Roman Bonanza: Slot Overview
The last time we caught up with Hacksaw Gaming partner Backseat Gaming was in the Ancient Roman-themed Money Cart-esque number Gladius Death or Glory. The studio must have fun cosplaying a slot in a toga (or legionnaire battle gear) because it has hit back with another historically themed online slot. Titled Roman Bonanza, fans of the studio’s work will quickly spot that not only has the team returned to an Ancient Roman-era past, but it has also returned gameplay used in Pirate Bonanza, including tumble wins multiplied by a total multiplier fed by Multiplier Bomb symbols with a couple of bonus rounds rounding things off.
Pirate Bonanza was quite a picturesque game, and Roman Bonanza holds its own in the visual department, too. It’s hard to tell exactly where in the Empire we might be, but it’s somewhere with a glowing sky, glorious architecture, and a number of martial references. Unlike its sibling slot, which plonked a salty sea dog next to the game grid, players gamble solo in this one – not that a lack of character makes any difference to what happens on the reels. As we all know, Roman slots are plentiful, yet Backseat Gaming has made good use of the topic to paint a handsome scene.
Operating as a scatter pays slot, Roman Bonanza plays out on a 6×5 grid, which creates a winning combination when 8 or more identical symbols land in any position. Up and down buttons next to the spin button are how players can choose their preferred bet, going as low as 10 c per spin or as high as $/€100. A highly volatile math model powers the game, and 96.31% is the maximum RTP on offer.
Green, orange, red, blue, and purple gems are the lower-paying symbols, while boots, rings, cups, and helmets are the highs. Scatter wins containing 8 identical symbols award 0.1 to 1 times the bet, while the biggest scatter wins of 19+ OAK award 50 to 400 times the bet. Wild symbols are not part of this slot, so no substituting occurs. All wins are added to the total Tumble Win display above the reels. After a win is added, all winning symbols are removed, and new symbols drop in from above to fill the reels, potentially creating a new combination. At the end of a spin, the total Tumble Win amount is awarded.
Roman Bonanza: Slot Features
Roman Bonanza’s extras include a Tumble Win feature, a Catapult feature, Arm the Catapults, Siege Command, and bonus buys.
Catapult Feature
After a winning combination has occurred, the positions behind winning symbols are highlighted. If there is a Catapult symbol on the grid it activates any highlighted positions after winning combinations have been awarded, though it only activates if there has been a win on the spin. When activated, positions reveal Multiplier Bombs, which explode to reveal a multiplier that is applied to a total multiplier from top to bottom, left to right – they are either added to the total multiplier, or they multiply it. The total multiplier is used to multiply the value of the Tumble Win before being awarded. Low Value Bombs add x2 to x5, Medium Value Bombs add x10 to x25, High Value Bombs add x50 to x100, while Golden Multiplier Bombs multiply by x2 to x10.
Arm the Catapults
Landing 4 scatters triggers 10 free spins in the Arm the Catapults bonus round. This feature retains the mechanics of the base game with the added benefit that the Catapult symbols have a higher chance of landing. In both bonus rounds, hitting 3 scatter symbols awards a further +5 free spins.
Siege Command
Landing 5 scatters during the base game triggers Siege Command with 10 free spins. The base game mechanics carry over, plus there is a higher chance of landing the Catapult symbol. In addition, highlighted positions remain highlighted throughout the entire bonus.
Bonus Buy
At 3x the bet, BonusHunt FeatureSpins make each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game. Centurion FeatureSpins cost 50x and guarantee each spin lands at least one Catapult symbol. Either bonus round may be bought at 100x for Arm the Catapults or 250x for Siege Command.
Roman Bonanza: Slot Verdict
Obviously, since this isn’t the first time experiencing these exact features, Roman Bonanza has less swing in its punch than Pirate Bonanza. Such can be the result of doing the same thing twice, which is pretty much unavoidable in a reskinned slot. Adding to this impression is the way Pirate Bonanza may or may not have been inspired by Hacksaw Gaming’s slot Joker Bombs in the first place, but we digress. To their credit, Backseat Gaming has at least dressed Roman Bonanza up in a nice skin, though in saying that, there isn’t exactly a shortage of Roman-themed slots floating around. As such, picking a more original topic might have added a hint of ingenuity to sweeten the gameplay’s repetition, maybe even creating a greater diversion from its reskin status.
Enough with the gripes, Roman Bonanza is a nice-looking game, after all, and the features Backseat Gaming has chosen to repeat certainly aren’t bad ones. Since scatter paying slots allow matching symbols to pay from any position, the Catapult feature benefits from being able to highlight positions all over the place, too, opening the grid up. Catapult symbols certainly add suspense to tumbles as highlighted positions rack up, knowing that a multiplier is going to boost the final result, and the top prize for catapulting the daylights out of winning symbols is a sizable 10,000x the bet. Quite why Backseat Gaming decided to release a Roman clone so soon after Gladius Death or Glory is anyone’s guess; perhaps it was to serve as a sort of warm-up for the upcoming Pirate Bonanza 2?
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