Some say the three topics to avoid discussing at family gatherings or with new acquaintances are politics, religion, and money. While the first two are rarely mentioned in the online gambling space, money is intricately tied to online slot entertainment. One slot that’s particularly money-focused is Big Benji Bonanza from Yggdrasil partner Jelly. Let’s address the obvious upfront: Big Benji Bonanza shares a strong resemblance to Nolimit City’s rap-themed slot East Coast Vs West Coast, not so much in gameplay, but in attitude and aesthetics. The question is, does Big Benji Bonanza manage to outshine its hip-hop counterpart?
Visually, East Coast Vs West Coast takes the lead, but Big Benji Bonanza still puts up a good fight. The game has an undeniable swagger, being unabashedly obsessed with banknotes, which adds a certain charm. Set on Wall Street, which was initially a wall built by the Dutch in 1653 and now a global finance hub, the game features the famous Charging Bull statue and the New York Stock Exchange in the background. It’s evident that Jelly drew inspiration from East Coast Vs West Coast when creating Big Benji Bonanza. While it doesn’t quite reach the same level of impact, its playful take on finance and humorous portrayal of ex-presidents in hoodies offers a fun twist. Available on any device, Big Benji Bonanza allows players to place bets ranging from 20 p/c to $/€20 per spin. It’s not as volatile as its direct competitor but still packs a punch, earning a medium-high volatility rating. With a hit frequency of 29.01%, the game offers an overall return value of 95.5%.
Big Benji Bonanza features a 5-reel, 3-row grid with 243 ways to win. The pay symbols are a quirky mix of presidents and classic slot icons. Starting from the bottom of the paytable, you’ll find 10-A royals, worth 1-1.5x the bet for five of a kind. Moving up, there are cherries, bells, diamonds, 7s, and various president symbols, paying 2.5 to 5 times the stake for five of a kind. Wilds appear on reels 2, 3, and 4, substituting for all symbols except Money, Cash Machine, or scatter symbols.
Big Benji Bonanza: Slot Features
In Big Benji Bonanza, attempting to get your hands on some dollars is enhanced by features such as Super Staxx, a Money Symbol collect system, and a free spins bonus round.
Super Staxx The Super Staxx feature shares similarities with ELK’s Nitro Reels found in Nitropolis 3 and the rest of the series. It is active only during free spins. Symbols can land with a frame displaying a number from 2 to 10, indicating 2-10 instances of the selected symbol type, thereby increasing the number of win ways. Up to 2 Super Staxx symbols can land on any reel, and they can be regular pays, wilds, or Money symbols.
Money Symbols Money symbols can land on any reel and display a set value. These symbols include Georgie, Jeff, Abs, Hamilton, Jacko, Grant, or Benji, with bet multipliers of 1x, 2x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 50x, or 100x, respectively. If a Cash Machine symbol lands on the last reel in the base or bonus game, all Money symbol values in view are awarded.
Free Spins The free spins bonus round is triggered by landing at least 3 scatter symbols, awarding 10 free spins. Before the free spins start, a wheel spins to select one of the Money symbols, which will be the only one landing on the reels during the free spins. If the bonus is triggered by 4 scatters, the lowest Money symbol is removed from the wheel; if triggered by 5 scatters, the 2 lowest Money symbols are removed. During the bonus round, landing 2, 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols upgrades the Money symbol to the next one up the list and adds 3, 5, 10, or 20 free spins, respectively.
Bonus Buy Where available, players can use the feature buy button and pay 100x the bet to trigger the free spins bonus round in the next game round.
Big Benji Bonanza: Slot Verdict
If East Coast Vs West Coast was a hip-hop track produced by a group of ex-cons rapping about life, Big Benji Bonanza is more like a manufactured pop group formed at a singing contest. While it may not be as authentically ‘street’, it’s catchy enough to enjoy in private. To answer the question from the opening paragraph: yes, there is a clear winner in the battle between Big Benji Bonanza and East Coast Vs West Coast. Nolimit City’s East Coast Vs West Coast takes the crown with its superior attitude, innovation, striking audio-visuals, and overall impact. Some games are trailblazers, while others are followers, and there’s no doubt which category Big Benji Bonanza falls into.
With that out of the way, let’s give credit where it’s due. Big Benji Bonanza draws inspiration from several other slots. The most obvious influence is the Fishin’ Frenzy/Big Bass Bonanza style feature, but instead of fish Money Symbols, it uses hip-hopped ex-presidents. The concept of having one active Money symbol during free spins can be seen as a minor novelty, with its own pros and cons. It can be disappointing if you’re stuck with lower-value symbols like Georgie, Jeff, or Abs without a retrigger, but it’s exciting when Grants or Benjis dominate the reels. While this isn’t a groundbreaking innovation, the combination of Money symbols and Staxx can create better values, appealing to symbol collect enthusiasts. The game also boasts an impressive potential win of up to 12,000x the bet.
If Jelly had invented all the concepts in Big Benji Bonanza, the game could have been a clever commentary on the role of money in modern society. However, since the studio has clearly borrowed many elements from other slots, Big Benji Bonanza struggles to shake off its imitation status. It can still be enjoyable, especially for fans of Money symbol collect games, but it wouldn’t last long in a rap battle against the heavyweight champs of the genre.