Big 5 Online Slot Review 2024

Animal-themed online slots are pretty popular today, with games such as Big 5 by Novomatic cementing their legendary status among players. As the name hints, this game takes players to the African plains where they can meet the majestic five wild animals. During the Safari trip, players will see wild animals like the Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, and Leopard. 

But it's not just about sightseeing in this slot machine. Players can come across the stacked symbols to unlock the big five progressive jackpots, reaching 300x the stake. Of course, the Lion Jackpot is the highest reward players can receive in this online slot. These jackpots can deliver some life-changing wins, depending on other players' contributions. 

Like most other casino games from Novomatic, Big 5 also houses an enriching Free Spins feature. This function can reward gamers with up to 20 free rounds, depending on the number of triggering scatters. And yes, you can re-trigger the spins when you land more scatters in the bonus rounds. 

You won't struggle to comprehend how this slot machine works. The game is based on a 5x3 game board, which should offer a familiar feeling if you like playing online slots. It's a fixed pay line slot, meaning players must match symbols on a line from left to right to receive a payout. There are 25 fixed bet lines, which should provide you with enough opportunities to form a win. 

Before playing, gamers can adjust their bet values accordingly. Big 5 allows gamers to wager anything between 0.25 and 50.00 per line. You can also tap the "Max Bet" button to play the jackpot games and enable the Autoplay toggle to spin the wheels automatically for a given number of times. Remember that the Autoplay function will stop after the game awards a feature. 

As for the return to player, Novomatic says this slot game has a 96% RTP value. This is the industry standard for most online slot games nowadays. Surprisingly, the volatility is low, unlike other progressive jackpot casino games. This should encourage gamers to aggressively go for one, if not all, of the progressive jackpots. 

Playing Big 5 at your favourite casino site is as easy as setting a bet limit and spinning the reels. But before you play this animal-themed title or other online slots, learn what the paytable looks like. You can easily do that by playing the free demo version of the game on most online casinos. 

Below are the steps to play Big 5:

• First, find a regulated online casino offering this slot title. You can find it on most websites with Novomatic or Greentube titles. 
• After finding a casino, sign up and fire up the slot machine. The load-up process is pretty fast, although that may depend on the casino software and internet connection. 
• Now, go ahead and adjust your total bet value using the plus (+) and minus (-) icons. As said earlier, the game doesn't have an option to adjust the lines. 
• Once you have placed a bet, click the "Start" button to send the reels spinning. The game will highlight the winning symbols on a bet line and add the win to your payout.
• Use the Autoplay feature to spin the reels automatically and enjoy faster gameplay. 

The symbols in this online slot should be familiar whether you are a seasoned or first-time player of online slots. The 10-A icons pay out the least, rewarding lucky gamers with 10 to 150 coins for matching at least three of them on a line. 

Meanwhile, the big five animals are the high-value icons, rewarding players who sight them in the plains with 20 to 600 coins for at least three. The Lion pays out the most at 40, 100, and 600 for three, four, or five of them. 

The African mask is the game's wild symbol, substituting all paying icons except the scatter. This should help players form even bigger wins in the Safari tour. 

This online slot from Novomatic has several exciting features, including the Free Spins, Reels Respin, and Jackpot. These features can work together to deliver some exciting wins, reaching 300x the stake. Let's take a look below:

Free Spins Feature

As you continue to enjoy seeing the animals, you can come across the map of Africa, which is the game's scatter symbol. Gamers can trigger the exciting Free Spins mode by collecting at least four scatters during a single base game spin. Note that the map can only appear on the game's three middle reels.

Here is how the game awards the bonus spins:

• 4 scatters: 10 free spins
• 5 scatters: 11 free spins
• 6 scatters: 12 free spins
• 7 scatters: 15 free spins
• 8 scatters: 18 free spins
• 9 scatters: 20 free spins

Players can also re-trigger the Free Spins feature by landing at least four scatters during the bonus rounds. The maximum number of re-spins is 40 rounds. 

Reel Respin Feature

Another exciting feature in this animal-themed slot is the Reel Respin. This feature will initiate during the Free Spins mode when players fill reel 1 with the same-type symbols. If this happens, all the symbols on the wild icons will stay locked in place. 

The game reels will respin and lock any symbols that match the sticky reel 1 symbols. The respins will continue as long as new matching symbols appear. The Reel Respin feature ends when players don't land any additional matching symbols. 

Jackpot Feature

The Jackpot is arguably the most exciting feature of Big 5. Players can collect a Jackpot after creating a game board with matching symbols. Remember that these are progressive jackpots, meaning the game pays out the base jackpot amount plus contributions from other players. 

Below are the Jackpot prizes:

• Lion Jackpot: Create a screen full of Lion symbols to receive a 300x payout.
• Elephant Jackpot: A screen full of Elephant symbols will reward you with 200x the stake.
• Rhino Jackpot: The game will pay 200x for creating a screen with only Rhino symbols.
• Buffalo Jackpot: Receive a 100x payout for a screen full of Rhino symbols.
• Leopard Jackpot: The game pays out 100x the total bet for a Leopard-only screen. 

If you're a fan of animal-themed online slots, you'll definitely be impressed by what you'll see in this game. You will immediately feel the African Safari vibe thanks to the fantastic artwork and sound effects. We find this online slot to be an excellent alternative to Mega Moolah, one of the most popular online slot games. 

That said, the game visuals do just enough to immerse players in the heart of the wild plains. The game board has a backdrop of a refreshingly rocky waterfall with brown grass, trees, and a towering mountain. But because this game was initially produced for land-based slot machines, the graphics might be a bit dated. That shouldn't be an issue, though!

Impressively, Novomatic shied away from overdoing themselves as far as the game's soundtrack is concerned. After launching the game, you'll welcomed by the sounds of birds flying above the reels. You'll also hear the cracking sound of the slot reels after pressing the "Start" button, with celebratory music whenever you create a win. All in all, Big 5 is a nicely done slot machine with very few negatives. 

Big 5 is definitely up there with the best online slots in the iGaming industry. Visually, this game is on par with the classic Mega Moolah, although younger and modern gamers might feel like they need more from the developer. The subtle game sound also achieves the intended purpose of immediately teleporting players to the African plains. 

You'll notice that the game features are relatively easy to comprehend, with the Free Spins and Reel Respin functions forming a solid partnership. The five progressive jackpots also add a layer of excitement to the game, although it might take some serious luck to create a screen full of similar animal symbols. 

Overall, it's a fun game with low-medium volatility, ensuring you never walk out empty-handed from a slot session. It's an HTML5 slot, providing smooth compatibility on desktop and mobile casinos.