Buster’s Bones

Review Buster’s Bones

NetEnt once was one of the most popular providers out there, but since 2019 they’ve managed to blow up their status of a leading software developer. Now, there here with an invitation to ‘Ride down the dusty back roads of a never-ending canyon and become part of the naughty world where Buster’s Bones lives. Buster’s Bones is a Wild West meets wild poochies extravaganza full of fun escapades on the front end whilst delivering a Buster’s Bones feature, known as the Random features, the free spins feature, and a bonus buy feature. Graphically, Buster’s Bones is a major delight for the eyes, taking place in a canyon, guaranteeing an unforgettable adventure. Mathematically speaking, Buster’s Bones is a very disappointing experience though which we’ll explain in more detail.

How to Play

This online pokie by NetEnt comes with an interesting 6×6 setup that makes use of the cluster pays mechanics. After every winning spin, the paying symbols will disappear from the reels. As this comes with an avalanche feature, it’ll make place for new symbols.

• Players from New Zealand can wager with a specific amount picked somewhere from a $ 0.10 to $ 100 range. The demo game that can be found on our platform gives you the option to do this with demo credits. As the normal $ 0.10 to $ 100 range is quite broad, we believe this game should be ideal for both low and high rollers. Trigger the fine canine action once you hit the Spin button.
• Alternatively, you can also make use of the Autoplay feature to play with several auto-spins, which you can personalise using the advanced settings. We suggest limiting the amount of auto-spins and taking into account your bankroll when you do so.
• If you want to play with faster spins, you can also enable the Quickspin option. The “i” button will open the paytable, whilst the Menu option expands the information page.

We suggest making use of our free demo version as this will make sure that you won’t have to wager your own money whilst still enjoying the gameplay. This will make it possible to learn the rules of the game and understand how it works.

Symbol Wins

The game theme in the Buster’s Bones pokie game is based on dogs, with the main character Buster being the main part of the action. The graphics this NetEnt pokie comes with are pleasing to the eye, with the reels set somewhere in the mountains in the base game. This then switches to a softly lit Western saloon once the Free Spins feature is activated. When it comes to the audio of Buster’s Bones, it has a traditional Wild West feel to it, with instruments like a banjo and a harmonica. To us it is a bit repetitive, so we wouldn’t blame you if you switched off the sound after a while.

On the reels of the game by NetEnt, the 4 different card suits make up the low values. These are also joined by 3 dogs with different coloured backdrops as the high value symbols. The 3 dogs are the best paying symbols of Buster’s Bones, all awarded from 0.3x for 5 in a cluster to 15x for 15+. The game’s wild symbol substitutes for all standard symbols, but the Buster Special symbol can also become a wild that racks up the multipliers as he flies across the grid collecting bones. Here’s more about the symbols you can find in this game.

Bonus Features

You will hopefully come across 4 different bonus features in the Buster’s Bones pokie game. From random features and a Buster’s Bones feature to a Free Spins feature and a buy option, there are quite some features to uncover. Let’s run you through everything the game has to offer in terms of symbols, beginning with Buster’s Bones feature. Buster Bones makes use of the cluster pays mechanism and the waterfall mechanism:

• The cluster pays mechanism means that a group of at least 5 identical pay symbols is required to form a winning combination. By “group” we also mean that the identical pay symbols must be connected horizontally or vertically.
• The waterfall mechanism removes winning clusters from the playing field. The resulting empty positions are filled by new symbols that fall from top to bottom. Indeed, as if it were a waterfall of symbols. These new symbols can lead to new winning combinations, which means that the spin does not have to be over yet. This is only the case if new symbols no longer result in new winning combinations.
• It doesn’t end there, because 3 more features have been added to Buster Bones. It concerns the Buster Bones feature, the random feature and the free spins feature.

Buster Bones feature

The Buster symbol and bone symbols are of great importance for the Buster Bones feature. The Buster Bones feature is activated when a Buster symbol and 1 or more bone symbols land on the playing field at the same time. As a result, the Buster symbol turns all bone symbols on the playing field into wilds. The Buster symbol itself also functions as a wild.

Each bone symbol is linked to a certain multiplier value. The Buster symbol collects all these values and adds them together. This total value is the win multiplier during the spin, which is applied to the total win. After the feature ends, both the Buster symbol and the win multiplier disappear from the scene again.

Random features

The Buster Bones random feature can be activated at any given time. In itself an appropriate name for a feature that is triggered at random times. The random feature works very simply. It ensures that a Buster symbol and a random number of bone symbols are added to the playing field of the game.

Buster Bones Free Spins

You can earn 8 free spins in Buster Bones by spinning 1 Buster symbol and 2 scatter symbols on the playing field. During the free spins feature, the Buster symbol is present every spin, so that all bone symbols are collected every spin. Unlike in the base game, the win multiplier in the free spins feature does not reset between spins. This means that the win multiplier can become quite high over time, so that great prizes can be won. Spinning 1 or 2 scatters during the free spins feature will give you 1 or 3 extra free spins.

Bonus Buy Feature

If you want to take advantage of the free spins feature at any point in the game, you can use the bonus buy feature. You pay 60x the bet which will give you 1 Buster special symbol, and 2 scatter symbols that activate the bonus game. We suggest you make use of the bonus buy feature if your bankroll allows you to. The good news luckily is that this bonus feature is actually not expensive in comparison to other bonus buy options.

Payout Metrics

The Buster’s Bones RTP is set at 96.07%, which is slightly above the industry average for an online NZ pokie game. There are also 88.01% and 94.04% RTP versions available as well, so just make sure you’re playing the one you want to play in that regard. When it comes to the game’s volatility, it sits in the medium to high range which will be to the liking of most players. The maximum win, however, is capped at 973x your total bet per spin or free spin. This is on the low side compared to a lot of the best New Zealand pokies around. There aren’t too many modern online pokies lower than this to be honest. The top win of Buster’s Bones will land, on average, once every 50 million spins.

Summary

We have to say that the Buster’s Bones pokie looked great when it initially loaded, and we cannot blame the graphics as they’re one of the best aspects of the game in our opinion. The bonus features aren’t too bad when Buster is chasing bones and increasing his multiplier. What disappointed us the most was the max win of 973x the total bet. This is extremely low compared to a lot of other pokies available on the market today. The medium-high volatility doesn’t make up for this, so most players will feel disappointed as well.

All in all, the gameplay is quite fun and it’s not a difficult game to understand. However, the low max win potential keeps on reminding us why not to play this game rather than wanting us to give it a go. With an average max win, it could have scored high. Instead, we’ve given it a score slightly above average. It really doesn’t deserve more than that. We are hoping that NetEnt can still make a comeback, but after some very interesting releases in 2022, the Swedish game developer has let down their players and casino partners in 2023. It seems that its owner Evolution has decided to take their focus away from NetEnt.