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Bonzo is a monkey with attitude. He guards an ancient Mayan temple deep in the South American jungle, leans against his symbol frame like he owns the place, and has a hip-hop soundtrack to match. That’s the world ELK Studios has built for Bonzo’s Bananza — a 5×5, 259-payline slot where the action revolves entirely around two wild types that nudge, stick, multiply, and interact with each other in ways that can turn a quiet spin into a respin chain in seconds. The rope bridge and jungle backdrop of the regular game give way to the inside of the treasure-filled temple during the bonus, stacked with bananas and gold. It’s a setting change that lands well.
A fully stacked, 5-row tall wild symbol. When a Monkey Wild lands, it nudges downward until it covers the entire reel. Once all reels have settled, a random multiplier is assigned to it. A respin then follows, with all Monkey Wilds on the grid staying sticky. If multiple Monkey Wilds land on the same spin, the resulting respins are stacked and played out one by one. A payline made entirely of wild symbols pays at the same value as the highest regular symbol.
A 2-row tall wild that carries no multiplier of its own. When it lands, it nudges either up or down, awarding a respin each time, until it nudges fully off screen. Like the Monkey Wild, it substitutes for all symbols except the bonus scatter.
When a Banana Wild randomly connects with a Monkey Wild during a nudge, it increases the Monkey Wild’s multiplier with each nudge step. The increment applied can vary per nudge. This interaction is the main route to the higher multiplier values and is where the biggest single-spin outcomes originate.
Landing 3 or more bonus (treasure chest) symbols triggers 5 bonus spins. All Monkey Wilds that land during the bonus remain sticky for the remaining spins. The bonus can retrigger: 3 bonus symbols add 5 more spins, 4 bonus symbols add 5 spins plus guarantee a Monkey Wild on the next spin, and 5 bonus symbols add 5 spins plus guarantee 2 Monkey Wilds on the next spin. Respins triggered by Monkey or Banana Wilds do not consume bonus spins. It’s also possible to enter the bonus multiple times in a single round.
There’s a Super Bonus upgrade too. Landing 4 bonus symbols in the regular game starts the bonus with a guaranteed Monkey Wild on the first spin; 5 bonus symbols guarantees 2 Monkey Wilds from the opening spin. The Super Bonus can also be purchased directly via X-iter.
ELK Studios’ feature buy system offers five options. Costs are shown at a $2 stake.
| Option | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Bonus Hunt | 2x ($4) | 3x higher chance of triggering the bonus game |
| Wild | 10x ($20) | Guarantees 1 Monkey Wild symbol on the spin |
| 2x Wild | 25x ($50) | Guarantees 2 Monkey Wild symbols on the spin |
| Buy Bonus | 100x ($200) | Triggers the bonus game with a minimum of 3 bonus symbols |
| Super Bonus | 500x ($1,000) | Triggers the bonus with 5 symbols and 2 guaranteed Monkey Wilds on the first spin |
The RTP of 94.0% is maintained across all X-iter options.
Wins form when 3 or more matching symbols land on adjacent reels from left to right. Only the longest winning combination per active payline is paid. The 259 connecting paylines cover all adjacent symbol paths across the 5×5 grid, so wins can form in a wide range of shapes as long as symbols connect from the leftmost reel.
The game’s rhythm is dictated by the wilds. A quiet spin can shift into an extended respin sequence the moment a Monkey Wild nudges into place — and if a Banana Wild connects during that sequence, the multiplier on the Monkey Wild starts climbing. The hit frequency sits at around 24%, so there are stretches between features, but when the wild interactions align, the output can be significant.
The RTP is 94.0% across all modes, confirmed in the in-game rules screen. This is below the current industry average and a standard figure across ELK Studios titles. Volatility is high. Bet range is $0.20 to $100. The game is free to play in demo mode, which is worth using to understand the Monkey Wild nudge behaviour before committing to a stake.
Line win values are shown at the paytable bet level. Wins are multiplied by coin value and by any active Monkey Wild multiplier.
| Symbol | 5 of a Kind | 4 of a Kind | 3 of a Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parrot | 10.00 | 3.00 | 1.60 |
| Watermelon | 2.00 | 1.60 | 1.20 |
| Orange | 1.20 | 1.00 | 0.80 |
| Kiwi | 1.00 | 0.80 | 0.60 |
| A | 0.70 | 0.50 | 0.40 |
| K | 0.60 | 0.40 | 0.30 |
| Q | 0.50 | 0.30 | 0.20 |
Bonzo's Bananza is ELK Studios dialling back the complexity and leaning into character instead. The result is one of the more immediately enjoyable games in their catalogue — not their most technically ambitious, but one of the easiest to settle into. Bonzo himself carries the game's personality well; the animations when he appears on the reels are expressive, he dances on wins, and the hip-hop soundtrack (there are two tracks, one for the regular game, one for the bonus) gives the whole thing a distinctive energy that most jungle-themed slots don't bother with. The Monkey Wild and Banana Wild interaction, when it fires, has a genuine escalation feel that's hard to put down mid-sequence. Set against that, 94.0% RTP is the same caveat that follows every ELK Studios release and it's worth knowing upfront.
The jungle setting is immediately immersive. A rope bridge leads to the temple in the background, ancient stonework is wrapped in vines, and Bonzo himself is nowhere to be seen until a Monkey Wild lands. At that point, he nudges onto the reel full-length, gets assigned his multiplier, and the respin kicks in. It’s a clean visual sequence that communicates exactly what’s happening without needing to check the rules. When he lands on a winning spin, he breaks into a small celebration, which heightens the sense that there’s a character running the show rather than just a set of symbols.
The hip-hop soundtrack is a genuine differentiator. The base game track keeps things loose and upbeat, and the bonus version shifts up a gear, with “Bonzo, Bonzo, stacking those bananas” running through the beat. It’s the kind of audio touch that sets a slot apart from the crowd, and it holds up over a longer session in a way that more generic themes don’t.
Two bonuses were played in the session. The naturally triggered bonus ran its 5 spins; the Monkey Wilds stayed sticky, and the round produced decent returns. We then bought into the Super Bonus at 500x stake ($1,000 at the $2 bet level). The entry screen showed 5 spins plus 2 guaranteed Monkey Wilds on the first spin, and the screenshot of that bonus in play (shown below), shows two Monkey Wilds at x8 and x10 active on reels 2 and 4. The 5 spins returned $1,473.40 in total, a strong result from the top-tier buy that illustrated exactly what the Combo Nudge can do when both wild types are in play together.
For players who want high-volatility action with personality, Bonzo’s Bananza is worth the session. The 94% RTP is the honest caveat that applies here as it does across the ELK catalogue, but within that constraint, the game delivers a satisfying run when the Monkey Wilds start stacking.
Our Super Bonus in play on spin 4/5
Our final spin added a further 882 to our winnings, resulting in a total return of $1473.40 from the $1000 buy-in.
