This is not our first hunt for high quality treasures in Central America, and Aztec Bonanza by Pragmatic Play makes a decent first impression. The game is all about unlocking the 4 corners and triggering the bonus round, but each unlocked corner also gives you a unique bonus feature. Visually, the game looks great and the soundtrack is pleasant enough to keep the reels spinning.
The game starts with a 2-4-6-4-2 reels setup, with a river flowing in the background in front of an Aztec pyramid. You start with 384 paylines, but when you unlock the blocked corner reel positions, you increase the winning possibilities to 7,776 and eventually play with a 5-reel, 6-row setup. You need 2 consecutive fall wins to unlock just 1 corner, and each unlocked corner triggers a unique reel modifier.
To trigger the bonus round of the game, you need to unlock all 4 corners. This can only be achieved by landing 8 consecutive fall wins. The RTP of 96.53% is above the industry average and this is a medium to high volatility game with a massive maximum win potential of 19,000x your stake. You can place bets between 30p and £150 on all platforms and devices, and although the game is well-made in every way, it offers nothing in terms of innovation.
What are the symbols?
All the symbols in this game are stone blocks of different colors and with different shaped and colored gems in the center. The highest paying symbol is the brownish block with 1 large green gem and 2 smaller ones. You need between 3 and 5 matching symbols on a payline to win. Here we present you the paytable for Aztec Bonanza slot:
- Green gem – pays 2.5x for 5 on a payline
- Blue gem – pays 1x for 5 on a payline
- Turquoise gem – pays 1x for 5 on a payline
- Orange gem – pays 0.5x for 5 on a payline
- Triangle gem – pays 0.5x for 5 on a payline
- Card Suit Gem – pays 0.33x for 5 on a payline
What are the bonus features?
In each corner there is a symbol blocker that takes 3 reel positions. For this reason, you start with a diamond-shaped reels setup. On every win, a tumble feature is in play. You’ll see winning symbols being removed to make way for new symbols that fall from the top. However, this tumble involves more than just cascading wins.
It is directly linked to the symbol unlock feature, as every second fall win unlocks a corner of the symbol blocker, starting with the top left corner. This gives you more chances to win and increases the number of paylines accordingly. Unlocking a corner also triggers a certain bonus feature as follows:
- Upper left corner – gives you mystery symbols that transform into identical symbols.
- Upper right corner – converts up to 3 lower value symbols into higher value ones.
- Lower left corner – replaces all symbols on the first two reels with 2×2 Mega symbols.
- Lower right corner – replaces all symbols on the last two reels with 2×2 Mega symbols.
Free spins in Aztec Bonanza
On the right side of the reels you will see a totem with 4 gems. The first corner you unlock corresponds to the lowest gem. You must unlock all 4 corners to light up all 4 gems in the totem. More importantly, you trigger the free spins bonus round of the game.
This gives you 5 free spins and these spins are played on a fully expanded reel set with 7,776 paylines. You will benefit from a randomly selected bonus feature on each spin. These are essentially the bonus features described above for unlocking corners. 5 free spins doesn’t seem like too much, but again, the Tumbling Wins feature is in play, which can extend your stay in the bonus round a bit.
What is the jackpot (maximum win)?
There is no jackpot that can be won on Aztec Bonanza slot, but you can still win massive payouts here. The official maximum win is 19,000 times your bet (as indicated on the intro screen), and this is very solid for a game with medium to high volatility. Play with the highest possible bet of £150, and you can pocket up to £2.85 million on a single spin here (although this is not very likely, of course).
Pros
Tumble wins and symbol unlock feature
4 different bonus features
Free spins with 1 of 4 random features per spin
Medium to high volatility and maximum win potential of 19,000x
Cons
Well put together, but nothing really new to see here
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