What are Bonus Buys?
Bonus features are a staple of online slots. Depending on the game, you might discover free spins, increasing multipliers, pick-and-click rounds, and other bonuses as you play.
But bonuses only trigger when you land a specific combination of symbols or meet certain conditions. For example, you’ll often need to match three or more Scatter symbols to unlock a free spins feature.
Waiting for a bonus to trigger organically can be frustrating, especially if it’s the main reason why you chose a particular game. Slots are unpredictable, and there’s no way to know exactly when a bonus will trigger (if at all).
But bonus buy games offer you the chance to unlock one or more features instantly for a set price — eliminating those long waits. How do these slots work, and what benefits do they offer?
We’ll answer these and other big questions in this comprehensive guide.
How are Bonus Buy Slots Different from Other Slots?
Here are three key differences between slots with a bonus buy feature and conventional slots:
- More Flexible Structure: One of the biggest differences between bonus buy games and conventional slots is flexibility: you have the freedom to play one or more features whenever you like.
- Streamlined play: Having the option to trigger a bonus feature at any time during the base game can create a more streamlined experience. You don’t have to wait for the right symbols or conditions to fall into place — you can jump straight into a feature instead. This can cut down on the time you usually spend waiting for bonuses to trigger randomly in conventional slots.
- Different bonus buy options available: In some bonus buy slots, you can pay to unlock multiple features. The prices often vary: the most substantial bonuses cost more to access instantly than smaller ones. This gives you more control over the gameplay’s direction.
How Do Bonus Buys Work?
Bonus buy slots operate in the same way as standard slots: spin the reels and see if you can line up matching symbols to win cash prizes. If you want to focus on the base game and wait for bonuses to trigger randomly, you can — the bonus buy feature is entirely optional.
But if you’d prefer to unlock a bonus instantly instead, the process is usually quick and easy. Let’s look at one bonus buy slot as an example: Pragmatic Play’s John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets, an Indiana Jones-esque adventure.
In this game, you can take advantage of two bonus buy features: Buy Free Spins (80x bet) and Buy Super Free Spins (200x bet).
The Super Free Spins feature is essentially the same as the standard Free Spins round, but the Mystery symbol will always be the Money symbol (instead of a random standard symbol). This can lead to bigger payouts.
Here’s how to use the bonus buy function in John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets:
- Check your balance to confirm you have enough funds to cover the cost.
- Click on the ‘Buy Free Spins’ button to the left of the reels.
- Tap the green ‘check’ button to activate the Free Spins feature for 80x your bet or the red ‘cross’ button to cancel.
- The feature will start automatically.
If any bonus buy slots appeal to you, check if they’re available in demo mode. Playing the demo version of a slot is a fantastic way to discover how it all works, including the bonus features, before you bet any real money. You can see how much the bonus buy feature costs, and test it, completely without risk.
How Much Do Bonus Buys Cost?
Bonus buy games allow you to trigger one or more bonus features for a specific price. The cost of the bonus buy feature can differ significantly from one slot to another. The higher it is, the more carefully you should consider your options.
Let’s look at costs across five popular bonus buy titles:
- Bigger Bass Splash: Pragmatic Play’s tranquil fishing-themed slot offers not just one bonus buy, but two: Buy Free Spins (100x total bet) and Buy Super Free Spins (350x total bet). The Super Free Spins round awards all modifiers available in the standard bonus feature.
- Dead or Alive 2 Feature Buy: The ‘Feature Buy’ version of Dead or Alive 2 includes a bonus buy option. You can pay 66x total bet to trigger the bonus and choose from three free spins features.
- Starburst XXXtreme: In Starburst XXXtreme, the bonus buy feature offers two options: one guaranteed Starburst Wild per spin (10x total bet) or two guaranteed Starburst Wilds per spin (95x total bet).
- Money Train 2: In Relax Gaming’s Western slot, you can pay 100x total bet to unlock the Money Cart feature instantly.
- Max Megawas 3: Big Time Gaming’s spy slot has two bonus buy options: 10 free spins for 100x total bet or 15 free spins for 200x total bet.
Costs differ across these five bonus buy slots, ranging from 66x total bet to 350x. Always check the price carefully before you buy a bonus. And remember: even though your payment guarantees that a feature will trigger, you’re not guaranteed to win your money back.
Common Bonus Buy Features You Can Pay to Play
Here are six features you may pay to play in bonus buy games:
- Free Spins: A free spins feature awards a specific number of free plays: the reels will spin automatically with no bet required. Games typically provide players with 10 or more free spins per round, though that can vary significantly — some titles offer up to 100. Free spins features may be retriggered for more chances to win.
- Respins: A standard respin feature grants one or more free spin after a paid spin, usually if certain symbols land on specific reels or no wins are awarded. Developers have expanded the basic respin model to make their features more exciting and potentially generous. For example, you could unlock extra ways to win or increase active multipliers with each respin.
- Pick-and-click rounds: A pick-and-click feature is interactive: you select one or more items to reveal prizes. In Starlight Kiss, the Romance Bonus invites you to choose 3 out of 10 objects to find cash wins and hearts (which increase the bonus multiplier).
- Expanding symbols: Expanding symbols may be part of a free spins or respins feature in bonus buy slots. Specific symbols (including Wilds) might expand to fill one or more reels, or they may be selected at random at the start of a bonus round. Expanding symbols can award bigger prizes, and expanding Wilds will help complete winning combinations across one or more reels.
