Extra Chilli Megaways is a video slot set in a colourful and vibrant Mexican town, in one of its many markets, where merchants and shoppers haggle at the stands to purchase various things.

And in this Big Time Gaming release, that something is all the right ingredients to make a perfect bowl of chilli.

To accomplish that goal, you are given cascading reels, an extra reel, free spins, and a win multiplier. Before free spins begin, players can gamble and win up to 24 extra turns by spinning a large bonus wheel.

Extra Chilli introduction, including RTP and variance

The game is played on a 6×7 playing field, with no guarantee that you will always get seven symbols per reel. One reel can have between two to seven icons on a single reel, and this changes every spin. As such, 117,649 ways to win is only the best possible outcome, not a constant.

The theoretical payout (Return to Player) for this title is between 96.15% up to 96.41% without taking advantage of the feature drop, and between 96.26% and 96.82% if you do use it.

The high volatility means the slot prioritizes big jackpots more than small, but more frequent pays.

Extra Chilli gameplay and paytable

Lower paying symbols include playing card royals like 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A as their usual colourful selves. Higher paying icons are four jalapeno peppers, with the purple one being the highest paying of the bunch.

Special symbols include gold-plated letters H, O, and T as the Scatter symbol, used to activate free spins. A group of lit fireworks rockets are Wilds and can replace any icon except for Scatters.

The game has cascading reels, called reactions by Big Time Gaming. Every time a winning combination is formed, symbols that were part of the pay disappear.

New icons fall in their place, while brand new ones fall to fill the empty spaces. This allows lucky gamblers to chain several wins together.

The developers also placed an extra reel beneath reels two, three, four, and five. They act as an extension of the playing field and can help complete pays. New icons appear from the right side for the extra reel, instead of above.

Bonus Features

Collect three, four, or five Scatters, and you win eight, twelve, or sixteen free spins. From there, players can choose to gamble them in a separate bonus, or take the prize and begin the free spins feature immediately. For the duration of free spins, an unlimited win multiplier is active.

Each time a win happens, the multiplier increases by one. Said multiplier only grows from chain wins, so best hope the cascading reels do their job! Gamblers can also win additional free spins by collecting three or four Scatters in the extra reel. This rewards four or eight extra turns, respectively.

Free Spins gamble is a large, green bonus wheel, which grants a chance to win more free spins. The wheel spins when you press gamble. If it lands successfully, players win four extra free spins and can choose to collect or gamble again.

However, if the gamble fails, you get the number of free spins seen in the black section. If that number drops to zero, the bonus ends.

Extra Chilli Bonus Buy

Big Time Gaming allows impatient gamblers to skip the wait. By pressing the Bonus Buy button, you gain access to the slot’s special feature without having to activate it manually.

Naturally, there is a cash price that must be paid to skip straight to the bonus. While playing, you may come across golden coins. When picked up, they lower the cost of the feature drop by a certain amount.

CasinoWizard’s Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars

While the free spins gamble and the ability to buy your way to the bonus are new, Extra Chilli is, first and foremost, very similar to Bonanza Megaways.

Does that matter to the Wizard? Frankly, no.

Not at all.

Extra Chilli is an improved version of the slot that started the Megaways trend: Bonanza. It offers enhanced graphics, faster gameplay, and a handy Bonus Drop option with a gamble feature.

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