If you’ve never heard of Bonus Buy Slots, this is a new gaming feature that might really interest you! The bonus buy, or feature buy as it’s sometimes known, is a relatively new addition to the world of online gambling. If you’ve ever been playing an online slot and wished you could jump ahead to the bonus round, then check this out.

The bonus buy feature gives the player the option to activate a bonus round via a purchase rather than achieve it through accumulating spins. It’s designed as a shortcut for players who want to skip ahead to the action.

A megaways slot called White Rabbit was the first to feature a bonus buy and was released in 2017 by Big Time Gaming. The game quickly became popular, leading to several other game developers like Yggdrasil, Relax Gaming, and NextGen choosing to add a bonus buy feature to their slots.

But it is not just Buy Bonus Slots slots. Today, there are over 100 slot machines with a buy a bonus feature, from Netent (Serengeti King) to Pragmatic Play (Sweet Bonanza Xmas) and Nextgen Gaming (300 Shields Extreme) Feature drop and buy a bonus for free play. Discover all slots with the best buy a bonus and feature drop game functionality.

• Bonus buy slots work in the same way as all other slots with a minor difference being that you can buy in to the bonus round. This means, that you can spin the reels as usual, land winning combinations, trigger free spins and bonuses by landing the required symbols but there is one difference.
• What is a bonus buy slot? - Bonus buy slots or feature buy slots, are games that allow a player to directly enter the bonus round without having to trigger the feature in the conventional way. For this privilege a player will pay on average 100x their stake, but amounts can range from as little as 50x up to 150+.
• Bonus Buy Slots were introducing to the online gambling world in 2017 and have since grown in popularity. Sometimes known as a ‘feature buy’, the bonus buy option allows players to simply ‘buy’ a specific bonus round that might otherwise take a lot of spins to activate.

Nowadays you can find a wide range of bonus buy slots online, including Vikings Unleashed Megaways, Book of Gods, Dark Vortex, and Extra Chilli. However, not all bonus buy features are the same and some don’t good value for money. If the cost to purchase the feature is too high you might be tricked into paying too much for only a small chance of winning.

Our Top 5 Highest Rated Bonus Buy Slots

1. Rick and Morty Megaways

• Bonus Feature Buy Costs 100x Stake
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2. Genie Jackpots Megaways

• Feature Bonus Buy Costs 100x Stake
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3. White Rabbit Slot

• Buy Bonus For 100x Stake or Less
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4. Return of Kong Megaways

• Buy The Bonus Feature For 100x Stake or the Mystery Bonus for 150x Stake
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5.Viking Unleashed Megaways

• Bonus Buy Options From 50x to 200x Stake Value.
• Play at King Billy Casino, PlayOJO and Lucky Niki.

Where can I find a bonus buy slot?

Almost anywhere in the world that online gambling is available, you’ll find a site to play bonus buy slots. Many have been optimized to work on laptops, tablets and even mobile phones, meaning you can play from anywhere at any time. Rather than just go with the first game you find, it’s a good idea to do your research. There are loads of independent review sites online where you will find reviews from other players who give an honest account of their experience.

Checking the RTP of a game is always a good indication of your chances of winning. You don’t necessarily have to choose the highest RTP but find a balance between a game you enjoy and one with a high RTP. There are loads of great bonus buy slots from the likes of NetEnt, Scientific Gaming Interactive (SGI), Blueprint Gaming Inc, and many others.

How to know if it is cost-effective?

For the most part, a bonus buy will give you an improved chance of winning – which is why the feature is so popular! However, some developers have tried to use that popularity to their advantage, offering expensive buy-ins that don’t give many advantages.

Before just jumping in, you should try to estimate the cost of purchasing a bonus buy vs the cost of spins to activate it. Sometimes it really doesn’t make sense to pay such a large amount upfront. Most slots will advertise the maximum possible payout so using that you can get a good idea of your chances.

Another factor to consider is the ‘return-to-player’ (RTP) value. In some games, the max payout might be less than others but the RTP is higher because you have more possibilities of winning. Some slots might try and impress players by offering big jackpots but if the RTP is low then it’s not a good option.

In the Vikings Unleashed Megaways slot, for example, there is a potential 20,000x max win and an RTP of 96.75%. It has four bonus buy options, from 5 free spins for 25x your bet to 12 free spins for 100x your bet. The more free spins you get in one go, the more chance you have of winning.

The original White Rabbit slot from Big Time Gaming remains one of the best in the business, with an RTP of 97.39%. For 100x your bet you get 15 free spins and a potential 13,000x max win. Although the max win is lower than Vikings Unleashed, the RTP is higher, meaning you might have a better chance on this slot.

