Created by Synot Games, Skull Bonanza gives you a taste of the traditional Day of the Dead celebration that originated in Mexico. Various ornately decorated calaveras will keep you company on the 5 reels with 9 win lines as you compete for the top payout of 10,000x your total wager.
This well-polished slot release features regular and sticky substitution symbols, along with a scatter that is your key to triggering a generous round of 10 free spins. You will encounter medium volatility during your gameplay, with a theoretical player return reaching 97.99%. The flexible betting range allows all players to join the Dia de los Muertos festivities – the game is playable for stakes as low as $0.12 per spin.
| Skull Bonanza Slot Summary | |
|---|---|
| Software Provider | Synot Games |
| Payline Number | 9 fixed win lines |
| RTP | 85.11% – 97.99% |
| Minimum Bet | $0.12 |
| Maximum Bet | $20 |
| Wild Symbol | Yes, calavera symbol, sticky calaveras during free spins |
| Scatter Symbol | Yes, an altar witd calaveras and burning candles |
| Bonus Features | 10 free spins |
| Jackpot | 10,000x the total bet |
Symbols and Winning Combinations in Skull Bonanza
In accordance with the festive theme, the action in Skull Bonanza unfolds against a gaudy backdrop that depicts the marigold-clad streets of a Mexican town amidst a celebration of life and death. The traditional Mexican music playing in the background further adds to the jovial atmosphere of the game. All regular high-paying symbols fit the slot’s celebratory theme, starting with the rose-adorned Mexican girl who can enrich you with payouts of up to 125x your stake for five-of-a-kind.
The young Mexican man with the sombrero and a guitar strapped on his back is the next top payer. Five matches with him can earn you a maximum payout of 100x your total bet. Smaller prizes of 12x, 3x, and 0.5x the stake are awarded for four, three, and two matches.
The wicker basket full of deliciously looking red apples bestows prizes of 2x, 10x, and 75x for three to five identical symbols. You need three to five brilliantly-colored marigolds to score payouts of 2x to 50x your total wager. The skull-labeled carafe pays 25x the stake for five hits, while four and three matches result in payouts of 5x and 1x, respectively.
The low-value symbols are represented by the high-ranking playing cards all reel spinners are familiar with. They pay for three to five matches on a payline, starting with the A whose payouts range from 1x to 10x. K and Q produce maximum prizes of 5x the total stake, while five-of-a-kind with J and 10 can land you top payouts of 4x the bet.
In addition to the regular payers, there is also a special scatter symbol that produces the highest payout in Skull Bonanza, namely 1,000x the stake per spin for five matching icons. All win lines pay leftmost to right.
Bonus Features of Skull Bonanza
Skull Bonanza lacks bonus mini-games, but compensates with a round of free spins. The rewarding special feature triggers whenever at least three altar scatters land in any position on the same spin. You will get 10 free spins regardless of the number of the triggering symbols in addition to payouts of 5x, 50x, or 1,000x your total stake. Scattered wins are added to the payline profits. The only downside of the special feature is that it is impossible to retrigger.
Synot’s game designers have added more flair to the release by incorporating wilds into the gameplay. The wilds are represented by skull-shaped calaveras and substitute for all other icons except the scatters. Apart from helping them land more winning combinations, the wilds can endow players with maximum payouts of 200x their stake provided five of them appear on a win line. They pay even money for as few as two matches.
During free spins, all calaveras transform into sticky wilds and remain in place for the successive free rounds. The sticky skulls can also award extra free spins or boost your wins with multipliers. The green, blue, and purple calaveras trigger one, two, or three extra free spins. The red and yellow skulls have 2x and 3x win multipliers attached to them.
Other than that, Skull Bonanza comes with a card-based Gamble feature that activates after each winning spin. Players who go for it must correctly guess the color of a hidden card to double their profits from the last round. The joker can replace cards of any color. There is also a Halve option where you can collect half of your payout and gamble the rest. The feature is available only on wins of up to $125,000. You have ten attempts to boost your profits within a single gamble game.
Verdict
Skull Bonanza is an excellent addition to the constantly growing catalog of Synot Games releases, largely thanks to its great aesthetic and interesting theme. The base game offers quite decent payouts along with a free spins round that carries considerable winning potential. Given its numerous merits, it is no surprise Skull Bonanza is already a massive hit among slot players.