Wanted Dead or a Wild

Casinos with Wanted Dead or a Wild

An Introduction to Wanted Dead or a Wild

In the world of online slots, we’ve seen plenty of titles based on the Wild West. Since most Hacksaw Gaming slots introduce new gameplay elements and fresh ideas, we were very eager to check out their Wanted Dead or a Wild video slot. We expected a new twist on the Wild West slot sub-genre, and that’s exactly what we got.

What they went for here was a feature-heavy style with lots of different bonus rounds.

We think this gameplay style is interesting here because they baked it right into the format of the game. For example, the grid is 5×5, but you only have 15 paylines. However, the extra screen real estate makes it a lot easier to get those featured trigger than most games. On top of that, most of the features incorporate fresh ideas that haven’t been done so much.

Additionally, the graphical style they went for here is fun too. It has a gritty look to it with a flat 2-D icon style of presentation on the reels. The background looks like the cover of some kind of classic Western film. However, the crispness of the symbols on the reels and of the animations for the features offset that a bit to create a fun but serious atmosphere.

Betting and Layout

As we mentioned above, the layout is pretty important to the style of play overall. We should also add that we can’t remember having seen this exact format before. That’s a difficult thing to pull off, but we think they did it here. In any case, here’s what to expect:

• Players have five reels of action on each spin, and that never changes. However, you also get five horizontal rows, which creates a large, square grid.
• A set of 15 paylines are set in stone in this title, and they cannot be changed.
• Additionally, these paylines go from left to right only.
• At the low end of the available range, you can bet €0.20 per spin. We’re really glad they didn’t base these on per-line bets since that leads to such awkward bet sizes with 15 paylines.
• However, the options for bet sizing are pretty wide. They go all the way up to €100 per turn, and you have a lot of increments available between the minimum and maximum levels.

Hacksaw Gaming decided not to make the betting tie directly to a “wager per line” system. Because of this, the wins are based on a multiple of however much you’re wagering as a whole. For example, a 10x win with a wager of €2 is worth a €20 prize. Additionally, we prefer this approach since it really spells out exactly how much you can win. Between that and the atypical grid layout, it reminds us a bit of the True Grit Redemption Wild West-themed slot.

With so many features, the volatility is a bit higher than usual. However, it’s not unbearably so because the regular payouts are so balanced. Overall, we put the volatility for this title on the lower end of the medium-high range.

Gameplay and Features of the Wanted Dead or a Wild Video Slot

Everything in the Wanted Dead or a Wild online slot is about the features. From the format to the way the lines are set up, it all comes back to these extra ways to win. Because of this, and because of the fact that most of them are fairly atypical, it can be difficult for new players to just jump in, start playing and understand what’s going on. However, to help you out, we’ll break everything down here in the following.

Wild Badge Symbols

The wild badge symbol has a great look to it that matches the other graphical symbols on the board. Overall, it’s probably the perfect example of the overall aesthetic Hacksaw Gaming created for the slot. In any case, these wilds offer strong payouts along the following lines:

• Five of a Kind – 20x
• Four of a Kind – 10x
• Three of a Kind – 2x

For the bonus symbols and the VS symbols, you won’t get substitutions. However, these wilds do substitute for all other symbols available in this game.

VS Symbols

The VS symbol is in the spirit of pistol duels that were pretty common in the Wild West. They were especially common in disputes about gold mining, like what we see in the Gold Strike Bonanza slot. However, in this title, they offer something a bit more promising than two angry people shooting at each other.

First off, the VS symbol shows a miniature scene of two outlaws facing off with each other. They each have a multiplier, and the survivor’s multiplier is the one used for this feature. From there, the entire reel the VS symbol landed on turns into wild multipliers that use that the winner’s multiplier. The available multiplier range goes from 2x at the low end to 100x at the high end. Additionally, with multipliers available at this level, it’s easy to see how this would add a lot of volatility.

Dead Man’s Hand

The Wanted Dead or a Wild slot offers players a tie-in with the death of Wild Bill Hickok, who was holding the “dead man’s hand” of two pair, aces and eights, when he was shot and killed in a poker game. When you get three or more of the “Dead” symbols, you’ll trigger the Dead Man’s Hand feature.

The idea here is to simply collect wilds and multipliers in the initial phase. You’ll basically just see this part play at out random. However, from there, you get three spins with those extra wilds with multipliers added to the game grid. It’s a sort of free spins mode, but it’s mostly focused on the wilds and multipliers.

Wanted Dead or a Wild Free Spins

Players can earn a free spins round in two ways. First off, three or more of the “Duel” symbols with two pistols crossed activates the Duel at Dawn free spins feature. In this mode, you’ll be given 10 free spins with more VS symbols than the usual bonus round. As a result, you get more wilds, more multipliers and better chances for getting more than one of them simultaneously.

Next up is the Great Train Robbery feature. This is our favorite Wanted Dead or a Wild free spins mode, and you only need three or more of the Train Robbery symbols to trigger it. A set of 10 free spins is given, and wilds are held sticky during the entire bonus round. However, the VS symbols do not appear in this game mode. We assume it’s because the expanding wild multipliers would be a bit too much since they can be held sticky for so long.

How to Win at Wanted Dead or a Wild

The critical thing to know about the Wanted Dead or a Wild video slot is that the volatility is a bit higher than average. As such, we suggest dropping your bet size just slightly if you want to smooth out the swings a bit. This is similar to the strategy we suggest in Pragmatic Play’s Buffalo King Megaways game because its volatility is also above average.

You can also purchase the three features in this game directly. Here are the costs for doing so:

• The Great Train Robbery – 80x
• Duel at Dawn – 200x
• Dead Man’s Hand – 400x

Note that you can’t change your RTP percentage by choosing any of these three options. However, they do all have a higher volatility than playing the regular mode. Since the bet size is so much higher (as a multiple of the total amount wagered), we strongly suggest dropping that down a lot before you go this route.

Payout Structure for the Wanted Dead or a Wild Online Slot

The pistol barrel that looks like a hexagon with six circles in it pays 20x for five of a kind. Players can also earn 10x for five of the bottles or five of the bags of cash. From there, a win of 5x is yours for five of a kind of the outlaw or steer skull symbols. We love the style of 2-D icon graphics used here because it’s so atypical but still looks great.

All five of the card rank symbols are set up to look like distressed playing cards. It fits the gritty Western style perfectly. However, it’s also easy to remember the payouts for all of these symbols since the A, K, Q, J and 10 all pay 1x for five on a payline.

Overview

Hacksaw Gaming slots often have a different take on gameplay, graphics or both. In the case of the Wanted Dead or a Wild slot, it seems to be both. They really make everything come together in one strong, cohesive package here. Overall, this makes it one of our favorite Wild West slots we’ve ever seen.

In particular, we love how the features pretty much just drive everything. The regular pay table is balanced enough, but the biggest chances for serious wins come from those features. However, that’s not to mention the fact that you get multiple free spins bonus rounds, expanding wild multipliers and other value-packed ways to get paid in this title.

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