10 best high volatility pokies in New Zealand

Recent trends indicate that the following highest volatility slots are popular in New Zealand.

1. Book of Dead

This action-packed Egyptian adventure game was released in 2016. Book of Dead has beautifully detailed graphics and an RTP of 94.25%.

The slot stars a character reminiscent of Indiana Jones as the most valuable symbol. The book symbol opens a free spins feature and acts as a wild.

Entering the optional gambling game after a winning spin can boost winnings. 

book of dead pokie
Book of Dead has become a landmark pokie not just for Kiwi players, but also worldwide.

2. Bonanza

Featuring images of mountains, waterfalls, a stone wall, a wooden cottage, and some flowers set in 3D against an old village, Bonanza uses Megaways technology, with an RTP of 95.98%.

Bonanza features a six-reel grid that also incorporates cascading reels and offers free spins, unlimited multipliers, wilds, scatters, and even a small bonus game.

The playing grid is unusual and ranges from four to seven rows with 117,649 ways to form winning lines. With so many features, this megaways pokie is an exciting game that will keep any player in suspense.

3. Big Bass Bonanza

Big Bass Bonanza Pokie has basic graphics but offers an RTP of 96.71%. The fisherman may catch a range of colourful card symbols or pull up a tackle box, fishing rod, or various fish that offer exceptional bonuses and big wins.

The bass scatters symbol opens up the free spins round, at which stage the chances of getting a significant prize increase considerably.

The fisherman may also complete combination catches and re-trigger this feature, thereby multiplying player wins. Fish symbols allow money to be paid out during free games, as they have a ‘Money Collect’ value attached to them.

big bass bonanza pokie nz casinos
Fishing-themed Big Bass bonanza gets you right in the summer kind of mood to play

4. Legacy of Dead

Explore an Egyptian tomb while spinning the reels of this pokie. It offers an RTP of 96.58% with plenty of bonuses and chances to win. 

Legacy of Dead features ten pay lines and five reels. If needed, a wild symbol will step in for other symbols and possibly take the player to the free spins feature. 

This feature includes expanding symbols that could re-trigger the bonus symbol, making it possible to see nine expanding symbols. Up to 5,000x their bet can be won by players.

5. Primate King

Somewhere on a hidden tropical island, an ape rampages over 30 pay lines across five reels. This volatile ape offers an RTP of 95.66% to players.

Unlock features by collecting gold coins, and this gorilla can become a stacked wild, multiplier, or sticky multiplier wild.

When players unlock the sixth reel, they can win 3,800x their total bet or win 76,000x at the maximum stake. 

6. Jammin’ Jars

Jammin’ Jars became immensely popular because players can hit wins reaching as high as 20,000x their stake.

In truth, despite offering an RTP of 96.83%, playing this vibrant disco-themed pokie can become highly frustrating as there are many dead spins before anything happens, but when players start winning, they win big.

jammin jars high volatility nz casinos
Vintage-looking Jammin’ Jars is a favourite pokie, featuring an exuberant number of reels compared to other pokies

The slot removes winning clusters from the game, which allows new symbols to fall in their place to trigger consecutive wins.

These symbols may include Jammin’ Jar multipliers. It is worth playing this cheerful game, as it offers plenty of free spins and giant symbols.

7. Gorilla Gold Megaways

Gorilla Gold offers an RTP of 97.00% to players with a massive 24 reels and 470,569 pay lines over four game reels. With these odds, players can most certainly expect the occasional big bounty.

It’s better to start with a large bankroll when playing this pokie, as there are plenty of dead spins.

Landing seven scatter symbols across seven reels will give the player up to 35 free spins or 30 super spins.

These can unlock all four reels for the duration of the free spins bonus round, making it possible to win up to 20,000x the player’s initial stake.

8. Dead or Alive 2

Few high volatile slots offer returns as high as this iconic title. With an RTP of 96.82%, players can win up to 111,111x their initial stake.

Dead or Alive 2 has three unique free spin bonuses, players can win up to 12 free spins with sticky wilds, multipliers, and extra spins.

9. Reactoonz 2

Offering an RTP of 96.20%, this alien-themed pokie can seem incredibly intimidating to new players. It has a seven by seven grid layout, registering wins in clusters of five or more matching symbols.

The slot removes these, and new symbols fall into the vacant spaces left behind.

Reactoonz is heavy on bonus features and mechanics, trying to fill up the Quantometer and Fluxtometer. Doing so unleashes Energood wilds and Gargantoon wilds onto the game grid, leading to more winning clusters and bigger winning chains. 

Players can win 5,083x their initial stake. Although this is lower than most volatile slots, it can still provide healthy payouts to lucky players. 

