Bison Blocks: Slot Overview

Bison are creatures you can’t help but sympathise with at times. Back in the late 1800s, they were hunted to the brink of extinction, with numbers dropping to only a few hundred. They’ve recovered since then, yet bison (or buffalo, as they’re also called) have somehow become a go-to choice for online slot developers. Why they’re such a staple in slots is nearly as baffling as the universe’s matter/antimatter imbalance. Rather than spiralling into that mystery, let’s roll with it and check out Bison Blocks, an online slot from software developer Stakelogic.

If you were picturing a windswept prairie chase with buffalo thundering past, it’s best to drop that idea immediately. With Bison Blocks, Stakelogic skips the familiar North American wilderness vibe and goes for something far more enigmatic. In terms of atmosphere, Bison Blocks feels closer to earlier Stakelogic titles like Devil’s Trap or Jaguar Strike than it does to a typical bison-themed slot. There are plenty of more conventional comparisons out there – Bison Rising Megaways, Buffalo Rising Megaways, or Big Bad Bison Megaways, to pick three more or less at random. Choosing a different route, Bison Blocks charges away from open plains into a setting that’s denser, darker, and less immediately recognisable. That’s great if you want to see bison framed in an unusual environment, but less ideal if you’re craving those big, open American skies.

Right away, Bison Blocks greets players with a question: do you want to enable the Super Stake betting feature? With it turned off, wagers run from 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin; switch on Super Stake and the bet is doubled, while symbol values stay exactly the same. The difference is that extra scatter symbols are added to the reels, which in theory boosts the odds of landing free spins. If you’d rather skip the wait, free spins can also be purchased via the bonus buy menu, offering 10, 12, 14, 16, or a random option for 100x, 150x, 200x, 250x, or 175x the bet, respectively. The RTP is set at 95.25%, and it appears to remain the same regardless of how you choose to play, while the underlying math model is described as highly volatile.

Bison Blocks runs on a ways-to-win system instead of fixed paylines, meaning its 6-reel, 4-row layout delivers 4,096 ways to win. There are 8 standard paying symbols: the 4 lower-value icons are diamonds, spades, clubs, and hearts, and the 4 premium symbols are bison in different colours. When a 6-symbol combination lands, payouts range from 0.7 to 1 times their stake for the low pays, or 1.5 to 10 times their stake for the high pays. Wilds assist in forming wins by substituting for all symbols except scatters.

Bison Blocks: Slot Features

Whenever a winning way connects in Bison Blocks, one of the core mechanics kicks in: the cascade mechanic. Unlike typical cascades that remove the winning symbols, this one clears away all the losing symbols instead, allowing the winning symbols to drop to the bottom of the grid where they stick. Once they settle, the empty spaces are filled with new symbols. If fresh winning combinations appear, the sequence continues until no additional wins are created, and only then is the win total worked out. Importantly, after 3 consecutive cascades, the grid expands to 6 rows high, unlocking 46,656 ways to win. When the spin ends, the grid returns to its normal dimensions.

Free Spins

Scatters are taken away by the cascade mechanic and are collected. Gathering 3, 4, 5, or 6 or more scatter symbols awards 10, 12, 14, or 16 free spins, respectively. During free spins, a win multiplier is in play, beginning at x1, and each cascade increases it by +1. This multiplier affects every win and does not reset until free spins end. Retriggers can happen as well: if 3 or more scatters are collected during cascades, players receive +5 free spins.

Bison Blocks: Slot Verdict

It took a handful of spins to get a feel for Bison Block, mainly because the theme isn’t immediately obvious. Perhaps that’s because it’s a buffalo slot that seems determined not to resemble a buffalo slot, which makes it a bit harder to settle into at first. If the bison had been portrayed as undead, Bison Blocks might actually have felt more coherent. It’s an odd thing: it’s easy to criticise online slots for being repetitive – recycled mechanics, recycled themes, and so on. Yet when something like Bison Blocks tries to be different, it can come across as strangely disorienting. Maybe that’s just what happens when you’re used to a certain formula, or maybe there’s a real reason clichés become clichés. Either way, that’s a question for another time.

The end result is that Bison Blocks could probably have featured bison, boars, bones, books, biostatisticians – it wouldn’t have changed a great deal. That said, perhaps there’s a nod to the flaming-eyed buffalo in the forest from the Amazon Prime series American Gods? Probably reading too much into it, which is amusing because Bison Blocks is actually very simple in terms of rules. You just need to land a combo, let the screen clear, and hope the cascade improves the result. Even better is hitting at least 3 consecutive cascades so the grid swells to its maximum size, turning an already generous number of ways into a huge amount. The win cap lines up reasonably well at 15,000x the bet in the base or bonus game, though it’s hard not to think it could have been a touch higher.

A truly outrageous max win might have drawn more attention to Bison Blocks, but there’s little to complain about overall. It’s a bit odd for a buffalo slot, though not in a way that ruins the experience, and the feature set has potential. So bison-philes, or anyone after a different take on cascading wins, may well enjoy Bison Block’s distinctive style.