Boss Bear

Review Boss Bear

Panda bears are some of the cutest animal species alive that live in the mountain ranges in central China. They once lived in the lowlands as well but as humans destroy everything they come across, the territory of the pandas is now limited to areas high up in the mountains. Humans shouldn’t look surprised when they encounter panda bears in urban areas and Boss Bear seems to use this scenario as their source of inspiration.

The 6×5 playing field takes us to the foggy streets of what we reckon to be one of the major Chinese cities as panda bears are bear species endemic to the land of China. In Boss Bear you’ll encounter the Golden Reveal feature which comes with coin prizes, modifier symbols and mystery stack reveals that are able to match symbols in all stages. The bonus round is also all about turning less valuable symbols into reveal symbols, which is obviously meant to help you boost your Golden Reveal chances. The 25,000x top win potential is half what it was in Big Bamboo, but you get a higher RTP to compensate.

How to Play

The layout of Boss Bear is different from what you’re used to as it is presented on a 6×5 grid. This requires a slightly different approach, but as always, we’re happy to assist you with this one. Here is how to play Boss Bear:

• Choose a safe and recommend online casino from our list.
• Sign up at your preferred online casino and deposit money to claim your bonus.
• Preferably try this pokie in the free demo mode.
• Visit the game lobby and look for Boss Bear.
• Think of a predetermined budget and base your betting limits on this.
• Set your bet and click on play.
• Enjoy the game.
• Play responsibly and stick to licensed casinos at all times.

Symbol Wins

Push Gaming is known for their outstanding graphics and the same is true for the audio that fits the game well. On the reels of the game, there are 9 symbols that award payouts for landing 3 to 5-of-a-kind. The panda is an exception as it pays out 2 or more of a kind. The low value symbols are the standard diamonds, clubs, hearts, then spades, the mids are a ninja star and a pistol, whilst the most lucrative symbols are a wolf, monkey, and panda symbols. Landing combinations of 5 OAK low value symbols is worth 0.8x the stake, the medium valued symbols pay out between 2 and 4x the bet, or highs pay between 10 and 100x the stake. The wilds can land on all reels and come with the same value as the panda itself. Also, it can be used to substitute for any other symbol. Here is more about the different symbols waiting for you in Boss Bear:

Bonus Features

There are an impressive 9 bonus features found in the Boss Bear pokie. These different features range from multiple free spins and multipliers to a coin feature with all sorts of symbols giving you some extra value. This means that there is a lot of action waiting for you. Below, we’ll discuss the features, beginning with the Reveal symbols.

Reveal Symbols

In the base game and the Free Spins feature, Reveal symbols can land anywhere and the good thing is that they can land in stacks. When this happens, all of the symbols reveal the same sort of symbol. This can be a wild or another standard symbol. If reveal symbols land on 3+ consecutive reels, all of the involved symbols will become a Golden Reveal symbol. These will activate the Coin feature, which is the next on our list to discuss.

Coin Drop Feature

Each position on the reels that is filled by a Golden Reveal symbol will turn into a coin and spin via different prizes. In this feature, there are different symbols that can land:

• Instant Prize Symbol: Cash coins can land with prizes between 1x and 1,000x the bet.
• Multiplier Symbol: Boosts all instant prize and collector positions by x2, x3, x5, or x10 before being removed as the position spins again.
• Collector Symbol: Absorbs the value of all instant prize and collector symbols after which all collected instant prize symbol positions are spun again. The Collector symbol will remain in place until the feature comes to an end.
• Nudge Symbol: nudges the golden reveal. This is done in order to fill the reel before it is removed. New empty positions spin again, but won’t be able to reveal the nudge.

Boss Bear Free Spins

Scatters can be landed on any reel, and they can also appear during the Coin feature:

• 3 scatters award 7 free spins.
• 4 scatters award 8 free spins with 2 low-value symbols converted to Reveal symbols.
• 5 scatters award 9 free spins with all 4 low-value symbols converted to Reveal symbols.

During this feature there are also bonus features that are collected which means that you will need to fill one low value symbol on the metre with 4 collected scatters to transform it into a Reveal symbol. The scatters symbols stop landing if all low values are converted, and you win extra spins. In this case, the win multiplier per conversion is upgraded:

• 1st conversion awards 4 free spins + x2 win multiplier.
• 2nd conversion awards 3 free spins + x3 win multiplier.
• 3rd conversion awards 3 free spins + x5 win multiplier.
• 4th conversion awards 2 free spins + x10 win multiplier.

Keep in mind that the Multiplier only applies to the instant prize and collector symbols if you trigger the Coin feature during the bonus round. Landing 4 or 5 triggering scatters means that the low symbol meter is filled accordingly from the get-go, and the relevant low-value symbols are thus already converted to Reveal symbols.

Gamble Feature

The gamble feature is available to players in New Zealand and is activated by landing 3 or 4 Scatters in the base game or the Coin feature. You can choose to keep what you won or go for the ‘gamble’ to potentially win more free spins. This is an optional feature.

Boss Bear Bonus Buy

Players from New Zealand can purchase direct access to different bonus features. There are a few different options available which different costs and their own characteristics:

• Full-screen Golden Reveal feature: 300x the stake.
  • RTP of 96.71%.
• Bonus Round triggered by 5 scatters: 600x the stake.
  • RTP of 96.81%.
• Free spins: 100x the stake to get a random amount of free spins.
  • RTP of 96.4%.

Payout Metrics

The Boss Bear RTP is 96.47%, which is well above the average figure for online pokies at NZ online casinos. It is also important to note that there are different RTP versions of this game which can make casinos lower the Return to Player to 95.45% and 94.35%. This can be checked in the paytable of the game so make sure to do this. As for the volatility of the game, this online pokie finds itself in the high range so wins are less frequent but tend to be higher. The maximum win in Boss Bear by Push Gaming is 25,000x the stake, which is both outstanding and significantly above average. At the same time, this RTP is half of its predecessor Big Bamboo which is obviously not the way to do it.

Summary

Players from New Zealand who are familiar with Big Bamboo will love this follow-up from Push Gaming that was released about a year and a half later. The eazy, leaf-munching panda bear from the first part has been negatively affected by city life as he’s involved in the crime scene and even smokes cigars. The audio fits the rest of the game very well and the same is true for the graphics. Comparing Boss Bear and Big Bamboo, we’re glad to inform you that this provider has put their effort into presenting something really now instead of just changing some minor elements.

Although Boss Bear isn’t revolutionary it does come with favourable stats and 9 bonus features which can lead to top payouts of 25,000x the bet. Although this is plenty, the top payout is only half of the Big Bamboo game which might be disappointing to players expecting an increase of the win potential instead of a decrease. The higher RTP and the brand new Nudge symbol compensates for this to some extent.