Buffalo pokies: the 1,024 ways game, its spin-offs and where it is legal

Buffalo pokies: the franchise in brief

Buffalo is a family of Aristocrat pokies built around a ways-to-win layout, a stampede of buffalo symbols and free games with wild multipliers. Aristocrat Gaming's chief revenue officer called it "one of the most loved and most played game franchises in the world" when Buffalo Super Rush launched in September 2026, and its online arm says Buffalo games have "captivated players" in land-based casinos "for more than a decade". In Australia the name turns up on venue machines, in regulator records and in Aristocrat's free app.

How 1,024 ways to win works

Most Buffalo games do not use paylines. Aristocrat describes the online Jackpot Carnival Buffalo as "this 5x4, 1,024 ways-to-win online slot": five reels, four symbols high. In a ways game, matching symbols pay when they land on adjacent reels from the left, in any row.

The number of ways is the product of the symbols per reel: 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 x 4 = 1,024.

The same rule counts your actual win. Say a spin shows buffalo symbols like this:

Under standard ways rules that is 2 x 3 x 1 x 2 = 12 separate four-of-a-kind buffalo wins, each paid at the four-buffalo price. Stacks multiply quickly, which is why a screen full of buffalo can pay far more than a single line ever could. Check the paytable for how wilds are counted on your version; our paytable guide explains how to read one.

The main Buffalo spin-offs

Aristocrat has kept the theme and changed the engine. These are the versions its product pages describe:

Max Power shows how much the ways count can swing. With six reels of 2 to 6 symbols, the count runs from 2 to the sixth power, 64 ways, up to 6 to the sixth power, 46,656 ways, in our calculation. Same bet, very different spins. Our pokies volatility guide explains why designs like this feel streaky.

Buffalo also crosses into other Aristocrat families: Buffalo is a game in the Cash Express Luxury Line, alongside 50 Lions pokies, and in Aristocrat Legends, and there is a Where's the Gold Buffalo, covered in our Where's the Gold pokies guide. The Hold & Spin versions owe their feature to Lightning Link pokies.

The gamble feature, by the numbers

Buffalo Gamble adds a double-up button. Aristocrat says players can "push the Red or Black 'Gamble' button and get a chance to double or even quadruple all of your wins", picking a colour or a suit.

If a colour pick is a true 50/50, each gamble keeps your expected value the same and only adds risk. In our calculation:

Seven times in eight, three doubles end with nothing. A suit pick works the same way at one chance in four. The gamble cannot recover the return the base game keeps; it only changes the shape of your results.

Pundit tip: if you have just landed a win you are happy with, collecting it is the low-risk choice. Gambling it is a fresh bet, not a bonus.

Buffalo in Australian venues

ACT approval records show Buffalo on Australian-standard Aristocrat machines over many years. A 2014 approval lists "Buffalo" (specification 01-F0012) among games tested with Aristocrat's Gen7 software, and a 2026 approval adds Buffalo Strike Link, Chun Jie, on two linked jackpot systems. The current editions in those recent records do not list a return to player, so check the machine's information screen, where Victorian rules require the RTP, or range, to be shown. Australian minimums apply whatever the version: 85% in NSW, around 85% or higher in Victoria, and 87% in the ACT including any jackpot contribution.

Buffalo online: available overseas, not here

Buffalo is the clearest case of an Aristocrat venue game that has gone online, and that is exactly where confusion starts. Aristocrat Interactive's own announcements show:

Aristocrat Interactive says its regulated gaming products "are for use only in accordance with local laws and regulatory requirements". Australian law is clear: under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, online pokies cannot be offered to people in Australia, and ACMA blocks illegal sites. It is not an offence to play, but a "Buffalo" on an offshore site is not covered by any Australian regulator, and you cannot verify that it is Aristocrat's game or that it pays at the published rate.

The legal free option is Heart of Vegas from Product Madness, Aristocrat's social casino studio. Its Australian App Store listing calls Buffalo "one of the most-played slot games of all time", is rated R 18+, and states it "does not offer gambling or an opportunity to win real money or prizes". For the rest of the range, see our Aristocrat pokies guide, and if Buffalo nights are getting expensive, our gambling help page lists free support.

Related reading

Pokies Lines and denominations Lines decide which symbol patterns pay, credits and denominations decide what each spin costs. Here is how they fit together, with real line counts from the makers and the sums for pub machines. Read more Pokies Big Time Gaming Big Time Gaming is a Sydney studio whose online pokies are played around the world but cannot legally be offered in its home country. Here is the company, what its catalogue is made of and how to read its RTP ranges. Read more Pokies Big Red Big Red is an Aristocrat venue pokie, and its clearest official paper trail is in ACT approval records. They show one game running at very different returns depending on the version, setting and denomination. Read more Pokies Where's the Gold Where's the Gold is an Aristocrat name that now covers several different games. Here is what the current Australian version does, how its jackpot editions differ, and the odds of a big prize in plain numbers. Read more Pokies IGT IGT is one of the oldest names in poker machines, and in 2025 it changed hands again. Here is the company's history from its own filings, what it makes, and what Australian law requires its machines to pay back. Read more Pokies Reading a paytable A pokies paytable tells you what every win pays, in units that are easy to misread, and says nothing about how often each win comes. Here is how to read one in five minutes, with the maths of what is missing. Read more