Wanted Dead or a Wild Slot Review

Overview

Now that we've got the ratings out of the way, let's dive deeper into what this slot is all about.

Wanted Dead or a Wild comes with 5 reels, 5 rows, and 15 fixed paylines. With an RTP of 96.38% and high volatility gameplay, this slot offers huge payout potential at the cost of less frequent wins.

The minimum bet is just 0.20 credits while the max bet goes up to 100 credits, so both casual and high rollers are covered. As for symbols, you'll find classic card suit symbols, cowboy hats, whiskey bottles, money bags, and more spinning across the reels. Matching 3+ symbols on a payline triggers a win.

This variety of features provides something for all players - whether you like straightforward free spins, accumulating modifiers, or a respin collection phase. Plus, you can buy direct access to any bonus round if you choose.

Let's now take a closer look at each special feature and what kind of payouts you can expect.

Bonus Features

The bonus features are where Wanted Dead or a Wild really helps you strike virtual gold on the reels. Here's an in-depth look at how each one works:

Duel at Dawn Free Spins

This is triggered when you land 3 or more Duel scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. You'll instantly win 10 free spins and be transported to a new setting of dawn in the wilderness.

What's great about Duel at Dawn is that more high-paying VS symbols are added to the reels compared to the base game. This gives you more chances of triggering their exciting expanding reel feature.

VS Symbol Expanding Reels

Every VS symbol that lands will expand to cover its entire reel if it results in a win. Once expanded, it reveals a duel between two outlaws bearing different multiplier values. After a dramatic shootout, the surviving outlaw's multiplier is applied to the whole reel, turning it into a highly lucrative wild reel!

The possible multipliers are: 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x, 8x, 9x, 10x, 20x, 25x, 50x, and 100x.

As you can imagine, having one or more reels turn into full wild reels with huge multipliers can result in some truly epic wins! Not to mention that any additional VS symbols that land will have their multipliers added together before being applied to your wins.

This is by far one of the most exciting features in the game, and the free spins combined with higher chances of landing VS symbols make the Duel at Dawn round highly lucrative. Just be prepared for some volatility!

The Great Train Robbery Free Spins

Hop aboard the 3+ Train scatter symbols express to trigger this bonus round of 10 free spins. As the name suggests, this one is all about the sticky wilds.

Any wild symbol that lands during the free spins will stick in place until the end of the round. Having multiple stuck wilds on the reels makes it much easier to hit those big winning combinations!

It may not have the huge multipliers of Duel at Dawn, but the sticky wilds give you more consistent payouts. This round is perfect for players who enjoy the set-and-forget nature of accumulating wilds with every spin.

Dead Man's Hand Respins

To trigger this two-stage feature, you'll need to land 3 or more Dead scatter symbols. Dead Man's Hand starts with the collection phase where your goal is to gather as many wilds and multipliers as possible across 3 respins.

The Wild symbols get collected on the left side, while your multiplier amount shows on the right. Each time you hit a Wild or Multiplier symbol, the respins reset back to 3 so you can keep collecting.

Once you have 3 dead spins with no new modifiers collected, the Showdown phase begins. This awards 3 highly lucrative free spins where all your collected Wilds are unleashed onto the reels. Any wins are then multiplied by your total multiplier amount!

This creates amazing potential to fill the reels with piles of wilds and hit a huge multiplier win. The collection phase builds up great anticipation before the volatility kicks in during the Showdown.

Dead Man's Hand is for thrill-seekers chasing massive wins from those stacked wilds and insane multipliers culminating after the build-up respins.

Buying Bonuses

An extra option available in Wanted Dead or a Wild is the ability to buy your way straight into the bonus rounds. By clicking the Bonus Buy button, you can instantly trigger:

• The Great Train Robbery for 80x bet
• Duel at Dawn for 200x bet
• Dead Man's Hand for 400x bet

This is perfect if you're impatient to skip right to the free spins and respins action. However, use the buys wisely - they can easily burn through your balance if luck isn't on your side that session!

Win Potential

With high stakes of up to 100 credits per spin, an RTP of 96.38%, and a max payout of 12,500x your bet, Wanted Dead or a Wild holds some lucrative winning potential. However, the high volatility means you may need to endure some dry spells before that potential is realized.

My advice is to make sure your bankroll can withstand the variance before jumping in. It only takes one hit of those lucrative features to make up for numerous dead spins. Smaller wins of 20-50x your bet from wilds and symbol matches can also help balance the volatility between bigger bonus payouts.

Some key tips to maximize your payouts:

• Take advantage of the Bonus Buy feature if available to skip right to the free spins/respins.
• Aim to trigger Free Spins and collect lots of Wilds/Multipliers during the features.
• Bet higher when your balance can handle the risk - the max 100 credit bet makes those 12,500x wins very tempting!
• Be patient and persistent through cold spells - it just takes one big bonus round win.

Wanted Dead or a Wild isn't for the faint of heart when it comes to volatility. But braving the ups and downs can result in some hugely satisfying wins from the various features. Yeehaw!