Relax Gaming · Released 2023 · High volatility
Released
Apr 23
Volatility
High
Reel
6x5
Paylines
Scatter Pays
RTP
94
Min bet
0.2
Max bet
100
Max win
10,000
Banana Town Dream Drop is a 2023 release from Relax Gaming that brings back the pixel art monkey mafia from the original Banana Town and gives them access to the studio's Dream Drop progressive jackpot network. Released on 6 April 2023, it plays across a 6x5 grid using Scatter Pays, where eight or more matching symbols anywhere on the screen create a win. The Dream Drop version has high volatility, a 94% RTP and maximum standard game potential of 10,000x the stake, before the progressive jackpots are considered.
The presentation is one of the first things that separates Banana Town from the usual casino crowd. Relax has gone for deliberately retro pixel art, with colourful bananas joined by a collection of monkey gangsters who look like they've wandered out of an old arcade game after taking over the local organised crime business. It's playful, distinctive and doesn't take itself remotely seriously.
Mechanically, the game is built around Cascading Wins and individual Symbol Multipliers. Every paying symbol starts at 1x, but each time that particular symbol participates in a win its multiplier doubles, potentially progressing through 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x and eventually 64x. The winning symbols then disappear and replacements fall into their positions, giving the same spin another chance to keep the sequence going.
Free Spins are where that system becomes much stronger because the Symbol Multipliers stop resetting between spins. A modest multiplier built early in the feature can therefore keep developing, while additional Bonus Symbols add more Free Spins and give a successful bonus time to become increasingly dangerous.
Dream Drop then sits above everything with Rapid, Midi, Maxi, Major and Mega progressive jackpots. The feature uses 15 banana crates, with players revealing jackpot symbols until three matching prizes appear.
The monkey mafia may not be particularly intimidating, but once those multipliers start doubling, they certainly know how to run up a tab.
Banana Town Dream Drop uses Scatter Pays, sometimes described as Pay Anywhere, instead of paylines. Landing at least eight matching symbols anywhere across the 6x5 grid produces a win, with larger groups increasing the payout.
It's a good fit for the Cascading setup because you don't need replacement symbols to land in particular positions. A Cascade can drop matching symbols into completely different areas of the grid and still create another win.
That makes the screen easy to read too. You're essentially looking for gangs of matching monkeys and bananas rather than trying to follow invisible paylines across a fairly busy 30 position grid.
Every winning combination activates Cascading Wins. The contributing symbols disappear, the remaining symbols fall down and new ones enter from above. If another Scatter Pays win forms, the process repeats within the same paid spin.
Cascades are particularly effective here because another win does more than simply pay again. The symbols involved can also improve their individual multipliers, so keeping a sequence alive gradually makes the symbols responsible for those wins more valuable.
A couple of modest banana wins can therefore become considerably more interesting if the same fruit keeps returning. Apparently even organised crime has a loyalty scheme.
Every regular paying symbol has its own Symbol Multiplier, beginning at 1x. Each time that symbol contributes to a win during a Cascade sequence, its multiplier doubles through 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x and finally 64x.
This is easily my favourite part of the game because you're not developing one generic multiplier that applies to everything. Each monkey and banana has its own progression, so a screen can contain several symbols at completely different stages.
It creates some great situations when one particular symbol has reached 16x or 32x and suddenly appears in large numbers. You're no longer simply pleased to see another group of matching monkeys; you're hoping the expensive ones have brought their friends.
At the beginning of a paid spin, the game can randomly upgrade the multipliers attached to one or more symbols before the reels are evaluated. Those upgrades can be substantial, with individual symbols capable of being pushed all the way to the 64x maximum.
This gives the base game a useful surprise because you don't always have to build every multiplier from 1x through repeated Cascades.
A normally unremarkable spin becomes considerably more interesting when the game suddenly decides one of the premium monkeys is worth 32x before anything has even landed.
Landing three Bonus Symbols awards 8 Free Spins, with every additional Bonus Symbol on the triggering spin adding another spin. Bonus Symbols landing during the feature also award +1 Free Spin.
The important difference is what happens to the Symbol Multipliers.
Unlike ordinary play, where they reset before the next paid spin, the multipliers remain at their upgraded values throughout Free Spins. They can also continue increasing whenever their respective symbols contribute to another win.
That's what turns a fairly simple Free Spins feature into something much better. If one of the premium symbols gets to 16x or 32x early enough, you've potentially got several remaining spins to take advantage of it.
The feature can therefore genuinely improve as it progresses rather than simply giving you eight free attempts at the base game.
The Dream Drop Bonus can trigger randomly before a normal paid spin and provides access to five networked progressive jackpots: Rapid, Midi, Maxi, Major and Mega.
The feature presents 15 banana crates sitting on clouds. You select crates one at a time, with each revealing one of the five jackpot symbols. The first jackpot to appear three times determines the prize.
