Bison Valley: Slot Overview

Those huge, heavy-set, yet oddly calm creatures, bison, return to the reels in an online casino title from software provider iSoftBet. The game is Bison Valley, and it blends a few classic ideas with newer ones. Modern touches include things like a buy feature, an ante bet, and free spins with wild multipliers. At the same time, it can feel a bit old-fashioned in places too. Of course, looks are personal—what feels ugly to one player can be a real delight to another. If you’re in the mood for some buffalo action, join us as we take a closer look at Bison Valley and see where it lands.

One of Bison Valley’s nicer elements—though you don’t get to enjoy much of it—is the dusty, rocky scenery in the background. Unfortunately, the old-style cream reels, 3 jackpot values, and various interface elements take up most of the screen and cover a lot of the view. A buffalo head peers in from the left as if cautiously watching the action, while a twangy Western soundtrack helps set the tone. It all works well enough, but with countless other buffalo slots competing for attention, Bison Valley doesn’t do a great deal to stand out in terms of visuals or audio.

Moving on to the gambling side, players have a few decisions to make. First is choosing a base stake of 20 p/c to $/€20; then there’s whether to enable Double Up or use the bonus buy. With Double Up turned on, it quite literally doubles the bet, while the bonus buy is priced at 100 times the stake. More details on the betting options are covered below. Before that, here are a few key stats: Bison Valley has a return to player of 96% (96.99% when buying free spins) and medium-high volatility, which iSoftBet rated at 7.5 out of 10.

The action takes place on a 5-reel, 4-row grid, giving players 1,024 ways to win, paid when matching symbols connect from the left across at least 3 consecutive reels. For lower-value symbols, Bison Valley uses 9 through A playing card icons, while the premium set features a squirrel, a hawk, an armadillo, a fox, and a buffalo as its 5 top-paying symbols. Not all of these animals show up often in online slots, and they’re pretty charming as well. In terms of payouts, landing 5 matching low pays returns 5 to 7 times the bet, while 5 OAK premium hits pay 7.5x to 15x. Solid values considering the number of ways available. Appearing on the middle 3 reels (2, 3, and 4) is Bison Valley’s wild symbol. Wilds substitute for any regular paying symbols, making them handy for completing winning ways.

Bison Valley: Slot Features

Alongside the already noted Double Up and bonus buy options, Bison Valley also includes a Bonus Wheel feature and free spins.

Double Up

Turning Double Up switched on changes a few things. First, all scatters double in size and can appear fully or partially in view, helping to trigger the Bonus Wheel. However, stacked scatters still only count as a single symbol, whether they’re fully visible or only partly shown. With Double Up enabled, free spins have a hit frequency of 1 in 115, versus 1 in 200 when Double Up is disabled. The regular hit rate shifts as well, moving from 32.2% with Double Up off to 30.3% when it’s on.

Bonus Wheel Feature

Hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols grants 1, 2, or 3 spins of the Bonus Wheel. Each wheel spin can award the Mini, Major, or Grand prize valued at 50x, 100x, or 1,000x the bet, or it can land 8, 10, 12, or 15 free spins.

Free Spins

Free spins are only obtainable via the Bonus Wheel. During free spins, the top-paying bison symbols can land singly or stacked. Also, when wild symbols appear, they may randomly be x2 or x3 wild multipliers, boosting any wins they contribute to—only 1 wild can land per reel (on reels 2, 3, or 4). If more than 1 wild multiplier is involved in the same win, the multipliers are multiplied up to x27. Finally, players receive an extra 5, 8, 15, or 20 free spins if 2, 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols land.

Bison Valley: Slot Verdict

It’s no secret that bison-themed slots are already charging through the market in huge numbers. Much like jokers or fruit, it’s a theme developers love and keep bringing back. That’s not a complaint—just an obvious point—since bison have been used to great effect in slots like Bison Battle, Bison Blocks, Buffalo Toro, and Buffalo Stack ‘n’ Sync. So, Bison Valley almost certainly won’t be the last time we see these beasts on the reels. Players who have a soft spot for these massive animals are definitely not short on options when they feel like spinning alongside them.

So what would make someone choose Bison Valley over the rest of the buffalo slot herd? This is where it gets a bit tricky, because the game’s fairly generic feel makes its exact niche hard to define. Visually, it leans a little retro, which could appeal to players who enjoy a more old-school look. Yet in other respects, it feels very current too. It’s not truly cutting edge, but it does offer a decent set of features and betting choices, and it uses a ways to win system instead of paylines. Put simply, Bison Valley sits somewhere between modern and old-fashioned—like a quirky retro living-room chair made of wood and orange padding that somehow suggests both the future and the 1960s at once. Its win potential should suit a broad range of players, since the 5,998x the bet maximum is neither stingy nor wildly unrealistic.

All in all, it’s another buffalo-themed slot added to the herd. It’s certainly not the weakest of the bunch, but Bison Valley probably won’t become the pack leader either, and it may be easy to miss with so much buffalo-heavy competition roaming the gambling plains.