🏴‍☠️Bonus Island slot (Inspired Gaming). Read review

Bonus Island slot review

When the game loads, the 6x6 reel configuration is filled with pirate-themed symbols like swords, muskets, treasure maps, ship anchors and more. In the background is an idyllic beach with tranquil blue waters and clouds that gently float by. On the more technical side, Bonus Island boasts 15,625 ways to win and has an RTP of 95.78% with a max win amount of 25,000x in a single game. There are also cascading symbols, which unlock the Bonus Island feature, but more about that shortly.

All hands on deck! It’s time to see what Bonus Island has to offer…

A screen of the Bonus Island playing space

Bonus Island Slot Features.

Cascading Symbols

This feature has become quite common with many modern slots. In essence, each time a winning combination occurs, the winning symbols pay and then disappear to make room for new symbols that cascade down from above to fill the gaps, and potentially form more winning combinations. But there is even more to the cascades in this slot, because located on the left of the reels is a cascade meter. With each cascade, you move up a level, and if you’re fortunate enough to achieve 4 or more consecutive cascades, it activates the Bonus Island feature. On the other hand, if you don’t achieve the required consecutive cascades, then the meter resets with the next spin.

Mystery Boost

Mystery Boost™ is a rather simple, yet effective feature. There are mystery symbols that appear regularly while spinning the reels. The symbol looks like 3 planks of wood with a white stripe on it. On their own they don’t do anything, however, if a bomb symbol lands on the reels, it then explodes all the mystery symbols on the reels and they get replaced with the identical paying symbols or coin symbols. If more combinations are formed with the new symbols, the cascading effect continues.

Coin Bonus Base Game

The Coin Bonus is an extension of the Mystery Boost™. If a mystery symbol becomes a coin, then it triggers the Coin Bonus feature. Coins with cash prizes then begin to spin on each position that there was a mystery symbol. When the coins stop spinning, the values on the coins are awarded and you advance a level on the cascade meter.

Bonus Island

This is where the action really picks up. If you were able to reach 4, 5 or 6 consecutive cascades, then it awards the Bonus Bonus, Mega Bonus or Epic Bonus features respectively.

• Bonus Bonus – You are presented with a treasure map with 20 selectable treasure chests. There is a combination of cash prizes and free spins to choose from.
• Mega Bonus – Similar to the Bonus Bonus, however, the values are enhanced for even bigger rewards.
• Epic Bonus – There are only 10 options, but all are Free Spins options.

When the map appears for any of the above Bonuses, you first need to select 1 treasure chest. A pirate flag then marks that chest as yours, but it does not open yet to reveal the contents. You then have to eliminate 3 other treasure chests by selecting them. These open and reveal the prize that was inside but these are not yours to keep. At the bottom of the map is a handy chart that shows all possible prizes and as you eliminate chests, these prizes are greyed out. The chart gives you some direction in terms of the prizes that still remain.

The pirate captain then makes you a cash offer, which if you choose it, you receive the amount and the round ends. However, if you reject the offer, you then have to eliminate another 3 chests. Again, the captain will make a cash prize offer, which you can reject or continue picking chests. This process continues till there is 1 chest remaining, plus your initial chest with the flag on it. Finally, you have the option to choose if you want to keep your initial pick or the alternative one. If you pay attention to the chart below the map as you venture through this bonus round, you can somewhat deduce what the final treasure chests contain. Finally, when you choose which chest you want, you are then presented with a gamble wheel where you can decide to keep the prize you’ve been awarded or gamble for more by spinning the wheel. Fortunately, even if you lose the gamble, you don’t lose all of it, but instead are awarded a bit less than the initial prize.

Free Spins

The Free Spins are awarded through the Island Bonus feature as described above, but there is even more to the Free Spins feature than just regular spins. Each time a cascade occurs during the Free Spins it increases the win multiplier, which is unlimited. There is also a variation of the Mystery Boost™ from the base game, except this time, the mystery symbol is a barrel with a skull on it. Every time the barrel appears it transforms randomly into a symbol or coin. If a coin is awarded, it triggers the Coin Bonus feature. In this coin feature, there are coins with cash prizes and extra free spins, plus once the coins reveal your prize they activate a cascade and increase the multiplier.

Spin Chance

Just when you thought they couldn’t squeeze more into this slot, there is the Spin Chance. Basically, if your bet amount is more than what is available in your bankroll, but has not reached zero, you are offered the opportunity to win one more additional spin at the current bet amount. You have the choice to accept the offer or not. If you win an extra spin, it plays automatically.

Bonus Island Slot 200 Spins Experience

As with all our slot reviews, we take them for a solid 200 spins to see what they are all about. With the very first spin of this game, we were off to winning start as the first cascade took place and a Mystery Boost™. The cascades kept coming and the Mystery Boosts™ and we instantly started advancing up the cascade meter, all the way to the Epic Bonus. The treasure map loaded and we picked a chest and started eliminating other chests. The captain then made a healthy offer of ~£470, which we accepted, and it then revealed that our chest was holding 14 Free Spins. The gamble option then came up where we had the choice to take the cash or spin for a chance to win 12 Free Spins. We took a chance and won the 12 spins. The Free Spins then began to play out and it was epic, the multiplier just kept climbing with every spin and the soundtrack was truly thrilling and added to the action and anticipation. Our Free Spins session ended with an impressive win of almost £1,100, which far exceeded the captain’s initial offer, and made the choice of going with the Free Spins option well worth it.

Review Summary

Simply spectacular! Playing Bonus Island is like an epic adventure film. The anticipation is almost tangible and the endless features from the base game through to the bonus rounds are excellent. Inspired Gaming has done an outstanding job and if you are someone that is not entertained by slots that just involve endless spinning of the reels with little excitement, then Bonus Island is the slot for you. The only slight drawback of this slot is the learning curve due to so many features and how they work, but don’t let this put you off because after playing for a short time, you will grasp everything and become immersed in the action.

Pros

• Great theme
• An amazing assortment of features
• Exciting and entertaining

Cons

• Takes some time to understand all the features

If you enjoy Bonus Island from Inspired Gaming, you should also try:

Pirate Gold Deluxe from Pragmatic Play is another pirate-inspired slot that boasts some great features and huge winning potential. If you’re a fan of the film series, Pirates of the Caribbean, then this slot will captivate you for sure.

Jack’s Treasure by Pariplay also draws its inspiration from Pirates of the Caribbean and is a highly underrated slot. With loads of bonus features and an impressive RTP of 96.98%, it’s well worth your time to try out this slot.