Guy.
The bonuses add an extra dimension of anticipation to slot play. Suddenly, what appear to be losing combinations are transformed into opportunities to open treasure chests, feed police officers donuts, discover buried gold, joust with medieval knight, or jump a motorcycle over a canyon. Bonus games truly unleashed the fertile imagination of slot machine developers.
An Expanding Range of Options
The next step beyond convention for bonus slot makers was to unfetter themselves from the notion that slot games must have reels. Soon there were “cascades” of symbols in place of the spins of old. In these games, when winning combinations are obtained, the symbols disappear, the ones above them “fall” into place, and new symbols arrive to fill what remains of empty positions on the screen. The cascades are potentially endless, as long as winning combinations keep coming up.
And if multi-payline and multi-denomination slots were popular, the next logical step was multi-bonus versions. These offer even more ways to play and win, so different from classic slots that the pay tables have to be shown in page after page of video displays. The more complicated, it seems, the more fun.
And then personalized bonus slots came along with the capability of remembering usernames made up by the players. They incorporate concepts drawn from role-playing games found on home video game systems. The machines guide players through “levels” of proficiency, unlocking ever-more exciting bonus opportunities along the way. The video slot called “Star Trek,” for example, features two screens and audio so real that the player’s seat shakes when the game goes into a “warp drive” bonus.
Perhaps the only drawback of this bonus-slot-mania is the expense. What are billed as penny slots can easily cost dollars per play if access to the major bonuses is desired. What’s more, winning bonuses has rapidly become the goal of such games, with jackpots seen as something of an “extra” instead of the primary goal. This is even more true now that bonus rounds are “pay to play”. This last sentence closes the historical context on how bonus rounds came to be, and how they evolved into “bonus buy slots”.
What’s next for the next 10 years ? Who knows really ? Perhaps AR, VR experiences, or AI being integrated in the gaming machines. But will be sure to update this article to chronicle the complete evolution of slot machines in Canada.
