Bee Hive Bonanza
Bee Hive Bonanza is a high volatility slot by NetEnt with a unique theme combining bees and a medieval setting. It features a scatter pays mechanic with cascading wins, offering the chance for big wins. The Money Bee Feature adds another layer of excitement with random instant cash prizes. Free spins with increasing multipliers provide the main bonus round.
Bee Hive Bonanza slot review
Bee Hive Bonanza is a video slot developed by NetEnt that features a whimsical theme centered around a colony of bees in a medieval setting. The 5×5 reel set is situated on a meadow backdrop with rolling hills, beehives, and a distant castle, creating a lighthearted and visually appealing atmosphere. The soundtrack is upbeat and reinforces the positive and playful tone of the game.
Gameplay Mechanics
Bee Hive Bonanza utilizes a scatter pays mechanic, meaning winning combinations are formed by landing six or more matching symbols anywhere on the reels. There are no fixed paylines. After a winning combination occurs, the winning symbols and any bee symbols from the Money Bee feature (explained below) disappear from the reels, triggering an Avalanche. New symbols tumble down from above to fill the empty spaces, creating the potential for consecutive wins in a single spin.
Regular Symbols and Payouts
The slot features ten regular symbols, divided into two tiers based on their payout value. The lower-tier symbols consist of various flowers and gemstones, while the higher-tier symbols depict bees dressed as medieval characters like knights, kings, jesters, and bandits. The payout value for each symbol increases proportionally with the number of symbols that land in a winning combination.
Special Symbols and Features
- Honey Pot Scatter: The Honey Pot symbol acts as the Scatter in Bee Hive Bonanza. Landing 3, 4, or 5 Honey Pot Scatters triggers the Free Spins bonus round with 10, 15, or 20 free spins respectively. During the Free Spins round, collecting additional Honey Pot Scatters progressively increases a win multiplier applied to all wins.
- Money Bee Feature: Bee symbols can appear randomly on the reels during any spin. Each bee carries a cash prize valued between 1x and 10x the total bet. To collect these prizes, at least one Beehive symbol needs to land on the reels in the same spin. There are three types of Beehive symbols:
- Regular Beehive: Sums up the values of all bee symbols on the reels.
- Multiplier Beehive: Doubles the value of all bee symbols before collection.
- Adder Beehive: Increases the value of all bee symbols by the total bet amount before collection.
- Avalanche Mechanic: As mentioned earlier, winning symbols and bee symbols are removed from the reels after a win, triggering an Avalanche. New symbols fall down to fill the empty spaces, potentially creating new winning combinations and extending the winning streak within a single spin.
- Buy Feature (Optional): Some casinos may offer an optional Buy Feature that allows players to purchase access to the Free Spins round for a one-time cost of 100x the total bet.
Important Details
- Volatility: Bee Hive Bonanza is classified as a high volatility slot, meaning wins can be less frequent but potentially larger in value.
- Return to Player (RTP): The RTP of Bee Hive Bonanza can vary depending on the casino. NetEnt lists the range as 88% to 96.09%. Players should always check the specific RTP offered by their chosen casino before playing.
- Minimum and Maximum Bet: The minimum bet per spin is €0.10, while the maximum bet can reach €200, catering to a wide range of bankroll sizes.
- Max Win Potential: The maximum potential win in Bee Hive Bonanza is 5,000x the total bet.
- Software: NetEnt
- Release date: February 2023
- Theme: Bees, Knights, Castles, Meadows
- Reels: 5
- Paylines: Scatter pays
- RTP: 96.09%
- Volatility: High
- Max Win: 5,000x bet
- Bonus Feature: Money Bee
- Free Spins: Yes
- Scatter: Honey Pot
- Min Bet: €0.10
- Max Bet: €200
- Bonus Buy: Yes
By: Vlad Hvalov, Online Slots Enthusiast
FAQs
Bee Hive Bonanza uses a 5×5 reel set with no fixed paylines. Instead, payouts are awarded when clusters of 6 or more matching symbols land anywhere on the grid, without needing to fall on specific lines. When scatter wins occur, the paying symbols disappear, getting replaced by tumbling symbols cascading down from above, which can trigger chain reactions. This is all powered by NetEnt’s Avalanche mechanic. With each avalanche, new bee tokens or scatters can appear, perpetuating the reaction.
Three beehive collector symbols exist, and at least one needs to be present for the bee symbols to release their instant cash prizes. The regular Beehive simply sums the values of all bee symbols that appear. The Multiplier Beehive doubles the value of each bee before collection. Finally, the Adder Beehive increases the value of each bee token by the amount of the bet itself. So if your bet was €1, and a €2 bee appeared, the Adder Beehive would make that a €3 token before collection.
Landing 3, 4 or 5 scatters during the base game awards 10, 15 or 20 free spins respectively. Additional scatters collected on the reels during the feature round a progress bar that increases a win multiplier. Hitting milestones of 3, 6, 9 and 12 scatters boosts the multiplier to 2x, 3x, 4x and finally 5x. Moreover, each time a new multiplier level hits, 2 extra spins get tacked on too. So there is an escalating element making the feature more exciting.
The Money Bee bonus wherein bee symbols appear randomly to deliver instant wins to the beehives gives the gameplay a surprise element. The beehive collector variants like Multiplier and Adder bring a clever twist too. But the escalating free spins round is the flagship feature, with its multiplier milestones and spin extensions creating a sense of achievement. The bee theme is also quite rare and helps provide an upbeat feeling. Combined, these attributes allow Bee Hive Bonanza to stand apart from typical cascading wins slots.