Bone Raiders: rules, features and verified RTP

Short answer

Evidence-led verdict

Bone Raiders is a Relax Gaming first-party title identified in the checked demo as boneraiders. The live help we inspected is dated 20 May 2025 and marked version 1.0.4; the official release record dates the game to 27 August 2024. The rules describe a five-column, three-row ways base game that expands to a seven-by-seven Bonus Game. Those identifiers matter because lower-return builds and market-specific clients can share the same artwork.

The checked help states a theoretical RTP of 96.10%, equivalent to a 3.90% theoretical house edge. That is the figure for the client opened during this review, not proof that every operator deploys the same build. Relax's product record lists alternative game IDs, so the percentage inside the exact live client remains the controlling value.

The documented maximum is 10,000x the total bet. The reference stake range is €0.10 to €100. The risk profile is not stated in the checked first-party help, product page or release announcement; a published ceiling and return percentage do not predict whether a feature or large award will occur in a session.

This page confirms studio authorship, current help text and public release status. It does not claim that a New Zealand operator offers the title, that a demo is a local real-money product, or that a displayed euro-denominated reference range will appear as NZD. Those questions require a separate operator and live-client check.

Exact first-party release

Release status and the later v1.0.4 rules

Relax Gaming announced Bone Raiders on 27 August 2024 and lists it in the current Own Games catalogue. The exact product record attributes the game to Relax Gaming, identifies a ways mechanic and gives the boneraiders_94 and German boneraiders_86 product IDs.

The playable demo itself opened as “boneraiders”. Its rules panel is dated 20/05/2025 and marked version 1.0.4, making it a later operational source than the release announcement. That distinction matters because the current help changes one progression threshold from the older promotional explanation.

The suffixes in the alternative IDs are not RTP values. The checked unsuffixed client explicitly states 96.10% for normal play and 96.50% for the purchase. A deployed casino can use another certified build, so its own help must be opened before relying on either number.

No formal volatility label appears in the first-party source set used here. We preserve that absence rather than infer a category from a large cap, a doubling multiplier or the number of bonus modifiers.

Wins extend one paid round

Doubling multiplier respins in the 5×3 base game

The base game uses five columns and three rows with ways evaluation. The overall win multiplier begins at 1x for each newly paid spin. Any win triggers a respin, and that multiplier doubles for the next evaluation.

A winning respin triggers another respin and another doubling. The sequence can therefore move from 1x to 2x, 4x, 8x and onward while consecutive wins continue. The chain stops as soon as one respin produces no award.

The multiplier applies inside the current sequence and does not carry to the next separately paid base spin. A losing end to a long chain does not make another respin due, and a previous high multiplier does not influence the opening state of a later round.

This mechanism is separate from the Bonus Game. The base sequence evaluates symbol wins through the ways paytable, while the 7×7 feature collects coin values and resolves tools against active positions. Combining the two in one generic “respin bonus” description would obscure different triggers and settlement rules.

Only the centre starts open

How the seven-by-seven Bonus Game begins

Three Bonus symbols must land specifically on reels two, three and four. The feature then expands the play area to seven columns and seven rows. Only the central three-by-three region is active at the start; blocker positions occupy the remainder.

The triggering Bonus symbols become feature symbols and perform their actions immediately. After acting, each converts to a coin worth 1x bet. New symbols can land only in active positions, so destroying blockers increases the collection surface rather than directly paying a fixed amount.

The Bonus Game begins with two spins. Landing any new feature symbol resets the displayed counter. A spin without a new feature consumes one chance, and the round finishes when the counter reaches zero.

Coin positions carry values. When a feature targets a coin, its value doubles; when it targets a blocker, that position opens. The same targeting event therefore has a different effect depending on what already occupies the selected cell.

Four tool families

Magic Staff, Bomb, Cannon and Compass actions

The Magic Staff repeatedly targets one position. Level one acts three times, level two five times and level three seven times. Repeated hits can keep doubling a coin value or remove the selected blocker on the first relevant action under the feature state.

A Bomb affects a centred square. Its three levels cover three-by-three, five-by-five and seven-by-seven areas. The Cannon instead chooses a number of targets: one, four, seven or every area across its four documented levels.

The Compass uses a fixed pattern rather than a square or random count. Its five variants target the same row, the same column, one diagonal, both diagonals, or the same row and column together.