What are the benefits of bonus buy slots?

The feature is designed to appeal to players who often spend a long time building up spins in the base game to activate a bonus. They are aware of how much it will cost to get the desired number of spins and would rather simply pay to skip ahead and save time. Big Time Gaming clearly recognized this desire in its players and responded to the demand with great success.

However, the rise in the popularity of bonus buy slots has drawn the attention of gambling regulators. Some feel the feature might pressure vulnerable gamblers into spending more money than they can afford. Since a bonus buy requires a large upfront commitment without any guarantee of return, it could be considered in contravention of certain gambling rules and is perhaps only really suited to high roller slots players with more leeway in their bankrolls.

United Kingdom Ban

The controversy around bonus buy slots led the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) to ban the feature in October 2019. The body felt that feature went against a specific clause in its remote gambling and software technical standards. Requirement 14A of the standards states that no feature should encourage gamblers to “chase their losses, increase their stake or increase the amount they have decided to gamble.”

As a result of the ban, online casinos in the country were forced to remove any products that featured bonus buy slots. Fortunately for some developers, the slots were designed with a simple switch in the base game to disable the feature. For others, however, they would need to completely reprogram the slot and re-release it without the bonus buy option included.

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Conclusion

Bonus Buy slots are a great way to take a chance and win big on an online slot. It’s also a convenient method of saving time if your only intention is to play through spins until you hit the bonus round. However, you must remember that you are spending a large chunk of money in one go and there is no guarantee of winning, so never gamble more than you can afford to lose!

FAQ

📌 What is the Average Cost of a Bonus Buy Slot?

The average cost is 100x your stake but this can vary from as low as 50x up to 200x+ depending on the slot.

📌 What is the Original Bonus Buy Slot?

White Rabbit was the first slot to have this option, it was trademarked with the term Feature Drop.

📌 What is a the Difference Between a Bonus Buy and a Feature Drop Slot?

The difference is that by playing a Feature Drop slot through it’s base game spins you can over time lower the cost of buying the feature.

📌 Which Slot Do You Recommend Trying This On?

We always tell our visitors to try out Rick and Morty Megaways. The Vindicator free spins bonus has seen us hit some big wins.

📌 How Often Should I Use The Feature Buy?

Only use it if you can afford to as putting up 100x of your stake is a lot to risk, especially if you do so multiple times and can eat your bank roll up rapidly.

Andy has been playing online slots for over a decade and has a wealth of experience working in the online casino sector. Always keen to share his knowledge of slots games you can be sure he’s bringing you the best tips and updated stats about every game he reviews!

Online gaming jurisdictions must strike a balance between running successful markets and protecting players. They have to ensure that operators can run profitable businesses without taking advantage of gamblers.

Jurisdictions need to act when they think that problem gamblers may be in danger. The slots “buy feature” (a.k.a. buy bonus), for example, recently forced one jurisdiction to ban it.

Assuming you’re unfamiliar with buy bonus, you can read more about it below. I’ll also discuss why it has been banned in certain markets.

What Is Buy Bonus in Slots?

Normally, you must rely on sheer luck to trigger a slots bonus round. You typically need to land at least three scatter symbols anywhere on the reels to unlock the bonus.

Buy feature lets you skip the random chance element. Instead of waiting on scatter symbols, you can just risk a certain multiple of your stake to trigger the bonus.

Here’s an example:

• A buy feature requires you to risk 100x your stake.
• You’re betting $0.20 per spin.
• You pay $20 to unlock free spins.
• Three scatters land immediately within the next round.
• All payouts will be based on your $0.20 standard bet.

You can use buy bonus at any point when it’s available. Therefore, you can enjoy the feature over and over as long as you have the funds.

Assuming you feel like the cost is high, you could always lower your stake to the minimum amount too. Using the example above, you might be able to reduce your bet to $0.10 and pay $10 for the bonus round.

Why Do Players Use Buy Bonus?

Gamblers use this option for one or more reasons. Here are the three main reasons why players buy the bonus.

Unlock the Bonus Immediately

Sometimes, you might be playing a slot just to trigger the bonus. In these cases, you have three main options to quickly play the feature:

• Spin the reels manually and wait.
• Use autoplay and either watch the game or take a break.
• Skip straight to the bonus with buy feature.

The first option suffices when you’re playing a brand new slot and want to take everything in. However, you might eventually get bored with the base game and simply want the feature.

Autoplay is an upgrade over manually spinning to trigger the bonus. The issue here, though, is that you still must wait—you just don’t need to spin the reels when doing so.

