Bompers Slot Review

Bompers Slot Overview

Bompers is a video slot from ELK Studios that plays out like a coin operated pinball machine, packed with arcade style graphics and a soundtrack that mixes house, pop, disco and dubstep. The layout uses 6 reels with 4 to 8 rows and 4,096 up to 262,144 ways to win. It is part of ELK's Gravity series, where rolling orbs slide down the grid and set up chain wins through the Avalanche mechanic.

Bompers lets me bet from 0.2 up to 100 per spin, which suits both testing the waters and more serious sessions. The RTP sits at 95.8%, slightly under average, and the volatility is high at 8 out of 10 with a hit frequency of 19.9%. The game can pay up to 5,000 times the stake in a single spin, so it feels very swingy yet rewarding when things line up.

Bompers Features

Central to the gameplay in Bompers is ELK’s Gravity mechanic, where winning symbols are removed by the Avalanche feature and new orbs drop and tumble down. Each cascading win increases the number of rows and ways, moving from 4 rows and 4,096 ways up through 5, 6 and 7 rows, right up to 8 rows with 262,144 ways to win. The expanding grid gives the whole thing a very satisfying pinball feel.

In Bompers you get two kinds of wild symbols. Regular wilds stand in for all standard pay symbols and are the only symbols that stay when a win hits, as other icons are cleared and replaced through Avalanches. Bomper symbols can appear at the start of a symbol drop and stay frozen in random positions. Each time a regular symbol hits a Bomper, its meter charges and after seven hits it turns into a sticky Bomper Wild.

Mystery Bombs in Bompers can trigger at the end of an Avalanche sequence. They transform themselves and all connected symbols into one randomly chosen symbol, and if several bombs overlap their transformations those overlapping positions turn wild. The Shooting Star symbol tries to move up the grid and, when it reaches the top, it creates a bouquet of up to seven symbols around itself, with at least three wilds dropping down into new positions.

Symbols and Wilds in Bompers

The symbol set in Bompers leans heavily on wilds generated by different mechanics rather than traditional high and low icons. Wild symbols are the only ones that stay on the grid after a winning combination, while regular symbols vanish to make room for new drops. Bomper Wilds, Mystery Bombs and Shooting Stars all help spawn extra wilds across the reels, which keeps the screen ticking over during longer Avalanche sequences.

Bonus symbols in Bompers are marked with a bright B, and landing three of them in a single Avalanche triggers the Free Drops feature. I like how the various special symbols interact, so a Shooting Star can set up hits on Bomper positions, while a Mystery Bomb might turn a cluster into matching symbols and wilds. When the timing goes your way, the whole symbol set feels alive.

Symbols and Paytable

Symbol	Quantity	Payout
	6	x10
	5	x3
	4	x2
	3	x1
	6	x3
	5	x2
	4	x1
	3	x0.5
	6	x2
	5	x1
	4	x0.6
	3	x0.3
	6	x1
	5	x0.6
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	6	x0.6
	5	x0.4
	4	x0.2
	3	x0.1
	6	x0.6
	5	x0.4
	4	x0.2
	3	x0.1
	6	x0.3
	5	x0.15
	4	x0.1
	3	x0.05
	6	x0.3
	5	x0.15
	4	x0.1
	3	x0.05
	Wild
	Scatter
	Special
	Special

Free Drops Bonus Game in Bompers

You trigger the Free Drops Bonus Game in Bompers by landing three bonus B scatters during the same Avalanche sequence, which gives seven Free Drops to start with. Before the round begins, up to five Bompers are randomly placed on the grid, and once they charge and turn wild they stick for the whole feature. The Free Drops can retrigger with fresh scatters, so bonus rounds can chain together when the grid behaves.

X-iter Modes in Bompers

Bompers is the first slot to introduce ELK’s X-iter Modes, an in game menu where I can buy different core features instead of spinning normally. There is a standard mode, then three separate Bomper modes and a straight bonus buy. Paying 25 times the stake gives three symbol drops with one extra Bomper added each time, 50 times gives five drops, 300 times gives ten drops, while 100 times buys the bonus game.

As a player I find the X-iter options tempting, since they cut straight to the action with more Bompers in play, but they do not change the underlying volatility. The price points feel steep, and I am not sure how the UK Gambling Commission will treat this feature buy mechanic for local versions. When I use it, I try to keep stakes sensible because the swings across those paid sequences can be brutal.

The 200 Spins Bompers Experience

In my 200 spins session on Bompers I saw pretty much everything the game can do. The base game had stretches of dead drops, then I bought the top tier X-iter mode with ten symbol drops and increasing Bompers, turning six of ten into wilds. Buying the bonus straight after brought more Bomper Wilds on screen, and the whole grid lit up with back to back Avalanches.

Bompers Review Summary

Audiovisually, Bompers is a feast for the senses, with the Gravity mechanic syncing nicely with the pinball and disco theme. I tend to play it with decent speakers or headphones, since the bouncy soundtrack stands miles above the jazzy elevator music so many fruit slots fall back on. The core gameplay has that oddly satisfying quality where Avalanches, orbs and wilds keep you spinning longer than you planned.

The innovative Bomper symbols in Bompers can be very effective, yet each one needs seven hits to charge and turn wild, so paid Bomper modes can still miss. I see the 5,000 times stake potential as most likely in the Free Drops bonus, where sticky Bomper Wilds stay for the whole feature. The only real downside for me is the 95.8% RTP, which feels a touch low for such a volatile game.

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