EN
16 September 2024 
Bison Moon Megaways Slot Review
It feels like a good while since we’ve had a Megaways title. Northern Light’s Gaming’s Bison Moon Megaways feels like a throwback to a simpler time, a time when the Megaways mechanic stood out as one of the more unconventional approaches to slots.
To us, the golden era of Megaways was Safari Gold Megaways, Primal Megaways, The Return of Kong, Bonanza and Buffalo Rising Megaways. Most of them didn’t come from Big Time Gaming who created the mechanic, but Blueprint Gaming who adopted it.
Plenty have done it better than Big Time Gaming over various titles in our opinion, but is Northern Lights Gaming among them? They’re a little late to the show – Bison Moon Megaways is their first bash with the Megaways mechanic, but we’re hoping it’s a good one.
Base Game & Features
Bison Moon Megaways is a highly volatile 6-reel Video Slot featuring the Megaways mechanic. This means a single spin can generate up to 117,649 ways to win. Players can access a number of bet sizes, between £.€0.20 per spin and £.€20 per spin.
Wins occur when 3-6 identical symbols land from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel. This game features 5 High-paying and 6 Low-paying symbols, with the highest-paying producing wins of 4x your bet for a 6-line winning sequence. Wild (Bison) symbols appear on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5, substituting for all symbols except Scatters, Link & Win, Dynamite, and Special symbols.
Winning combinations are removed from the reels, causing new symbols to fill empty positions via a Cascade Feature. This function can award multiple consecutive wins in a single spin. The additional Sliding Reel above the main reel set holds an extra symbol above reels 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Bison Moon Megaways has a theoretical RTP of 96.10% and a max win cap of 10,000x your bet. Other statistics include a Hit Frequency of 33.39%. Autoplay and Turbo Mode are also available to players outside the UK.
Bison Stampede
When a stampede occurs across the reels in the base game, the Bison Stampede Bonus Wheel is triggered. The wheel awards one of the following modifiers:
- Max Ways: 1 Spin with 117,649 ways to win
- Bison Wilds: 1 Low-paying symbol is chosen at random to become Bison Wilds on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5
- No Lows: 1 Spin with no Low-paying symbols present on the reels
- Wild Reels: 4 Wilds fill the additional Sliding Reel
Link & Win
Landing 6-14 Link & Win symbols in any position in the base game triggers the Link & Win Bonus, awarding 3 Respins. Each Link & Win symbol reveals a cash prize between 0.2x and 10x your bet. All triggering symbols are held on the reels.
During this round, Red Link & Win symbols with a value over 1.2x your bet turn blue. The round begins with reels 1 and 6 locked, with only Link & Win symbols and Blank positions present.
Additional Link & Win symbols are held in their position, causing the Respins to reset. The round completes when no Respins remain or when all positions are filled.
Special Symbols
During the Link & Win round, Special symbols may appear atop the additional sliding reel.
- Key: Unlocks reel 1 first then reel 6 if it appears again
- Collect: This symbol collects all Cash Values for that reel
- Multiplier: Awards a Multiplier of x2, x3, x5, or x10 to all Cash Values on the reel
- Increase: This symbol increases the number of active ways to maximum capacity for that reel
Bonus Buy
- Free Spins: 100x your bet
- Link & Win: 100x your bet
Free Spins
Landing 4, 5, or 6 Scatters in the base game triggers the Free Spins round, awarding 10, 15, and 20 Free Spins respectively.
In this round there is a Persistent Multiplier, starting at x1. Each winning combination increases the persistent multiplier by +x1. Landing a Dynamite symbol on the Sliding Reel awards 1 of 5 Modifiers:
- Multiplier Boost: Increases the current Multiplier value by +x5
- More Ways: Increases the number of minimum ways
- Double Multiplier: Transforms the multiplier increment from 1 to 2
- Bison Wild: A random Low-paying symbol is transformed into Wilds on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5 for the remainder of Free Spins
- Extra Spins: Awards +5 Free Spins
Similar Slots to Bison Moon Megaways
- Bison Rising Reloaded (Blueprint Gaming)
- Release the Bison (Pragmatic Play)
- 4 Fantastic Fish in Egypt (4ThePlayer)
Conclusion
It’s hard not to like a Megaways title, but you may feel the features that come with it are quite repetitive. The good news is that Northern Lights Gaming has entwined Bison Moon Megaways with a number of features you don’t usually come across in a Megaways slot.
Bison Moon Megaways is not the first of its kind, but the 4th edition of the series. Northern Lights Gaming has kept this latest instalment along the same lines as previous titles, with the addition of the Megaways mechanic.
A key feature that returns in Bison Moon Megaways is the highly-anticipated Link & Win Bonus. The round begins with reels 1 and 6 locked, as well as the number of active ways.
To enhance the Link & Win round, Northern Lights Gaming has created 5 modifiers that can land within the Sliding Reel. Each modifier is applied to the reel directly below it, enabling more ways, value collections, and Multiplier increments.
In Free Spins, a further 5 modifiers are available, triggered when a Dynamite symbol lands on the Sliding Reel. The Persistent Multiplier is crucial in solidifying big wins, increasing by +x1 for each winning sequence. This can be boosted by a further +x5 when the Multiplier Boost modifier is enabled.
All in all, it’s not a bad offering. Bison Moon Megaways does enough to refresh a slightly tired formula.
Welcome Bonus
