Barrel Bonanza

Barrel Bonanza Casinos

Barrel Bonanza, a vibrant slot from Hacksaw Gaming partner Backseat Gaming that takes a hint of inspiration from the classic Donkey Kong game. While you won’t find Mario dodging barrels here (for copyright reasons, of course), the game does feature a familiar gorilla throwing barrels onto the grid to produce wilds and wild multipliers. With a tropical setting, palm trees swaying in the breeze, and upbeat music, Barrel Bonanza brings a laid-back, feel-good vibe to your slot spinning.

Backseat Gaming has gone all out to create a fun yet simple design, with a grid made out of bamboo and set against a sunny beach backdrop. The action takes place on a 5×4 reel setup, offering 14 fixed paylines. Statistically, Barrel Bonanza leans towards medium volatility, making it a slot that balances regular wins with some bigger payout potential. The RTP varies slightly depending on whether you buy any of the game’s features, but the default return-to-player rate is a solid 96.23%. Betting starts at 10 c and goes up to $/€100 per spin, catering to both casual players and high rollers alike.

Barrel Bonanza: How does it play?

In true tropical style, the symbols in Barrel Bonanza are a mix of classic card royals and juicy fruits. Here’s a breakdown:

• Low-Paying Symbols: 10, J, Q, K, and A royals make up the lower end of the paytable. Landing 5 of these symbols in a winning combination will pay out between 1-2 times your stake.
• High-Paying Symbols: The higher-value symbols are a delicious selection of cherries, watermelons, pineapples, and bananas. Landing 5 of these fruity icons can win you between 4-10 times your stake, with bananas being the top payer.
• Wild Symbols: Wilds, represented by a barrel, substitute for any regular pay symbol to help form winning lines. A full line of 5 wilds pays the same as the top-tier bananas.

The star of the show in Barrel Bonanza is the gorilla, who takes a page from Donkey Kong by tossing barrels onto the grid. These barrels transform into wilds or wild multipliers, adding an extra layer of excitement to the base game. While the features may seem like a nod to retro gaming, the gameplay is modern, and the potential for big wins is always lurking.

Whenever the gorilla throws barrels, they land on the reels and act as wilds. Some barrels come with multipliers, boosting your payouts when they’re part of a winning combination. The more barrels you land, the more wild wins you can rack up, making this feature one of the most engaging aspects of the game.

Barrel Bonanza: Slot Features

Mario may not have enjoyed dodging barrels back in the day, but in Barrel Bonanza, barrels are your best friend! This tropical slot from Backseat Gaming leans heavily into its ape-inspired theme, with those thrown barrels producing wilds and wild multipliers to boost your wins. The excitement only ramps up in the free spins round, where wilds become sticky, and every feature is available for purchase via the bonus buy options.

Going Bananas: Kong Goes Wild!

The star feature in Barrel Bonanza is the Going Bananas round. When activated, Kong throws anywhere from 1 to 5 wild barrels onto the reels, and these barrels usually come with a multiplier attached. The barrels come in three tiers, each offering a different range of multipliers:

• Low Tier: Wilds with no multiplier up to x10.
• Medium Tier: Multipliers between x5 and x50.
• High Tier: Multipliers ranging from x30 to a massive x100.

Here’s where it gets fun: if a barrel lands on an existing barrel, it bounces and duplicates itself. This causes two barrels to fly to new reel positions, creating even more wild action. If these duplicate barrels hit other barrels, the bouncing and duplicating continues until they finally land on an empty space. This chain reaction can lead to a flurry of wilds all over the grid, seriously pumping up the excitement (and your chances of hitting big wins).

Bonus Game: Sticky Wilds and Increased Banana Action

Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols in the base game rewards you with 10, 12, or 14 free spins, respectively. Once in the bonus game, things really heat up. All the wild barrels that Kong throws your way become sticky, staying in place for the duration of the free spins and revealing a fresh multiplier from their tier on each new spin. With wilds locking in and new values popping up each round, your winning potential just keeps growing.

The Going Bananas feature also triggers more frequently during free spins, adding to the wild barrel frenzy. Unfortunately, scatters don’t appear during free spins, so there’s no way to retrigger the bonus once you’re in.

Bonus Buy Options: Unlock the Action

For those who can’t wait to jump into the action, Barrel Bonanza offers several bonus buy options. Keep in mind that each option comes with a dose of high volatility, so they’re definitely not for the faint-hearted! Here’s what’s available:

• BonusHunt FeatureSpins: For 3x your bet, you get a spin with a 5x higher chance of triggering the bonus game. The RTP for this option is 96.36%.
• Kong FeatureSpins: For 25x your bet, you’re guaranteed to activate the Going Bananas feature, giving you a shot at those bouncing wild barrels. The RTP for this option is 96.29%.
• Bonus Game: For 100x your bet, you can buy your way directly into the free spins round, where you’ll receive 10, 12, or 14 free spins with sticky wild barrels. The RTP here is 96.26%.

The bonus buy options are tempting for players who want to skip the grind and jump straight into the action, though the high volatility means you’ll need to brace for some potentially bumpy spins. With an RTP hovering around 96%, Barrel Bonanza offers solid chances for a rewarding experience, especially if you’re lucky enough to trigger multiple barrel duplications or high-tier multipliers.

Barrel Bonanza: Slot Verdict

While Barrel Bonanza might not shake up the iGaming world the way Donkey Kong revolutionized video games, it still manages to deliver a solid, enjoyable experience. There are moments of high energy—especially when Kong decides to get involved—but the game doesn’t always maintain that same level of excitement throughout.

Barrel Bonanza is an enjoyable game, but it’s not going to be for everyone. The base game can feel slow, and the high-energy moments come in bursts rather than consistently. Still, when those barrels start bouncing and duplicating, the game can reach some exhilarating heights—especially in the free spins round where sticky wilds keep the excitement rolling.

With a max win of 10,000x your bet and features like Going Bananas that can really liven things up, the slot has plenty of potential. It may not be as revolutionary as Donkey Kong, but Barrel Bonanza can still deliver a fun, laid-back experience with some thrilling peaks. If you’re patient and stick with it, you might just see Kong go bananas in a way that makes it all worthwhile.