Big Benji Bonanza

Big Benji Bonanza Overview

Welcome to a slot that is all about the money, literally and aesthetically. Big Benji Bonanza takes players to a strange cartoon version of Wall Street where the banks and stock markets are prominent, with figures such as Benjamin Franklin making their presence known.

The game's overarching tone is urban rebellion in a corporate world controlled by the mighty US dollar. Mechanically, this game is a five-reel, three-row game with 243 pay lines. Despite the dense symbolism of money and wealth, the RTP for this game is quite poor at 95.5%. The top payout is 12,957x your stake. This game is available across platforms.

The features of this game are fourfold. The first feature is called the money symbol feature. Each money symbol in the game represents a different US figure and has different cash values. Landing three on a pay line will pay out the sum total of the symbols. There is also a cash machine bonus. If a cash machine lands on the last reel, all money symbols will be collected and paid out. The main bonus here, however, is the free spins game, triggered by landing three scatter symbols on the reels simultaneously. A wheel spin then determines the money symbol present for the round. Finally, this game also has a Super Staxx feature. All features will be explained in greater detail later in the review.

Theme and Symbols

The theme for this game is money and the American stock market with a kind of punk-like overtone. The designers thought creating a game that was purely themed around the stock market might be dull. As such, they have overlain quite a lot of the details here with colourful rebellious touches. For example, all of the money symbols that represent prominent US presidents have been tampered with, adding sunglasses or wild haircuts to people like George Washington. It is a strange confluence of artistic styles, but it seems to work.

The background for this game is a cartoon-style version of Wall Street. Wall Street, the famous one in New York, forms the central hub of the city's financial district. It includes famous buildings such as the New York Stock Exchange, which is seen in the background of this game. The other main landmark depicted in this background is the famous Charging Bull of Wall Street. This sculpture is apparently supposed to be a symbol of the aggressive financial optimism of the US. Interestingly it was actually created in the wake of Black Monday after the stock exchange crashed.
The playing board here has been designed to look like the US dollar currency in green.

The symbols for this game are split into low-paying, high-paying and special symbols. The low-value symbols are the 10, J, Q, K and A in playing card royals. The A is the most valuable of these, worth 1.5x the stake for the top combination. The more valuable symbols are the cherries, the bell, the diamond, the lucky seven and finally, Benjamin Francis decorated like Biggy Smalls. Benjamin Francis is the most valuable of these, paying out at 5x the stake for the top combination. The specials comprise the money printing icon, the wild and the six US Presidents in money symbols.

Game Play

Big Beji Bonanza is played on a five-reel, three-row gameboard with 243 pay lines. To win combinations, players must land three or more matching symbols on pay lines moving from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel.
The betting range for Big Beji Bonanza is 20p to £20 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stake up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen.
Volatility for this slot is rated in the medium to high range. The return to player percentage of Big Beji Bonanza is 95.5%, which is below average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 12,957x your stake.

Features

The first feature here is called the money symbol feature. It concerns the various money symbols you can see on the board, each of which has a specific value. For example, Grant (Ulysses S. Grant) has a value of 50x the stake. If three of these money symbols line up to form a win, the symbols' value is added and paid out to you.

The next feature is the cash machine bonus. If one of these icons happens to land on the final row, it will collect all present money icons on the board, regardless of position and pay out the total value to you.

Next is the free spins feature. Landing three scatter symbols simultaneously triggers this bonus. You are then given ten free spins. If you are lucky and land more than three scatters to activate the bonus, then the two lowest value icons are removed for the duration of your free spins. Before the feature starts in earnest, a wheel spins to determine the money symbol that will be active during the feature (you hope for a valuable one). Landing addition scatters throughout the free spins will also top up your spin tally and upgrade your money symbol.

Finally, we have the Super Staxx feature. This bonus only comes into play during the free spins. You'll notice that sometimes certain positions have a frame around them with a number. That number indicates how many instances of that symbol are included in that single position. This can also increase the number of ways to win during the feature, as there are, in effect, many more symbols on the board.

Conclusion

Ironically, although this game is visually all about the money, the actual winning potential here isn't great. Although the top payout is pretty irresistible, the RTP suggests you are unlikely to get many wins throughout the game. However, win big in the feature, and there could be some rewarding streaks. As with most high-risk, high-reward games, the only one who can truly decide if it's worth playing is the player and their budget.