- Unlocked rows: Some slots feature locked rows: meeting certain criteria unlocks these and gives you more ways to win. Quickspin’s Crystal Queen is one example: the game has a 5x6 layout, but only the bottom three rows are unlocked at the start. You can open the rest up by landing consecutive wins. You may have the option in some games to unlock rows and reels instantly as part of a bonus buy feature.
- Win multipliers: Multipliers lead to bigger payouts when applied to wins, and range in size from 1x to 1,000x or above. Many bonus buy games feature increasing win multipliers: these grow bigger and bigger if you meet specific conditions (e.g. landing particular symbols or achieving consecutive cascades).
How Do Bonus Buys Compare to Other Bonus Features?
The bonus buy is just one of multiple features available in many online slots, along with free spins and win multipliers to name just two. But how does the bonus buy feature compare to others?
| Feature | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Bonus Buy | Trigger a feature instantly for a fixed price Multiple features may be available No need to wait for features to trigger organically | Cost to trigger features is much higher than individual spins No guarantee of winning High prices can consume bankrolls faster |
| Free Spins | Offer free chances to win Features may be retriggered and award extra free plays May include additional bonuses, such as increasing win multipliers and modifiers | Some games may only offer a few free spins at a time |
| Bonus Features | Avalanche Feature, Wild Multipliers, Twin Reels, Free Spins | Wild, Cascades, Lit Reels, Reel King Feature, Super King Feature, Mega King Feature |
| Respins | Award extra chances to win (sometimes after non-winning spins) May include increasing win multipliers to boost payouts Potential to win without a paid bet | Only one respin may be awarded at a time in some bonus buy games May only be available after certain non-winning spins |
| Expanding Symbols | Can help form winning combinations Expanding Wilds can turn entire reels Wild to increase your chances of winning Can be available in base games and bonuses | May be limited to specific bonuses only If low-paying symbols expand, they may take the place of more valuable symbols on the reels |
| Win Multipliers | Able to increase the size of payouts substantially May be applied to all wins generated | Multipliers may stay low in some games, such as 1x - 3x |
| Pick-and-click Games | Offers a different gameplay experience Puts you in control of the action | Players who prefer to focus on core slot gameplay could find pick-and-click bonuses an unwelcome distraction |
As you can see, some bonuses have more benefits and drawbacks than others. Bonus buy slots offer you the chance to play features at any point and can help you save time, but they don’t guarantee wins.
Unlike bonuses that trigger randomly, features that you pay to unlock will cost you (often large amounts) without the promise of getting anything in return. Keep that in mind before you use a buy bonus feature.
What are the Pros and Cons of Bonus Buy Slots?
Here are five pros and five cons of bonus buy games:
- You’re guaranteed to trigger the paid bonus, which removes the uncertainty of standard gameplay.
- Triggering a feature instantly can help you save money: you won’t need to play potentially hundreds of paid spins in the hope of unlocking it.
- If a particular bonus feature is the strongest part of a game, you can cut straight to it and experience it without delay.
- You may access other bonuses included in a certain feature at the same time (e.g. expanding Wilds, increasing multipliers).
- Return to Player (RTP) could increase during bonuses, depending on the game.
- You’re not guaranteed to win prizes, so you might not receive much (or any) return on the cost of the bonus buy feature.
- Bonus buy prices can be very high, even over 300x total bet in some cases.
- Using a bonus buy function one or more times in a single session can reduce your bankroll faster than usual.
- You’ll pay more to access a feature that might trigger organically on the next spin anyway.
- Depending on the volatility, RTP, and symbol values, the price of the bonus buy feature could significantly exceed the potential payouts.
5 Popular Bonus Buy Slots
Not sure which bonus buy games to play? There are dozens upon dozens of slots using the bonus buy feature on the market, but here are five popular titles to help you get started:
- Sweet Bonanza 1000: Sweet Bonanza 1000 is an enhanced version of the original Sweet Bonanza. The max win is 25,000x your bet, and you can unlock a free spins feature with win multipliers of up to x1,000. If you want to trigger the free spins round instantly, you’ll pay 100x total bet for the standard feature. However, a ‘super’ version is available for 500x total bet, with multiplier values starting from x20 instead of x2.
- The Dog House Megaways: The Dog House Megaways, another Pragmatic Play slot, has 117,649 ways to win and awards payouts of up to 12,305x your bet. The game features adorable canines and two free spins rounds to choose from: Sticky Wilds Free Spins and Raining Wilds Free Spins. You can trigger these for 100x total bet.
- San Quentin 2: Death Row: Nolimit City’s prison-set slot has more than 1,000 ways to win and an absolutely massive top prize of 200,000x your stake. With the bonus buy feature, you can trigger multiple bonuses for 100x - 2,500x your bet.
- Money Train 4: Relax Gaming’s fourth Money Train slot uses a scatter pays mechanic and awards payouts of up to 150,000x your stake. The Respins feature can trigger after any spin ends, but the Money Cart Bonus is much bigger. This includes many special symbols that can help you win higher payouts. You can trigger the feature for 100x or 500x total bet (the latter adds one Persistent symbol to the grid).
- Blood Suckers Megaways: Red Tiger’s spooky vampire-themed slot offers up to 117,649 ways to win and a top prize of 20,521x your bet. The Free Spins round includes modifiers (e.g. Super Wilds), which you might reveal by picking coffins in a pre-bonus stage. You can use the bonus buy feature to trigger the free spins for up 10x - 1,000x total bet (depending on the number of coffin picks you’d prefer).
