Extra Chilli

96.19%, High volatility, and no published top prize

Extra Chilli is Big Time Gaming’s 2018 follow-up to Bonanza, and its headline return is 96.19%, the figure listed on the Evolution Games page run by BTG’s parent company. BTG’s own page states a range instead, 96.15% to 96.41%, so the version you load could sit anywhere in that band. The stats table on the Evolution page rates volatility as High. There is no maximum win to quote, because BTG does not publish one. Put together, those numbers describe a game where quiet stretches are expected, where the free spins round and its uncapped multiplier are built to carry the experience, and where the ceiling of a good round is not something you can look up first.

Following one free spins round, step by step

The free spins are the reason Extra Chilli is remembered, and they include something most bonus rounds leave out: a choice. Here is the round in the order it plays out.

• The trigger. Three HOT scatters award 8 free spins. Each scatter beyond the third adds 4 more, so four scatters start you on 12.

• The wheel. With 8 spins in hand, you can either keep them or take them to the Free Spins Gamble wheel and try to raise the count, up to a maximum of 24.

• The odds. The first gamble is an even 50/50 call. Any gamble after that is weighted 60/40 in the player’s favour, so the wheel becomes kinder once you are past the first step.

• The multiplier. Once the spins begin, every winning reaction adds 1 to the win multiplier, and there is no upper limit on how far it can climb. Because wins cascade, one spin can produce several reactions in a row, each lifting the multiplier again.

• Retriggers. HOT scatters can still land during the round, and they extend it with more spins.

What makes the wheel interesting is that the odds are stated plainly rather than hidden. You are trading a guaranteed 8 spins for the chance of a longer round, and a longer round simply means more cascades for the multiplier to build on. Each spin of the wheel is still independent, and the outcome of one gamble tells you nothing about the next.

On a free-play demo, the wheel costs nothing but virtual coins, which makes it a sensible place to see how the choice feels in practice and how the round plays out at different lengths.

In some markets the game also has a Feature Drop, which lets players pay to trigger the bonus at any time. It is not offered in UK versions, so in the UK the only way into free spins is the scatters.

Between bonuses: the main reels and the extra row

The base game runs on six Megaways reels, each showing between 2 and 7 symbols on every spin. The number of ways changes with each spin and reaches 117,649 when every reel shows its full seven.

Beneath the four middle reels sits an extra horizontal reel. It adds a symbol to each of reels 2 to 5, which is why those middle reels never show fewer than three positions even when the main column is at its shortest. It also means the middle of the grid always has a little more to work with than the outer reels.

Wins are handled by Dual Reactions. Winning symbols are removed and replaced, and this happens on the main reels and on the extra reel at the same time, so a single paid spin can roll on through several connected wins before it settles. The wild is the Fireworks wild.

The uncapped multiplier is a free spins feature, so the base game is mostly about these cascades and about watching for HOT scatters. Big Time Gaming does not publish a hit rate, so there is no official figure for how often a base spin returns something. With volatility rated High, long runs between notable wins should not come as a surprise in the demo.

Chillies, fireworks and a HOT scatter

The presentation follows the name. Chillies give the game its identity, the scatters are the HOT symbols that open the bonus, and the wild arrives as fireworks. It is a simple theme that does not get in the way of the mechanics, and anyone who has played Bonanza will recognise the same studio’s approach to cascading Megaways reels.

One naming point is worth knowing: there is a separate, later game called Extra Chilli More Chilli. It is a different title, and the figures on this page apply only to the 2018 original.

What holds it back

• No published maximum win. BTG’s game page does not give one, and the figures quoted around the web disagree with one another. For a High volatility game, that is a real gap.

• A range rather than one RTP. The studio lists 96.15% to 96.41%, and 96.19% is the specific figure given by Evolution. The version you play may not match it exactly.

• Mixed volatility labels. The Evolution page rates it High in its stats table but describes it as very high in its text. We use the table’s rating, but the wording suggests the game may feel harsher than a plain High label implies.

• A thin base game. With the multiplier reserved for free spins, a lot of the time between bonuses is spent on cascades that rarely amount to much.

• Only a release year. Evolution gives 2018, but no exact launch date is published.

Who it suits, and who it does not

Extra Chilli suits players who like a bonus round with a decision in it. The gamble wheel, with its stated 50/50 then 60/40 odds, and a multiplier that has no ceiling give the free spins a shape that many Megaways games lack. The extra reel and Dual Reactions keep the base game moving, even if they rarely make it memorable.

It suits players less well if they want clear boundaries before they start. There is no published maximum win, the return varies within a stated range, and the volatility rating is High at the least. The free demo is the right place to judge whether the wait for three HOT scatters feels worth it to you.