Chili Bonanza X UP Review
Taking on the popular Day of the Dead theme is a tall order and game providers have to do something a bit special to beat off the competition. Does Chili Bonanza achieve its goal? That is a matter of personal preference, but we have to say that we didn't find anything that had us gripped on the edge of our seats.
The free spins round can be fairly generous and the overall presentation is pretty decent. However, we have been spoiled in recent times by hugely popular games in this niche that have quite a bit more to offer.
Design
You can't really argue with the design of this game; it does its job. It is set in a stereotypical Mexican cantina with a couple of nods to the Day of the Dead in the form of a few skeletons here and there.
The background music and sound effects are exactly as you would expect but might have you toggling the sound off reasonably quickly. In terms of animation, there is very little to mention other than the Speedy Gonzales-type character who pops up to play his guitar from time to time.
Gameplay
Chili Bonanza falls into the category of a standard video slot without any clever add-ons or quirky mechanics to mention. 99.9% of your time will be spent spinning the reels in the base game without any modifiers other than stacked wilds to break things up a little bit.
The addition of the X UP multiplier feature won't do you any favours unless you hit the 50x maximum or you trigger the free spins bonus. This addition has no benefits for players during the base game, which is a bit of a miss in our opinion. Players love to see a couple of modifiers here and there to split a base game up and Games Global might have missed a trick with this feature.
Win Potential
With a max 50,000x payout at stake, you can't deny the huge winning potential in this game. The big payouts will only be seen during the free spins bonus and this is all thanks to the X UP multipliers you can collect.
Such a high max payout will naturally attract a high volatility model and that is certainly what you get with Chili Bonanza. The RTP is slightly over 96%.
Our Verdict
Chili Bonanza was always going to have a tough job trying to impress and stand out in this highly competitive area. We would like to see the X UP feature have more of an impact in the base game but we have to concede that the stacked wilds are a nice touch.
In terms of gameplay, Chili Bonanza might be fairly middle-of-the-road, but its huge payout potential should certainly make you consider taking it for a spin.
Alyx has always loved slots and continuously follows their progress and development. She’s a big fan of gridded slots and music themes as well, so it makes sense that Def Leppard Hysteria is her absolute favourite. She can’t wait to see what’s next in the Play’n GO rock series.
Learn more about Alyx here