Why Buffalo-themed Slots are a Consistent Fan Favorite at Online Casinos
As the largest online gambling market in the world, the birthplace of the slot machine and the home of the global gambling hub of Las Vegas, gambling has long been a key cultural touchstone in the US. Consequently, slot developers love themselves some Americana, and out of all America’s animals the buffalo – more correctly the bison – is one of the most iconic. Arguably only the bald eagle is a more popular animal symbol of the US. That means, lots of buffalo and bison themed slot games.
But what else is there to this story? Why is the North American buffalo so popular as a cultural symbol? And why does it lend itself to slot games in particular? This article will answer those questions, and look at a few examples of buffalo-themed games you can play on the market right now.
The Buffalo is an Iconic Animal of the Great Plains
The buffalo – or actually the American bison – has had a large cultural impact on North American history. Before the pilgrims arrived from Europe, huge herds of these shaggy-haired beasts roamed the Great Plains. Native Americans used them as a food source, but managed their numbers carefully over thousands of years. However, by the founding of the United States, tens of millions buffalo had been hunted. In 1889, there were estimated to be only a few thousand left.
Populations have since recovered, although nowhere near their peak – and the American buffalo is no longer considered endangered. The animal remains a symbol of resilience, strength and pioneer spirit in the face on the untamed wilds of the frontier.
Which makes it fertile ground for slots developers looking to tap into the American consciousness. The imagery of buffalo roaming expansive plains behind dramatic sunsets makes an evocative, immersive and uniquely American backdrop for casino gaming.
All of that means today operators like Casiny Online Casino have lots of buffalo-themed slots to try out, from their collections of thousands of other slot titles and virtual or live table games. Great casinos know what players want and US players love buffalo-themed games, as well as operators with fair welcome bonuses, efficient payment options and regular rewards.
Mechanically, the wide-shaped buffalo is easy to fill up a whole slot symbol with and even looks good when expanded across multiple features. The bison evokes ideas of powerful herds and stampedes, which also lends itself to features like stacked wilds and cascading wins.
Simple Gameplay and Low Variance Gameplay in a Classic Style
As well as trading on classic Americana, buffalo-themed slots have tended towards simple, classic slot style mechanics. Although there are more modern-style games that take on the theme, even newer games based around buffalo tend to stick to classic stylings.
This means fewer symbols, reels and paylines, making games easier to understand and less chaotic. It also means less variance, so the maximum wins might not be as high but there tend to be smaller to medium wins along the way. Some common features in buffalo or bison-themed games include:
- Expanding Wild symbols – often the buffalo itself
- Multiplying symbols
- Free spins bonuses
- Stampede events where more bison symbols are randomly added on trigger
If you’re looking for 20,000x maximum wins and multimillion dollar jackpots, you won’t find many buffalo-themed slots that fit the bill. However, you will find 10,000x on some games and the average return to player (RTP) is often higher than in crazy high variance slots.
This calmer, less complicated style of slot gaming suits the buffalo theme as wild animals of the windy Great Plains.
There Have Been Some Classics Over the Years – Here are Three
So that’s the why and where of buffalo-themed slots popularity. Now to look at some actual examples, to see how developers actually put the theme into action.
Buffalo
It’s hard to know exactly what the first buffalo-themed slot was, but this 2008 game from Aristocrat is a strong candidate. Ported to online casinos in the late 2010s, this classic 5×3 reel slot is an early example of an extra reels feature. A buffalo stamped can trigger at any time, adding two new reels which can potentially be filled with wild symbols. Although the graphics are a little dated now, the atmosphere and gameplay still stands up today.
Buffalo Blitz
Another OG buffalo-themed slot, this one is from Playtech features a gold buffalo as its Wild symbol. This three by six reel slot has 4096 ways to win, and a 10,000x possible maximum win. Collect two Gold Buffalo and three Free Games symbols to unlock 100 free spins – which is massive for this type of game.
During the bonus round, the golden buffalo symbol can also have a multiplier of up to 5x your win attached which will trigger if it makes a winning line.
Big Bad Bison
The newest slot of these three, by some distance, Big Time Gaming published Big Bad Bison in 2023 – proving developers still feel the theme is viable and popular in the modern era of online casinos.
This slot is more complicated, but it still looks and feels familiar to fans of the theme. It uses Big Time Gaming’s patented MegaWays system which means it has 117,649 possible ways to win. Which is about one quarter of how many bison are left in the USA today. Nice.
Big Bad Bison is highly volatile, meaning plenty of its RTP is packed away for a few lucky players in its massive 60,000x maximum win potential.