Orca’s Wild Bonanza Extenda Edition Slot Review
Did you know that the orca is technically a member of the dolphin family, despite its whale-like appearance?
Or that these aquatic mammals can weigh up to a hefty 5,500kg and enjoy a lifespan approximately in line with humans? It may also come as no surprise to learn females typically outlive their male counterparts. Some things never change…
The scariest piece of useless trivia for today? The female sleeps with one eye open. Makes you wonder just what’s happened during the evolutionary process that would lead them to adopt such behaviours. Male orcas: Be good.
While present in just about every major ocean on the planet, orcas don’t tend to frequent the online casino domain all too often, so it serves as a refreshing surprise to come across a game starring these intelligent creatures who, contrary to common perception, are not actually endangered, but who do benefit from Marine Mammal Protection Act protection to ensure their survival. Phew.
We have Relax Gaming partner Boomerang Studios to thank for swelling the industry’s relatively limited line-up of Orca-fronted slots with Orca’s Wild Bonanza Extenda Edition, a brightly-coloured offering that beckons intrepid seafarers below the depths where these curious creatures gather to play and swim excitedly.
Orca’s Wild Bonanza Extenda Edition Base Game and Features
The open waters are home to a staggering variety of marine life including turtles, starfish, octopus and jellyfish, all of which share reel space across a 5×3 playing field supplying 25 pay lines. Mirroring Orca’s Wild Bonanza Extenda’s overall appearance, the symbols glow with an electric-like charge while coral sways gently on either side of the reels and bubbles rise to the surface – making this a pleasant location for a spot of sea-based spinning.
Starting from the left side of the grid, winning symbols pay left to right across consecutive reels. 5-of-a-kind pay line wins made up of premiums awarded between 1x and 6x the stake, with Wild Orca symbols on hand to boost your returns further. Wilds may also make wins of themselves, worth the same as the top-paying premium when they do.
Joining Cascades in Orca’s Wild Bonanza Extenda Edition’s list of extras are WinMulti Multipliers, a Contagious Wild Feature and the centrepiece Bonus Round that also comes with a Bonus Buy option.
Let’s delve into each in a little detail.
Cascades are nothing new, functioning by removing all symbols in a winning combination to make space for new ones dropping in. The process carries on as long as wins continue to form with each subsequent cascade.
In the upper left of the screen, you’ll notice the WinMulti Multiplier. Beginning at 1x, this feature bumps up the global multiplier by 1x every time a wild symbol lands. The global multiplier is applied to all pay line wins, resetting in between spins.
Orca’s Wild Bonanza Extenda Edition follows a slightly unconventional cyclical pattern with a Contagious Wild Feature at the heart. Each 3 spins sees you cycle through the 3 separate levels.
Beginning with the dolphin active on the first level, joined by the octopus on level 2, with the turtle joining the party on the third and final level. Keep an eye out for the pearl shell symbol. When it lands on reel 3, it turns any adjacent dolphins, octopi, or turtles wild, while the pearl shell itself also transforms into a wild.
Orca’s Wild Bonanza Extenda Edition: Free Spins
A trio of scatters appearing at once in the base game grant 5 Free Spins. Players get to carry over the WinMulti Multiplier value from the base game, which doesn’t reset for the entirety of the feature.
In addition, the Contagious Wild Feature gains an extra level where all Free Spins play out. Land the pearl shell adjacent to any of the top four premiums, including the newly added jellyfish, and it’ll turn it wild.
On a final note, retriggers are a possibility by landing 3 more scatters during the round.
Orca’s Wild Bonanza Extenda Edition Bonus Buy
Jurisdiction permitting, players can prolong the aquatic antics by purchasing Exacta Free Spins via a Bonus Buy option, available upon completion of the initial bonus round.
Orca’s Wild Bonanza Extenda Edition: Our Verdict
Oozing oodles of charm, Orca’s Wild Bonanza Extenda Edition sports cute, cartoon-like graphics that create a vivid underwater world for players to forget about life for a while and immerse themselves in.
On the gameplay side of things, Cascades do nothing we haven’t seen before, but the addition of a WinMulti Multiplier in the base game is an appreciated touch, with players able to transfer any accumulated value to Free Spins as an added bonus.
Ideally, you’ll want to string together an extended stretch of wins with copious wilds showing up to kick off an interplay of features between Cascades and the WinMulti Multiplier.
Contagious Wilds take on added potency in Free Spins where it’s possible for all premiums to turn wild – significantly enhancing your chances at tapping the game’s 12,500x max win – not mammoth-sized, by any stretch, but respectable all the same. All in all, not a bad effort at reminding us of orcas’ place in the world from Boomerang Studios.