I particularly like the presentation here because Relax has adapted Dream Drop to Banana Town rather than simply dropping the standard jackpot screen on top of the game. Cracking open banana crates feels perfectly at home among the pixel art mobsters, even if hiding millions inside wooden fruit boxes probably isn't the mafia's most sophisticated money laundering operation.
Banana Town Dream Drop has a simple gameplay loop that becomes considerably more interesting once you start paying attention to which symbols are building multipliers.
Scatter Pays works well with the large grid because wins can form anywhere, while Cascades keep successful spins moving without making the game difficult to follow. The real hook is watching one particular symbol become increasingly valuable as it repeatedly contributes to the sequence.
That's where the game can produce some excellent momentum. A Cascade involving a premium monkey improves its multiplier, another group can appear after the symbols disappear and suddenly you're looking at the same character again at twice the value.
Free Spins make the system even better because that progress finally persists between spins. Building a 32x multiplier means considerably more when you know there are several opportunities remaining to find the same symbol again.
The main drawback is the 94% RTP attached to the Dream Drop edition, which is noticeably less attractive than the original Banana Town's 96.12% configuration. The gameplay itself remains strong, but access to the progressive jackpot comes at a meaningful mathematical cost.
The Multiplier Upgrade system is strong enough to carry most of the feature package because Relax uses it differently in the base game and Free Spins.
During ordinary play, you're trying to build multipliers quickly enough for them to matter before the Cascade ends and everything resets. Free Spins completely change that calculation because every improvement survives into the next spin.
That's a simple rule change with a big effect. An early 16x or 32x symbol becomes something you're actively looking for throughout the rest of the feature, while extra Bonus Symbols can buy additional opportunities to find it.
The Random Multiplier Upgrade is another useful addition because it occasionally skips some of the groundwork and gives a paid spin serious potential before the first Cascade has even happened.
Dream Drop provides a completely separate jackpot route, but importantly the underlying game doesn't depend on it for entertainment. Strip away the progressives and there would still be a very good multiplier slot underneath.
Banana Town Dream Drop has more personality than most slots long before you've worked out what any of the features do.
The pixel art approach immediately gives it a recognisable identity. Monkey gangsters occupy balconies and doorways around the grid, while the colourful symbols and intentionally retro animation make the whole thing feel closer to an arcade game than a conventional casino slot. Specialist reviews have similarly highlighted the audiovisual style as one of Banana Town's most distinctive qualities.
The mafia parody works because Relax doesn't overdo it. The monkeys, scenery and little gangster references establish the joke without every feature needing another painfully obvious mob pun attached to it.
Dream Drop has been adapted nicely too. Replacing a generic jackpot presentation with wooden banana crates helps the feature feel like part of Banana Town rather than a progressive network temporarily interrupting it.
It's quirky, colourful and immediately identifiable, which is considerably more valuable than simply having technically impressive graphics.
Banana Town Dream Drop has a very clear identity, both visually and mechanically.
The individual Symbol Multipliers are what I like most. Instead of increasing one global value after every Cascade, each symbol develops independently. That means the importance of what lands changes constantly depending on which multipliers you've managed to build.
Free Spins then make an intelligent change by preserving that progress. The mechanic you've spent the base game watching suddenly becomes much more powerful because its biggest limitation has been removed.
The pixel art monkey mafia theme helps enormously as well. Relax could have placed exactly the same mathematical structure inside another temple or treasure vault and produced something far less memorable.
Dream Drop itself isn't adding originality because it's an established jackpot network, and this edition is based heavily on the original Banana Town. That keeps the score below 9, but the underlying concept remains distinctive enough that there aren't many games I'd confuse it with.
Overall Rating
8.6/10
Banana Town Dream Drop is one of the stronger examples of a progressive jackpot being added to a game that already had plenty of personality of its own.
Scatter Pays and Cascading Wins provide a lively foundation, but the individual Symbol Multipliers are what make the game worth watching. Every successful appearance can double that symbol's multiplier towards 64x, so the value of the monkeys and bananas changes depending on what's already happened during the sequence.
Free Spins are where the system really comes together. Multipliers stop resetting between spins, which means an early upgrade can remain relevant throughout the feature and continue getting stronger. Bonus Symbols can also add extra spins, giving a successful multiplier build more time to produce something worthwhile.
Dream Drop adds Rapid, Midi, Maxi, Major and Mega progressive jackpots through a banana crate Pick Bonus, earning the game our +0.2 Jackpot Modifier. The 94% RTP is the obvious price paid for that jackpot access and is the biggest weakness in an otherwise strong package.
The presentation deserves just as much credit. Pixel art monkey gangsters are inherently ridiculous, but Relax Gaming has turned them into a coherent little world rather than relying on the joke alone. The retro visuals, Cascades and rapidly escalating multipliers all have enough energy to suit one another.
Banana Town Dream Drop isn't simply a jackpot attached to a monkey slot. The underlying game is good enough that the mobsters would still have a viable business without Dream Drop.
And once a 64x monkey gets involved, apparently crime really does pay.
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