Buy bonus lets you quickly move past all of the spins that it takes to randomly trigger free spins, or whatever other feature is available.

Take a Chance at the Biggest Prizes

Outside of progressive jackpot slots, most games offer the largest prize in the bonus round. A slots bonus usually consists of free spins with one or more modifiers, like win multipliers and/or expanding wilds.

Assuming the multiplier keeps increasing throughout the bonus, you can look forward to big prizes. Some slots pay anywhere from 10,000x to 50,000x your stake through the feature.

Here’s an example on how much you could win in this scenario:

• Your minimum bet is $10.
• The top prize is 25,000x your stake.
• 25,000 x 10 = $250,000 maximum win

You might only be able to win up to 1,000x your stake in the base game. Bonuses become much more attractive in these instances.

Raise RTP

Many slots offer enhanced return to player (RTP) through the bonus. The extra modifiers are the key to this increased payout percentage.

For example, online slots may normally offer 96.2% RTP. However, you can boost this amount up to 97.5% payback with the feature in play.

You’re still facing a 2.5% house edge in this instance. But you also get to enjoy another added benefit when buying the bonus.

Some Jurisdictions Outlaw This Feature

In 2019, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) made headlines when they banned the buy bonus option. They noted that this function has the ability to push certain players into losing far more money.

Back then, software developers that offered buy feature in UK casinos underwent an expensive and lengthy process to remove it. Developers today often create a different version for the UK (w/o buy bonus) and other markets.

The Gambling Commission began reviewing the matter two years ago as part of an effort to reduce problem gaming. After all, the UK has a problem with gambling addiction.

Of course, gamblers can always avoid using this option. But some players simply don’t have the ability to make themselves stop once they start.

Responsible Gambling Is the Key Theme Here

Banning the buy feature isn’t the only bold move that the UKGC has made recently. This gaming body has also banned credit-card payments at casinos and reduced maximum stakes for fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) to just £2.

The latter decision figures to have the biggest impact on the country’s gambling market. Previous FOBT stakes used to reach £100.

However, the buy-feature ban should have an impact as well. Gamblers’ habits can get out of hand when they purchase the bonus multiple times.

Here’s an example:

• A British slot offers maximum bets worth up to £100.
• You begin placing the largest wager.
• The buy feature option costs 80x your stake.
• 100 x 80 = £800.

You’re now risking £800 ($1,000) per spin, which is a serious amount of money. The upside is that you could score a huge payout that’s worth thousands of times more than your stake.

The downside, though, is that you could also walk away with a prize worth much less than what you spend. Winning just £100 or £200 is really going to sting in this case.

Again, the UKGC simply didn’t feel comfortable allowing players to take these risks. They decided to completely rid their internet gaming market of buy bonus as a result.

Other regulated gaming jurisdictions will likely consider doing the same in the future. After all, the UKGC is currently the most-respected online gaming authority in the industry.

Will Buy Bonus Make You Addicted to Gambling?

You can still find the buy feature in many real money slots throughout the world. Therefore, you might see this option and fear using it.

Much of your decision to purchase the feature will depend upon your individual circumstances. You should ask yourself the following questions regarding this matter:

• How large is my bankroll?
• Do I have addictive tendencies when it comes to slots?
• Will I keep using buy bonus over and over if I don’t win big the first time(s)?
• Is the maximum prize and RTP increase (if applicable) worth the extra money?
• Do I already have enough fun playing the base game?
• Do I value playing time just as much as bonuses and pursuing big payouts?

The first question is one of the most important in this scenario. If you only have a $20 bankroll, then you’ll likely have to risk most or all of it on one feature. In contrast, you could buy the feature quite a bit with $1,000 or more.

Gambling addition has the most-grave consequences in this instance. Assuming you’re a problem gambler, then you want to avoid slots with buy bonus in general.

You might already have enough fun as it is just playing the base game. In this case, you should simply enjoy yourself and let the features come naturally.

Regarding the last question, you might not be comfortable risking a large portion of your bankroll for bonus glory. Instead, you may appreciate the thrill, and low cost, of each spin.

Many factors go into deciding if this option is worth your while. You should definitely consider the questions posed above before making your decision.

Conclusion

The buy bonus option is banned over fears regarding problem gambling. It requires players to increase their stake by a massive amount.

Of course, buying the feature can result in a huge payout. You could win up to 20,000x your stake or more, depending upon the game.

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The risk, though, is that you win far less than you spent. Betting 100x your stake can quickly backfire if you fail to win anywhere near this amount.

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You don’t necessarily have to fear using buy feature when it is available, though. Instead, you can use it a few times per session as long as you have the bankroll and don’t suffer from gambling addiction.