BGaming’s Bonanza Billion Merge Up+ Reworks Its Cascade Trick
BGaming has given one of its longest-running slot families another spin, and this time the update is mechanical rather than cosmetic. Bonanza Billion Merge Up+ takes the studio’s fruit-and-gem cascade series and bolts on a reworked version of its Merge Up feature, aimed squarely at the moment cascading reels usually go quiet.
What’s been released
BGaming has released Bonanza Billion Merge Up™+, the latest entry in its Bonanza Billion slot series, featuring an updated version of the supplier’s Merge Up™ mechanic.
The Bonanza Billion series has been a huge success for BGaming, with players falling for its charming fruit-and-gem-themed design and rewarding gameplay from its launch 5 years ago.
The new title arrives as the latest attempt to keep that lineage fresh for UK-facing operators who already stock earlier entries in the series.
According to BGaming, the reworked mechanic is designed to tackle a common issue with cascading reels. Rather than removing all winning symbols and refilling the grid, the game merges symbols and leaves behind a symbol already on the reels, which the company says increases the chance of subsequent wins.
BGaming said the update was refined using player and streamer feedback.
Producer Alex Baliukonis framed the release as a natural next step for two of the studio’s best-performing lines, saying
“both the Bonanza Billion games and the Merge Up™ mechanic have been huge successes for us from the start, so combining the two mobile-play-inspired games felt like an obvious next step. This new twist on the Bonanza Billion series retains all the characteristics that made the original such a success.”
How it plays
The game runs on six reels and five rows with scatter pays rather than fixed paylines, carrying an RTP of 97.04 per cent and high volatility, with bets ranging from 0.20 to 17 and a maximum win of 15,000 times the stake.
Combinations of 8 or more symbols pay anywhere on the grid, and winning symbols are removed from the reels, allowing new ones to fall into place, which allows for multiple wins per spin.
The headline change sits in how those cascades resolve.
The refreshed Merge Up mechanic makes the cascading gameplay even more dynamic as winning symbols do not simply disappear without a trace, but merge into a new symbol that is already present on the reels.
The more of the same symbol is already in play, the higher the chances that players will receive this very symbol as a result of a merge.
In practice, that means a grid already stacked with one fruit or gem type can snowball into that same symbol reappearing, rather than resetting the odds with each drop.
The bonus round is triggered by flashy clover scatter symbols, with the number of scatters determining how many free spins are awarded.
During the bonus round, gift-shaped multiplier symbols can also appear and increase the money players get from wins, and the free spins round can be retriggered by collecting 3 or more scatters in a single spin before the feature ends.
The title also includes a free spins bonus with multipliers up to ×100, plus a Buy Bonus option priced at ×100 the player’s stake.
Where it fits
Bonanza Billion Merge Up+ lands as BGaming continues to lean on its back catalogue rather than starting new IP from scratch, following on from the Bonanza Trillion sequel released earlier this year.
BGaming said operators can request customizable versions, citing prior “exclusively launched versions” of Bonanza Billion and Merge Up™ titles as a driver of performance
, a route UK operators have used before with the studio’s branded exclusives. For players already familiar with the tumbling-reel format from Bonanza Billion or the original Merge Up games, the appeal here is less about a new theme and more about whether the tweaked merge logic makes those familiar cascades feel less predictable.
Sources
- GamblingNews – BGaming Takes a Fan Favorite Franchise to the Next Level in Bonanza Billion Merge Up+
- EEGaming – BGaming launches Bonanza Billion Merge Up+
- iGaming Future – Land Fruitful Wins with BGaming’s Bonanza Billion Merge Up™+
- Focus Gaming News – BGaming invites players to land fruitful wins in its latest release, Bonanza Billion Merge Up+