10. Immortal Romance

Immortal Romance explores the world of fantasy and vampires. It was first released in 2011 but remains popular. It has an RTP of 96.86%.

This slot features four different spin bonuses offering up to 25 free spins with special modifiers such as re-triggers, multipliers, and cascading reels.

There’s also a Wild Desire feature, which sees all five game reels turn wild, activating a high number of winning pay lines. Players can potentially net the maximum win of 12,150x their bet

What is volatility, and why do you need to know about it?

The volatility or variance calculates the slot’s payout frequency, determining how fast a player may lose their total bet or how much they may win; and how fast.

It also determines how big the payouts are.

How is volatility calculated?

Volatility is often listed on online slot reviews. If the payout for five-of-a-kind symbols is 10 to 15 times higher than for four of a kind, it’s generally among the highest volatility slots.

A slot is a medium or low variance if the payout gap between three, four, and five-of-a-kind symbols are three to five times more in-between group matches.

Low, medium, or high volatility – Which one should you choose?

Choosing between low, medium, or highest volatility slots is a personal choice. Consider the risks and the benefits, and decide how adventurous you feel.

Ask yourself:

VolatilityBankrollWinRiskPace
HighBigBigHighSlow
MediumMediumMediumMediumMedium
LowSmallSmallLowFast

High volatility slots – why choose them?

For the more adventurous player, the best high volatility slots offer the chance of higher winnings at a much slower rate.

However, when these slots do payout, the win is worth it.

Players with a bigger bankroll, who enjoy a bit of risk and prefer more significant rewards, will enjoy these slots with high volatility more.

What is medium volatility?

Medium volatility slots possess the best of both high and low volatility pokies.

Players with a lower bankroll can usually play for much longer than with high volatility pokies but still may experience the thrill of winning it big.

Despite smaller winnings, medium volatility slots offer much higher jackpots than low volatility pokies and often have many bonus features.

What does low volatility mean for slots?

More conventional players might prefer low volatility slots.

These games extend playtime with frequent but small wins. The chances of winning big are limited as the stakes on these pokies are minimal.

Players who prefer playing it safe but still want to experience the thrill of placing a real bet can benefit from playing these pokies.

Latest high volatility slot games

Providers and casinos work well together to produce new pokies for their players to make sure that they are always a step ahead of the competition.

Let’s take a look at the latest high volatility pokies for New Zealand.

In this game by Relax Gaming, you can win a maximum jackpot of up to $10 million thanks to the new Dream Drop feature!

This is made possible thanks to five progressive jackpots (Rapid, Midi, Maxi, Major, and Mega).

Might of Ra‘s high volatility means you might need to wait a bit longer to make some wins. When you do make wins, however, these are considerably bigger than low-volatility pokies.

Although the game doesn’t have a jackpot, the maximum possible win is 22,500x your wager.

Apart from its high volatility, Queenie gives players the chance to play for one of four tiered jackpots by spinning the reels. 

This Pragmatic Play pokie game also features 25 paylines that pay from left to right with the highest winning combo per line paying players.

Queenie’s RTP of 96.51% means that players could win back $965 on every $1,000 spent. 

Best high volatility slot providers

The best games on offer come from dedicated, popular, and innovative game providers who work hard to ensure a better gaming experience for each and every player.

Here are some of the game providers that create the best pokies for NZ players:

1. Blueprint Gaming

Blueprint Gaming is an award-winning game provider that has been offering exciting games and fantastic jackpots since 2001. Among its many features, this provider has one of the largest Megaways games selections.

Blueprint Gaming is home to the following three pokies, which have made our Top 3 list:

2. Red Tiger

An award-winning casino software provider, Red Tiger’s games often feature in most online casinos.

This provider’s pokies include features such as cluster pays, jackpots, and cascading reels.

When choosing Red Tiger, we recommend playing the following pokies:

3. Microgaming

Microgaming has a collection of online pokies, table games, poker, bingo, a Live Casino and a sportsbook. This makes it one of the most diverse providers.

This provider’s best three games on offer are:

Where to play the best high volatility slots

We all know that NZ players are always looking for the best places to play their favourite pokies. Here are some of the casinos you can visit to play your favourite high volatility games!

Get your game on and fly high with big winnings!

There is a sense of excitement in placing a bet that is not there when playing slots in demo mode.

Slots with high volatility offer much higher winnings, but gauging risk factors will help players create a responsible playing strategy.

Where to play? All the best online casinos offer them.

Frequently asked questions

Bankroll refers to how much money is available to play with.
The stakes in the best high volatility slots are much higher, but the win is also more significant.
Return To Player (RTP) is the theoretical percentage of wagers a slot pays back to players over time.

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