At first glance, the bearded prospector in Bomb Bonanza by Pragmatic Play looks like he’s digging for gold in the main street of a city. At the very least, he must have accidentally dropped some dynamite, because the 5×5 grid is in a large hole in the ground, and he seems more than eager to light another fuse. A bit of an odd setting for a mining slot perhaps, but you’ll be taken to the actual mine shaft in the bonus round.

We expect the nameless prospector to throw some dynamite onto the grid every now and then, but that never actually happens. What you get instead are bomb wilds that can expand to increase in size at random times. The sizes are determined in the 5-stage bonus round per level, and you can win up to 2,015 times your bet. We’ve certainly seen better mining sequels, not least from Pragmatic themselves, but on a rainy day this is a good option to play.

Bonus Features on Bomb Bonanza Slot

The premium symbols, with the prospector as the highest level symbol, pay out between 6 and 12 times your bet for 5 of a kind. The Bomb Wild substitutes for regular payout symbols to complete wins, and it also pays out 1, 4 or 12 times your bet for 3, 4 or 5 of a kind. Wilds can expand to 2×2, 3×3, 4×4 or 5×5 in the base game by spreading in any direction (up, down, left or right).

Landing the “Free Spin” scatter symbol on Reels 1, 3 and 5 will trigger the bonus round, which will award 6 Free Spins. The action takes place in the mine and you can now land gold nugget symbols. These are collected in a counter at the top right and collected gold nuggets create a cascading effect on the grid.

Enough collected gold nuggets also rise, which affects the size of the expanding wilds and awards additional spins, as follows:

• Level 2 (5 collected gold nuggets) – awards 2×2 Wilds + 4 extra spins.
• Level 3 (5 new gold nuggets collected) – awards 3×3 Wilds + 2 Extra Spins.
• Level 4 (5 new collected gold nuggets) – awards 4×4 Wilds + 2 Extra Spins.
• Level 5 (3 new collected gold nuggets) – awards 5×5 Wilds + 1 Extra Spins.

Just to be clear, at the initial default level, Wilds are always 1×1 in size. You need to level up to get larger expanding Wilds, and each level guarantees the Wild size as stated above. Last but not least, it should be noted that the bonus round is triggered on average 1 out of 178 spins.

The 200 Spins Bomb Bonanza Slot Experience

Nothing too exciting happened until we suddenly hit a bigger win out of the blue, and then the bonus round triggered right after that. The feature starts at 1:50 in the 4:38 minute highlights video, and we managed to keep it going for a while, spiking several times. You can see for yourself how we did by clicking the play button below.

Rating Conclusion

First of all, it’s kind of strange that the base game’s mining grid is in the middle of the city’s main street, and having the bomb wilds actually explode was sadly missed. Other than that, Pragmatic Play has come up with a decent installment of the ever-popular mining slot genre. However, don’t expect too much from the base game, as only up to 600x is possible with a single spin anyway.

It is important to note that the larger spreading wilds do not necessarily spread in the actual game area. They can also spread outside the grid, which was kind of annoying, so it’s nothing like Push Gaming’s “Fat” series in that regard. Going up in the bonus round is crucial, as you need those +4 extra spins and bigger wilds to make a dent. It can be over in a flash if you don’t, and overall Bomb Bonanza is a decent shelf filler with a somewhat weak 2,015x potential.

Pros

Random spreading wilds up to 5×5 in size.
5-level FS round with gold nugget collection system.
Level up to get guaranteed wild sizes up to 5×5

Cons

Maximum win is only 2,015 times (1 in 100 million chance)
You have to watch out for customizable RTP ranges

Bomb Bonanza Slot FAQs

What is the RTP of Bomb Bonanza?

The highest Bomb Bonanza RTP of 96.46% is slightly above average. However, keep in mind that this release comes with adjustable RTP ranges.

How volatile is Bomb Bonanza?

This is a high volatility episode from Pragmatic Play and scores 5 out of 5 on the volatility scale in the game.

What is the highest possible win?

You can win up to 2,015 times your bet on Bomb Bonanza, and the maximum win probability is 1 in 100 million.

How does the Expanding Wilds feature work?

Wilds can expand to new positions at random times in the base game, and up to 5×5 large Wilds can be generated in this way. .

Is there a free spins mode in Bomb Bonanza?

Yes, you get 6 free spins at the beginning and special gold nuggets are collected in a meter to advance you to the next level. There are 5 levels and each level has a bigger guaranteed wild size than the previous one.

Can I play Bomb Bonanza slot for free?

Yes, you can try the free Bomb Bonanza demo game at the very top of this page (UK players must confirm age first).