Mahjong X Slot by Pragmatic Play

Sweet Bonanza in a Mahjong Suit

Pragmatic Play reused the Sweet Bonanza formula here and didn't try to hide it. Same 6x5 scatter pays grid, same tumble mechanic, same multiplier symbols dropping in during free spins. Eight or more matching mahjong tiles anywhere on screen pays out, winning tiles vanish, and new ones tumble in from above. If you've played Sweet Bonanza or any of its reskins, you already know how this works.

That said, calling it a straight copy isn't quite fair. Mahjong X adds two things the original doesn't have: an ante bet and progressive jackpots.

Multipliers Reach 100x Per Symbol

Free spins are where the money is. Land 4, 5, or 6 Scatters for 10 free spins, with 3+ Scatters during the round adding 5 more. Golden sycee symbols appear on the reels carrying random multipliers from 2x up to 100x. When a tumble sequence ends, every multiplier symbol visible on the grid gets added together and applied to your total sequence win.

Stack three or four multiplier symbols in a single sequence and numbers climb fast. A modest 15x base win with 40x combined multipliers suddenly becomes a 600x hit. The 100x multiplier is rare, obviously, but even the 10x and 20x symbols show up often enough to matter.

Ante Bet Doubles Your Scatter Chances

The ante bet costs 25% more per spin and doubles the probability of landing Scatter symbols. It's a trade-off worth calculating. You're paying 25% extra for roughly 2x the free spin trigger rate, which mathematically favors the ante bet in most sessions. The RTP shifts slightly from 96.51% to 96.49% with ante active, so the house edge barely moves.

One catch: the ante bet disables the Buy Feature. You can't stack both shortcuts. Either pay 100x for guaranteed free spins, or take the ante and grind for them with better odds.

Four Progressive Jackpots Add Uncapped Upside

GRAND, MEGA, MAJOR, and MINOR jackpots trigger randomly at the end of any base game spin. Higher bets increase your chances, and there's a minimum bet threshold to qualify. These are contribution-based pools that reset after someone wins.

The base game cap sits at 4,986x, which is modest for a 2023 release. But progressive jackpots technically push the ceiling higher depending on pool size. Without jackpots, this would feel like an underwhelming Sweet Bonanza clone. With them, there's at least some variance that the base mechanics can't deliver on their own.

Medium Volatility Is Unusual for Pragmatic

Most Pragmatic Play slots run high or very high volatility. Mahjong X sits at medium, meaning wins come more regularly but rarely reach the extremes. For a scatter pays game with multiplier symbols, that translates to shorter dry spells but smaller peak wins compared to something like Sweet Bonanza 1000 or Gates of Olympus.

If you want the Sweet Bonanza mechanic without the violent swings, this delivers exactly that. Just don't expect the same highlight-reel moments.