Best Bonus Slots: The Comprehensive Guide to Slot Bonuses

• Almost every online slot has 1 or more bonus game

• Best bonus slots are easy to identify and memorable

• Get free spins and cash prize special symbols

• The following are best slot machines with bonus games

1. Big Bass Bonanza

At first glance, the Big Bass Bonanza online slot may look like a simple video slot with a fishing theme. That impression changes when the bonus round is triggered.

During this round of free spins, a fisherman symbol landing at the same time as fish symbols will collect their cash prizes and reward them instantly.

This cash collect bonus can also feature multiple fisherman symbols and each one collects all cash prizes, effectively multiplying their value. That's not the only way to get high potential payouts, however, as Big Bass Bonanza also forms part of Betfair's daily jackpot slots. This means that every spin can lead to an instant jackpot prize.

2. Book of Dead

Based on ancient Egyptian tombs, the Book of Dead online slot proves that a successful bonus slot needn't be complicated. This 5x3 video slot has a fairly standard bonus round with free spins. The main feature consists of a randomly selected standard symbol that expands to cover the entire reel when this ensures a winning combination.

Thanks to the combination of expanding symbols and free spins, Book of Dead offers a top prize of 5,000x. This game also has an optional gambling feature where you can try to double or quadruple any payout by guessing the card's colour or suit. You can gamble your payout several times, but this feature ends if you make a wrong guess or reach the top prize.

3. Bonanza

The Bonanza online slot offers multiple special features as well as a bonus round. Whenever winning combinations are created, they pay out before exploding. This allows new symbols to take their place with the possibility of creating new winning combinations. When this happens during the free spins round, every successive explosion increases the base multiplier.

Developed by Big Time Gaming, Bonanza would go on to become the first of many Megaways slots. Slot symbols featuring this mechanic cover one or more rows and pay out when three or more matching ones land on adjacent reels. This creates up to 117,649 possible winning combinations with every spin.

4. Starburst

The Starburst online slot is one of the simplest video slots you'll ever come across, but curiously, is also one of the most popular. This NetEnt creation is based in deep space and features a typical 5x3 grid. There is no round of free spins in this game and the only bonus feature is an expanding wild symbol.

When a wild symbol lands on the Starburst slot, it expands and triggers a re-spin. If a new wild symbol lands, both expand and another re-spin is triggered. Up to three re-spins can trigger in a single round, providing a max prize of 500x or 50,000 coins.

5. Age of the Gods

The Age of the Gods online slot was the first of many games in this Playtech franchise. Themed on the gods of Olympus, this slot features two exciting bonus rounds. The first is a round of nine free spins with one of four modifiers. Each one is named after one of the gods and offers special multipliers, substituting symbols, or stacked symbols.

The second Age of the Gods bonus is the jackpot round. This game forms part of a network of jackpot slots that feature four progressive prizes. If the bonus round is triggered, you'll need to match three jackpot symbols to instantly win the corresponding prize. While any wager can unlock this bonus, the higher your bet, the better your odds will be.

Summary of the Best Bonus Slots

We've compared the key features of the best online slot machines with bonus games in the table below. Which one will you play first?

How to Trigger a Slot Bonus Game

There are different ways to unlock a bonus round in online slots. The most common way is to land three scatter symbols. On some slots, landing a single symbol may suffice, but in any case, the bonus round is triggered randomly.

In some cases, you can increase the likelihood that a bonus round will trigger by either placing higher wagers or activating an Ante bet for about 0.5x your base wager.

Some of the best bonus slots give you the option to trigger a bonus round instantly. The cost for this is normally about 100x your base wager, but some games offer a choice of Bonus Buy options.

Key Takeaways

• The best bonus slots are Big Bass Bonanza, Book of Dead, and Bonanza.
• Most slot bonus rounds are triggered randomly, but some games may give you the option to increase the likelihood of triggering a bonus or to activate a bonus instantly.
• Optional betting options that can trigger bonus rounds normally cost around 100x your base wager.
• The majority of slot bonuses consist of free spins or re-spins, but several slots may also award fixed or progressive jackpots
• You should always play online slots responsibly and never wager more than you can afford to lose.