Different feature buying options have been around since the beginning of online gaming, that’s for sure. But the modern bonus buying option we see in video slots today is a fairly new innovation that can be attributed to developer Big Time Gaming.
Their first slot that offered players the choice to skip the base game, White Rabbit Megaways, was released in 2017 and started a trend that is still going strong.
More and more slots with the ability to buy bonuses
After Big Time Gaming started it in 2017, quite a lot has happened. In 2019, the UK Gambling Commission, as the only regulator in the world, decided to ban the use of bonus purchases in online slots. Many expected other regulators to follow suit, but that has not been the case. So players in gambling-crazy countries such as Canada, Germany, Finland and Sweden can still use the option.
There are now a large number of online slots that offer this feature. We have listed the 5 most popular ones for you. Just be careful that when you start gambling with real money that you don’t gamble too big because buying a bonus feature is often not really cheap. And you never have any guarantees that things will go well.
Extra Chilli Megaways (Big Time Gaming)
Extra Chilli Megaways, released in 2018, is one of the most played slots for bonus buying today. In addition it is also the game that takes the bonus buy option to the next level. Big Time Gaming did this by adding a wheel to make the game ultra volatile while giving players the chance to win up to 24 free spins.
On the other hand, gambling your spins can result in a loss of free spins, which really makes it a nail-biting experience. Fortunately, there is a ‘collect’ button for the fearful (or sensible) if you don’t want to take the risk. However, should you decide to go for it, the price tag of 50x the stake for 8 guaranteed spins is relatively low.
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Buffalo Rising Megaways (Blueprint Gaming)
One of the first developers to recognize that Big Time Gaming had invented something wonderful with their “Feature Drop” was Blueprint Gaming. Blueprint Gaming, the first to acquire a Megaways license, and have great success with it, eventually began rolling out their own bonus-buy slots. Their most popular, Buffalo Rising Megaways, was released in late 2018 and came with a twist not seen at the time.
By activating the bonus buy feature for a cost of 100x the stake, players are then presented with 4 different options that essentially allow players to choose the volatility. Ranging from high to very high volatility, 15, 10 or 5 free spins give you a starting win multiplier of x1, x5 or x10. There is also a Mystery Choice that awards a random number of free spins along with a randomly selected starting profit multiplier.
Deadwood (Nolimit City)
This year, a lot of popular slots have come to market with this feature. One of the most hyped is Deadwood from developer Nolimit City. It is also undoubtedly the most controversial. Why. One of the two bonus purchase options offered in this game comes with a price tag of 750x your stake!
With that said, the setup that is in play when activated is extremely advantageous. So the price tag is not entirely unreasonable. Players can choose 10 Shoot Out Hunter spins with guaranteed wilds (high volatility) or 10 Shoot Out Gunslinger spins with sticky multipliers (extreme volatility). Whatever you choose, the Shoot Out feature will be in play on every spin, turning all low value symbols into wilds.
1 Million Megaways BC (Iron Dog Studio)
Iron Dog Studio is a relatively small developer that owes much of its success to the Megaways game engine. Of all the titles in their portfolio, it’s not surprising that it’s really only the Megaways titles that attract attention. In Iron Dog’s case, the bonus buy button made its debut in the 2019 hit release Pirate Kingdom Megaways, but it is their most recent slot, 1 Million Megaways BC, that is currently getting all the love.
Money Train 2 (Relax Gaming)
When it comes to hot games, it currently doesn’t get any hotter than Money Train 2. A sequel to the monster hit slot Money Train that was released in 2019 by Relax Gaming, Money Train 2 is bigger, better and much nicer to look at. Activating the two slots side-by-side, you can see how far the studio has come in the span of just one year. The facelift, however, is only part of the deal. This time considerably more volatile, the maximum win potential has been more than doubled from 20,000x to 50,000x, while a number of new features have also been added.
Now, those of you familiar with the original already know that this is all about the free spins. Both games were literally designed with the bonus buy-in functionality as the core of the whole concept. That’s why British players and fans of the original Money Train slot were particularly disappointed when they saw the UK Gambling Commission impose a ban on the bonus buy feature. From one day to the next, Money Train became more or less unplayable because there is little in the base game to fuel enthusiasm.
To wit
That sums up our list of the most popular bonus buy slots to play in 2020. Again, remember folks. Buying bonuses is expensive and there is always the risk of a brutal bonus round. We recommend participating in bonus buy gameplay only if you have a very healthy balance sheet and feel that you can really afford to try your luck. It is easy to buy bonuses, so proceed with caution and always gamble responsibly.