Casino Bonuses
| Provider | Microgaming |
| Reels | 5 |
| Rows | 3 |
| Paylines | 243 |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 0.30 - 300 |
| Volatility | Low |
| Max Win | 600x |
| Bonus Buy | No |
| RTP | 96.75% |
| Our Rating | 7.0 |
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Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Demo & Review
Game Overview
We’ve seen similarly named games from Microgaming before, so it was easy to mistake Bust the Bank for a sequel to the Break da Bank Again series of games released by Microgaming in previous years. Not so fast, however – this is a completely different type of game altogether, with nothing to tie itself to those earlier smash hits. This is yet another of Microgaming’s 243-way type games, though, so there are lots of familiar features included here. The RTP is set at 96.75%, which is fully reasonable. However, the top win per spin of just 600x your stake is well below what players have come to expect from these types of releases.
A safe bonus feature brightens up the base game a little, however, and another piggy bank bonus gives another chance at an extra win from your regular spin. Neither is particularly lucrative, however, and even the inclusion of a third random pay-out feature featuring a pair of bank robbers is basically just the same thing presented in yet another different manner. At least there’s a free spin feature to look forward to, but once again, don’t expect a monster win from it.
Ready to blast the vault to pieces and make off with one of the biggest scores in history? Well, let’s not leave anything to chance and make sure your getaway plan is in place by practising on our Bust the Bank demo slot. It’s free to play below.
Bust The Bank Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
In the real world, bank heists are some of the most memorable crimes – the audacity and skill required to pull off a successful bank robbery in the modern day is nothing short of incredible and has inspired a dozen or more hugely popular movies and of course, online slots. We have a number of free play slots you can try in this niche here on our platform, with the Action Bank demo being a popular choice with our users, along with the Big Piggy Bank demo and finally, the Iron Bank slot, which is an excellent collaboration between Casino Grounds and Relax Gaming.
Okay, back to Bust the Bank, and we’re over at the pays section, where we find the Scatter symbol and the Fat Robber at the top of the paytable with returns of 45x the bet. Next comes the Skinny Robber worth 30x, the Policeman at 15x, the Cop Car valued at 7.5x, and a Bank paying 4.5x. As for the so-called lower value symbols, these are the Cash Truck valued at 3x, a Bomb worth 2.25x, and last but not least, the Guard Dog paying 1.5x for a five of a kind win.
Joining the mega heist on Bust the Bank for real money costs a minimum of €0.30 a spin, with the maximum stake on the game reaching €300. The lower end of this scale may prove to be too rich for those who like to low roll, but every other category of player should comfortably be able to find a bet size to play at within this range.
Bust The Bank Slot Base Game & Modifiers
There aren’t likely to be many 243-way slot machines which use anything but a 5×3 layout. This is because the 243 number results from the sum of 3x3x3x3x3 – every possible layout of consecutive symbols from left to right results in a win, provided you have the minimum number required for that symbol. Most of the time, this will be three matching symbols, although occasionally, there will be a payout for two. Bust the Bank has a payout for two of the lowest guard dog symbols, but it is so low at just 1/15 of your stake that it makes you wonder why it was even included at all.
Safe Feature
The headline quote on the paytable for this feature is that you can win up to six times from a single spin, but whether you win two, four, or six times because of the safe feature, it never seems to amount to much. If the safe lands on reels one or five, it will open and reveal a random prize. The paytable does not specify a maximum amount, but it seems limited to somewhere in the region of 50x your stake.
If the safe lands at the top of the reel, it will also duplicate itself onto the two positions below it. Land safes on reels one and five simultaneously, and you can get a maximum of six payouts. It could just be a quirk of my small amount of time experimenting with the game after not playing it since its release, but no matter how many safes I ended up with, the win never seemed to get any higher.
This is to say, on one occasion, I hit the maximum of six safes – yet only won 80x. I hit three on another occasion and still only ended up with 60x. I hit one safe four different times and hit at least 30x on all of them. The result was that I found it hard to be excited about the safe bonus, no matter where it landed or how many I ended up with.
Piggy Bank Feature
The piggy bank symbol appears only on reel three and, similarly to the safe feature, awards a random win with an unspecified upper limit. Again, my experience suggests this feature can award no higher than 100x your stake, but I haven’t done enough spins to say for sure. The Piggy Bank didn’t occur very often, so my sample size makes it impossible to give a reliable estimation of its potential.
Larry & Bob Feature
When two robbers run onto the screen, you hope that finally, you are about to win some serious loot… or at least I do. Perhaps that is a possibility – but I absolutely hate this feature because it is one of those “trick” modifiers that can also award you nothing!
If you see the robbers appear, don’t get your hopes up until they start dropping coins your way – often, they will just run across the screen and laugh in your face as they keep their loot all to themselves. As the saying goes, there’s no honour amongst thieves!
Bust The Bank Slot Bonus Features
So, we have three almost identical “features” in the main game, what about the free spins feature mentioned in the introduction? Well, scatters are on all five reels during the base game, and only three are needed to receive 8 free spins. Is this where the money is?
Free Spins Feature
Things start off looking great – stacked wilds cover reels one and five during free spins, meaning you only need to line up three matching symbols in the middle to win a minimum of nine five-of-a-kind payouts for that particular symbol. Scatters still appear on reels two through four, but you only receive one extra free spin for each one that lands – even if you get all three at once. It would have been nice if hitting all three scatters added eight more free spins to the counter, but alas, this is not to be.
The game’s maximum win of 600x from a single spin isn’t easy to hit here by any means, but it is certainly much easier than the maximum payout of most other 243-way games. The way the reels are arranged, landing a wild on reels two, three, and four during the free spins will almost always result in a huge win, as there are high-paying symbols located close by both above and below.
Microgaming could have been a little more generous with the free spins here; why not ten or even fifteen? I guess this is just how the math worked out, but as it stands, it’s hard to get massively excited about this feature, just like everything else in the Bust the Bank online slot.
Pros
- A fun, low-variance slot.
- No complicated features or mechanics.
Cons
- Low max win.
Final Thoughts
It’s interesting to see Microgaming attempt a 243-way slot that isn't in the ultra-variance category. They didn’t go too far wrong here, but at the same time, it feels as if they removed that little bit too much of what made their previous attempts so successful and popular with players. Still, my opinion of this game clearly isn’t shared by everyone – numerous clones of this game have been produced using the exact same math model and paytable. Maybe it’s an acquired taste? Whatever the answer, I can’t help but feel that Bust the Bank lacks the magic that other Microgaming 243-way slots have.
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