After any of these symbols completes its action, it changes into a 1x coin. The displayed level and pattern therefore matter before conversion. A screenshot after the action can show only the resulting coin and miss which tool created the opened positions or doubled values.

Current-help correction

Every 20 blockers increases the reset, up to four spins

The v1.0.4 help states that every 20 blockers destroyed increases the reset value by one spin. The feature begins with a two-spin reset and can progress to three, then a maximum of four. The threshold counts blockers removed; it is not a payout total.

This is a material correction to older release copy that described a 30-blocker step. Because the loaded 2025 help is both later and operational, this page uses 20. Readers comparing sources should record the version rather than treating the two values as simultaneous options.

A higher reset gives more remaining attempts whenever a new feature symbol lands, but it does not guarantee another feature symbol. Reaching four-spin resets also does not remove the 10,000x round cap.

The 70x Buy Feature guarantees the Bonus Game trigger and carries 96.50% RTP in the checked help. It does not guarantee a particular tool level, maximum reset, full board or profit. The full 70x cost can be lost in one purchased entry.

Live-help evidence

RTP, house edge and alternative builds

The information panel in the checked official demo states “the theoretical return to player for this game is 96.10%.” Subtracting that value from 100% gives a theoretical house edge of 3.90%. Both numbers describe the same long-run mathematical relationship from opposite directions; they are not separate charges and they are not a forecast for a deposit.

A return of 96.10% means that across the model's very large test horizon, average awards correspond to 96.10 units for every 100 units staked. It does not mean a player receives that percentage back after 100 spins. High variation, rare features and capped awards can produce short samples far above or below the designed average.

Alternative game IDs are material even when their exact returns are absent from the public product card. A casino can deploy a lower-RTP build under the same consumer title. We therefore do not label 96.10% “universal” or “guaranteed.” Open the information control in the operator client and look for the percentage after the game has loaded.

The Buy Feature is mathematically separate in the checked help: it states 96.50% RTP and costs 70x the regular bet. That route can be unavailable in some markets or excluded by an operator. Its published return does not make the option affordable or reduce the possibility of losing the full price.

Do not infer RTP from a demo balance, one successful bonus, a streaming clip or a site's headline card. A random sample cannot identify the configured model reliably. The useful audit record is the exact title, visible game ID or version, displayed RTP, date and operator client captured together.

Distribution, not prediction

Volatility and maximum-win limits

The current v1.0.4 help, product page and dated release article do not assign Bone Raiders a formal volatility category. Doubling respins and a blocker-opening collection feature can create uneven results, but that mechanic-led observation is not a provider rating and is not printed as one here.

The checked maximum is 10,000x total bet. “Times bet” uses the full paid stake for the initiating round, not one coin, one line or the balance. A $1 hypothetical stake makes the cap easy to understand, but it does not assert that NZD play is offered.

A cap is a settlement limit, not a realistic session target. It provides no countdown, hit schedule or evidence that raising the stake improves the chance per dollar. Previous non-winning spins do not move a random future result closer to the cap. Treat every paid round as new exposure.

Practical risk is also shaped by total stake, spin speed, feature purchases, enhanced-spin options and session length. A lower stake repeated rapidly can expose more money than a higher stake used briefly. Decide the total acceptable loss before opening the game, then use account limits and breaks rather than chasing a feature.

Read the charged amount

Bet range, optional costs and affordability

The product record gives a reference minimum of €0.10 and maximum of €100. Those euro-denominated figures identify the provider's reference build. They do not promise equivalent NZD controls, and an operator can apply different denominations or account limits.

Always read the total bet immediately before a paid action. The interface can show denomination, level, lines and total stake separately. Enhanced spins or bonus-reel options may increase the price of a round, while a feature purchase can cost many multiples of the base stake. The amount leaving the balance is the relevant measure.

A useful pre-session calculation is total bet multiplied by the maximum number of rounds you are prepared to buy, assuming the entire amount can be lost. For a feature purchase, treat the whole displayed price as exposed at once. Do not finance a purchase by increasing the base stake after losses.

Promotional funds do not change the slot's RTP. Wagering requirements, game contribution, maximum-bet rules and cash-out limits sit in the operator's terms. Check them independently, because a bonus can make an otherwise permitted game or stake ineligible.

