The online gambling industry produces hundreds of new slots every year, striving to ensure that casino visitors never tire of their favourite pastime. However, in practice, the vast majority of video slots fail to attract widespread attention, whilst certain titles, on the contrary, manage to remain at the forefront of players’ attention for many years without ever becoming tiresome. When compiling a list of the best slots of all time, every casino customer would probably pick different games, but there is no doubt that Sweet Bonanza would feature in everyone’s top ten – it is a true legend that people still play today, even though the game itself was released way back in 2019.
Sweet Bonanza — a colourful slot with cascading wins
What is Sweet Bonanza and why is the game so popular?
On the one hand, Sweet Bonanza is simply a slot game, one whose gameplay resembles that of many other titles; on the other, it is a benchmark that first established what is now considered the standard, combining all the key features and highlights of the genre. Put simply, imitators can copy the idea and replicate it, but until developers come up with something fundamentally new, this game is unlikely to lose its leading position. Let’s look at the main reasons why Sweet Bonanza has remained popular for so many years – these same factors will highlight how the game differs from the classic slots of previous generations:
no paylines – bonuses are awarded for a significant number of matching symbols appearing anywhere on the screen;
the tumbling feature – winning combinations disappear, and new symbols immediately appear in their place, giving the player another chance to win;
bonus round – at least 10 free spins if the player manages to land 4 scatter symbols on a single screen;
Ante bet – pay an additional 25% of your stake to double the probability of landing scatters;
Buy-in bonus – pay 100 times your stake to enter the bonus round immediately;
Multipliers – special symbols in the bonus round, each of which multiplies winnings by between 2x and 100x; several multipliers may appear on the same screen, in which case their values are added together;
A maximum payout of 21,175x is a tempting figure well worth chasing;
Bets range from €0.20 to €100 – making it accessible to both budget-conscious players and those who don’t count their pennies.
It’s also worth noting the designers’ work: although graphics are constantly evolving, Sweet Bonanza is still considered one of the most visually appealing slots, particularly as the developers have made the most of a pleasant and relaxing fruit and sweets theme.
How Sweet Bonanza works – rules and mechanics
Once the game has started, the player selects their stake and presses the spin button. No further thought is required: if enough matching symbols appear on the screen to trigger a payout, Betwinner will credit the winnings automatically and immediately. There must be at least eight of the other matching symbols, but scatters pay out even if there are just four of them, and they also trigger the bonus round.
Fans of Sweet Bonanza who don’t want to manually start each subsequent spin can set up autoplay by specifying the number of spins and the stake amount. If you change your mind and don’t want to finish the session, you can always stop it early. You can set the number of spins to be higher than your current bankroll allows, as new spins can be funded by future winnings.
Features of bonuses and multipliers
The bonus round consists of at least 10 free spins, which Sweet Bonanza players can win directly within the game. There are three ways to win free spins:
- land at least 4 scatter symbols on a single screen during the main game;
- roll the same 4 scatters using the Ante bet – it costs a quarter more, but doubles your chances of landing scatters;
- pay 100 times the stake amount relative to the face value of the free spins in the bonus round.
However, 10 free spins are not the limit: if you manage to land 4 scatters on the same screen again during the bonus round, you’ll be awarded a further 5 free spins. In theory, this means the bonus round can be extended considerably.
A feature of the bonus round that is not present in the main game is the multipliers. Each multiplier multiplies your winnings by at least 2x and up to 100x; if several multipliers are displayed on the screen, their values are added together.