Better Barn House Bonanza

Better Barn House Bonanza: Slot Overview

Developer Pragmatic Play has headed back to the countryside and upped the prize pot in its poultry and egg-themed slot Better Barn House Bonanza. Prag followers will quickly note this is a follow-up from Bigger Barn House Bonanza, which grew out of Brick House Bonanza, which in turn, ahem, was similar to Light & Wonder's popular Huff N' Puff range. On a side note, we recently tangled with ELK Studios' Huff N' Puff CollectR, and the timing makes one wonder how coincidental this latest instalment from Pragmatic Play might be. Conspiracies aside, Better Barn House Bonanza plays out much like its predecessor but with additions such as a third wheel and greater potential.

While the particular graphical quality has stayed about the same, there are new and differently arranged objects on the screen to look at while playing Better Barn House Bonanza. For one thing, the massive wheel that used to hang over Bigger Barn House Bonanza has been removed, though the jackpots have remained. Well, four of the jackpots can be seen; there are actually more higher-level prizes lurking amongst the hay to be potentially won. The rest of the scene, well, it's classic farmyard slot stuff, red barn, white picket fence, hay, rolling hills, all that outdoor living, and golly gee, the atmosphere is upbeat.

Players ready for some huffin' and puffin' can pick a bet of $/€0.20 to $/€240 and start spinning for those wheel bonuses. Better Barn House Bonanza is a ways to win slot, and there are 243 ways on the default 5x3 grid layout. The volatility has been tuned to a medium level, and the RTP, whether betting on spins or buying features, clocks in at 96.5%.

Symbols pay left to right from the leftmost reel, and there are 11 of them on the table. They include 9-A card royals, wheelbarrows, corn, chicks, chickens, and roosters. Five royals in a win pay 0.15x the bet, or 5 matching premium symbols award 0.2x to 1.25x the bet. The wild fox symbol is present on the three middle reels, where it can substitute for all of the regular paying symbols.

Better Barn House Bonanza: Slot Features

The scatter symbol can appear on all reels. When 1-5 scatters land, they are collected in a nest above the reels. Randomly, when this happens, a random number of scatter symbols, enough to trigger free spins, are added to the reels.

Free Spins

Hitting 6 scatter symbols triggers 6 free spins. When it starts, the triggering scatter positions are highlighted with straw. During the feature, when a scatter lands, it adds a straw highlight to its position, or upgrades the highlight already there to wood, and then to brick. If a scatter lands in a brick position, it affects a different position. If all positions are brick and a scatter lands, 10x is paid for each scatter.

At the end of the round, highlighted positions transform into houses, and each one awards a prize. Straw houses award 0.4x-1x, wood houses award 1.2x-5, the Mini (8x), 2x Mini, or Minor (40x), while brick houses award 6x-150x, Mini, 2x Mini, Minor, 2x Minor, Major (500x), or Grand (5,000x). Landing 3 or more scatters during the round retriggers it, awarding an extra free spin.

Wheel Bonus

The Wheel Bonus symbol is present on all reels while the Bigger Wheel Bonus and Better Wheel Bonus are present only on the rightmost reel. Hitting 3+ Wheel Bonus symbols triggers the Wheel Bonus. Hitting 2+ Wheel Bonus symbols and either a Bigger Wheel Bonus or a Better Wheel Bonus symbol triggers the Bigger Wheel or Better Wheel, respectively. When not enough bonus symbols land to trigger a wheel, they are collected in a windmill and can randomly trigger a wheel feature. The standard wheel awards are:

• Mega Egg Feature - A 2x2 to 5x5 or two 2x2 scatters can hit to trigger free spins with corresponding highlighted positions.
• Windmill Feature - The triggering Wheel Bonus symbols roll to the right, highlighting and/or upgrading positions, triggering free spins with the highlighted positions.
• Barn House Feature - The triggering Wheel Bonus symbols transform into brick highlights, then free spins are triggered. All new scatters immediately highlight their positions in brick.
• Random Jackpot - Awards the Mini, Minor, Major, or Grand Jackpot.
• Bigger Wheel - A new award is given from the Bigger Wheel.

The rewards from the Bigger Wheel are:

• Bigger Mega Egg Feature - Three rows are added to the grid, and at least two 2x2-5x3 scatters hit to trigger free spins.
• Bigger Windmill Feature - Same as the regular version, but played on a 5x6 grid with the initial triggering symbols copied to the new rows.
• Bigger Barn House Feature - Also the same as the regular version, but played on a 5x6 grid with the initial Wheel and Golden Wheel symbols copied to the new rows.
• Random Jackpot - Awards the Major, Grand, or Super (25,000x) Jackpot.
• Better Wheel - A new award is given from the Better Wheel.

And finally, the rewards from the Better Wheel are the Bigger Mega Egg Feature, Bigger Windmill, Bigger Barn House, and these:

• Better Golden Egg Feature - A free spins round played on a 5x6 grid with all Wheel, Bigger Wheel or Better Wheel symbols duplicated on the new rows. During this round, a new scatter symbol with an arrow on it may land. When scatters hit, they upgrade the highlight on the position by two levels. When scatters with arrows hit, they upgrade the position by three levels. A new golden highlight is also possible. Awards from the golden highlight are 15x-150x, Mini, 2x Mini, Minor, 2x Minor, Major, or Grand Jackpot.
• Golden Goose Feature - Appears to be the same as the Better Golden Egg Feature, but symbols that triggered the feature transform into golden highlights at the start of the round, and every scatter that hits during the round transforms into a golden highlight.
• Better Barn House Feature - Free spins played on a 5x6 grid. Before it starts, at least two 2x2-5x3 brick houses are added, highlighting their positions. Golden marks are also available in this feature.
• Random Jackpot - Awards the Super, or the Best Jackpot.

Feature Buys

Players can pay 50x, 150x, or 200x to trigger the Wheel, Bigger Wheel, or Better Wheel, respectively.

Better Barn House Bonanza: Slot Verdict

Better Barn House Bonanza is a reminder that if you're going to copy someone else, why be coy and try to disguise the fact? Pragmatic Play has taken the opposite approach, owned the tactic, and doubled down for another helping of highlighted positions action. There are differences between this and the last one, but not enough that Better Barn House Bonanza is going to sway the haters. This is basically a same yet more type of event, pushing winning potential out, adding a wheel, as well as a few extra features. Boil it all down, though, and the core action remains the same. Namely, highlight positions, upgrade them, then reveal dough at the end of the sequence, a la Huff N' Puff.

However, there are reasons why slots gain mega popularity, and many of them can be found in Better Barn House Bonanza. While the base action is highlight and reveal, the game has many ways of actually highlighting positions and upgrading them. They are a bit samey, not much here will surprise anyone, but variety does help extend longevity. Pragmatic Play has attached some new features to the Better Wheel, and even if they also repeat the main formula, they are something for completists to tick off their list. Winning potential has been greatly increased as well, with the introduction of the Best Jackpot, and 35,000x the bet is Better Barn House Bonanza's win cap.

Overall, Better Barn House Bonanza arguably lives up to its name and succeeds at delivering exactly what its target audience expects: more bonuses, more potential, and plenty of noisy farmyard spectacle. In a nutshell, the developer has taken the previous release, stuffed in more features, more wheels, bigger jackpots, and a larger maximum payout. On its deepest level, Better Barn House Bonanza may lack originality, but it manages to compensate through sheer scale and enough variety to keep players who gravitate toward this type of entertainment engaged.