Interface verification

Mobile help and what a demo can prove

The official web demo loaded a responsive game client and exposed the title, help date, version, rules and return information used here. On a phone, locate the menu, information icon, total bet, balance and paytable before considering a paid round. If text is clipped, rotate the device or expand the help rather than relying on a search result.

A demo can demonstrate symbol movement, feature order, mode selection and interface controls with valueless credits. It cannot establish that a real-money operator accepts players in New Zealand, that the operator uses the same game ID, or that its active RTP matches the demo.

Demo results also cannot validate the long-run RTP. Ten, one hundred or even thousands of observed spins are a noisy sample, especially in a volatile game. A large demo win is not a prediction for paid play and a dry demo sequence is not proof that the published mathematics is wrong.

If desktop and mobile help disagree, pause. Record the exact URL or operator, title, mode, help version and percentages. The mismatch can indicate a cached client, a market build or an update. Current deployed help is stronger evidence than an undated review, but conflicting clients still need clarification.

Separate evidence chain

New Zealand access is not inferred from the demo

Relax Gaming's own-games catalogue and public demo show that the studio publishes Bone Raiders. They do not show that a named operator lawfully offers it to a person in New Zealand. Studio publication, aggregation, operator inventory, territorial access and legal status are separate claims.

Before any real-money use, verify the operator's identity, current New Zealand terms, age and location controls, payments, withdrawals, complaints, account limits and self-exclusion tools. A localised page, NZD wallet or country flag is not on its own regulatory proof.

New Zealand's online-gambling position is time-sensitive. Check the Department of Internal Affairs player guidance and our dated legal-status guide at the point of use. This review is about one game's rules and does not provide legal advice.

Even after an operator check, inspect the live game help. A valid operator relationship does not prove the highest RTP, and the right RTP does not prove operator status. Keeping both questions separate prevents a global demo from becoming an unsupported availability claim.

Source reconciliation

What the checked sources establish

The official product page establishes first-party authorship, public release status, layout, reference bets, headline features and the supported market game IDs. The loaded demo supplies the stronger operational evidence for rules, version, displayed RTP, purchase route and win-cap wording.

The current help supersedes a launch-summary discrepancy: it says every 20 blockers, not 30, increases the Bonus Game spin reset by one, with a maximum reset of four. It also supplies the exact four feature families, 96.10% base RTP, 96.50% purchase RTP and 10,000x cap. No volatility label was invented.

Third-party reviews were used to find frequent questions and contradictions, not to override the live help. Competitors often print only the largest cap, omit the selected mode, describe alternative IDs as exact RTPs without a source, or treat global demo access as operator availability.

The evidence was checked on 6 October 2026. The date matters: Relax can update a client or product card, and operators can retain another certified build. Future checks should start with the deployed help and compare its identifier, version and return with this record.

We do not add a hit rate, feature frequency, universal volatility score, New Zealand operator claim or exact alternative RTP unless the checked first-party material supports it. An explicit evidence gap is preferable to a precise-looking number copied from another release.

Two-minute audit

Checklist before relying on this guide

1. Match the full title Bone Raiders and developer Relax Gaming.
2. Confirm game ID boneraiders, help date 20 May 2025 and version 1.0.4 where shown.
3. Check the layout: a five-column, three-row ways base game that expands to a seven-by-seven Bonus Game.
4. Read feature triggers, reset rules and settlement order in the live help.
5. Record the active RTP rather than assuming 96.10%.
6. Confirm whether the cap is 10,000x.
7. Read the displayed total stake after enabling any option.
8. Verify operator identity and New Zealand access independently.
9. Check promotional terms separately from game mathematics.
10. Set money and time limits that remain acceptable if no feature arrives.

If the live help differs, use that deployed build and send the title, game ID, version, date and screenshot through our corrections process. That evidence lets us update one canonical review without creating duplicate RTP or bonus pages.

Exact-title navigation

Related rules and provider guides

Slot RTP and house edge explained — separates a long-run mathematical return from the result of a short session.

Relax Gaming own-games guide — keeps first-party titles separate from games supplied through the aggregation platform.

Compare the active RTP, evaluation model, feature trigger, purchase price, volatility evidence and maximum-win unit—not the loudness of the theme. Those fields show whether two games genuinely create different risk and rules.

Our Relax Gaming guide keeps in-house releases apart from partner content carried by the aggregator. Each game then has one complete canonical URL for rules, RTP, mobile help and demo limits.