Go Bananas is a 5-reel, 3-row slot from NetEnt running on 20 fixed paylines. Released in September 2014, it has an RTP of 96.91% and sits at the lower end of the volatility scale with a rating of 4.4 out of 10. Hit frequency comes in at 32%, and the maximum payout tops out at 500x your total stake. Bets range from 0.20 to 200.00 per spin, giving a wide spread that suits both cautious and more confident players.
The visual style here is bright, bold, and cartoonish. NetEnt went for a tropical jungle setting packed with colour, with the reels framed by thick foliage and exotic plants. The symbols include various fruits and jungle imagery, but the real stars are the five monkey characters who swing into action whenever their wild symbols land. The animation quality is a step above what you might expect - each monkey has its own personality and celebration routine. The soundtrack matches the mood with upbeat, playful music that keeps things light. This is not a slot that takes itself seriously, and that is part of its appeal.
Wild Monkey Symbols - The Core Feature
Go Bananas strips away free spins, scatters, and bonus rounds entirely. There is no second screen, no wheel to spin, no pick-me game. Instead, the entire feature set revolves around five different Wild Monkey symbols, each with its own unique pattern for transforming nearby symbols into additional wilds. This is the game's one trick, but it is a good one.
Each monkey creates a different wild pattern when it lands on the reels. The size and shape of that pattern determines how many extra wilds appear alongside the original monkey symbol. Some monkeys convert just a couple of adjacent positions, while others can transform a larger cluster. The result is that a single monkey landing in the right spot can turn a losing spin into a multi-line winner by filling a section of the reels with wilds.
The Five Monkeys
The Gorilla is the biggest and most powerful of the five. When this wild lands, it transforms the largest group of surrounding symbols into wilds, covering a substantial area of the reel grid. Landing a Gorilla in a central position can create winning combinations across multiple paylines at once.
The Orangutan sits just below the Gorilla in terms of wild coverage. Its transformation pattern still converts a healthy number of adjacent symbols, though the shape differs from the Gorilla. The Orangutan tends to create clusters that work well for connecting symbols across the middle reels.
The Baboon offers a mid-range wild pattern. It converts fewer symbols than the Gorilla or Orangutan but still provides enough extra wilds to make a noticeable difference to your results. Its pattern shape tends to favour vertical or diagonal coverage.
The Langur is one of the smaller wild monkeys. Its transformation pattern covers a modest area, converting just a few adjacent symbols. While less dramatic than the larger monkeys, the Langur still adds value by extending potential winning lines across the reels.
The Tarsier is the smallest of the five, with the most compact wild pattern. It transforms the fewest adjacent symbols, typically just one or two positions next to where it lands. Even so, that extra wild can be enough to bridge a gap and complete a payline that would otherwise have missed.
How the Wild Patterns Play Out
When any Wild Monkey symbol appears on the reels during a spin, the transformation happens automatically. The monkey character animates, the adjacent symbols in its specific pattern flip to wilds, and then all paylines are evaluated with the expanded wild coverage. If the resulting combination produces one or more winning lines, the monkey performs a celebration animation before the win is counted up.
Multiple monkeys can land on the same spin, and when that happens, each one applies its own transformation pattern independently. Two or three monkeys landing together can blanket a large section of the reels with wilds, creating the kind of multi-line wins that make up for the absence of a free spins feature. These multi-monkey spins are where the biggest payouts tend to come from.
Low Volatility Play Style
With a volatility rating of just 4.4 out of 10, Go Bananas is firmly in low-to-medium territory. The 32% hit frequency means roughly one in three spins produces a win, and the wild monkey transformations ensure that many of those wins involve multiple paylines. Your balance will move in small increments rather than dramatic swings. This makes the game a good fit for players who enjoy steady action without long dry spells.
The trade-off for that consistency is the 500x maximum payout cap. You are not going to hit a life-changing sum here, and the biggest wins tend to come from fortunate multi-monkey combinations rather than a single explosive feature. The game is designed around frequent, moderate returns rather than rare, massive hits.
Betting and Summary
The 0.20 to 200.00 betting range is generous, particularly at the top end. Low-volatility slots often pair well with slightly higher stakes since the reduced risk per spin means your bankroll stretches further. The 20 paylines are fixed, so your bet is always distributed evenly across all lines. Go Bananas works best when you appreciate it for what it is - a cheerful, feature-light slot where the wild mechanics do all the heavy lifting. The five distinct monkey patterns give each spin a bit of variety, even without a traditional bonus round, and the low volatility keeps things moving along at an enjoyable clip.
Screenshots
