Wanted Dead or a Wild Slot Review

Slot Description

Wanted Dead or a Wild opens on a 5x5 grid panel, effectively using the 15 available paylines. The betting range falls between the standard 0.20 to 100 coins per spin, which you will likely find in several online slots, including those in Hacksaw's portfolio. Whether you are a high, medium, or low roller, the wagering limit encapsulates something for everyone. Also, with a max win limit capped at 12,500x the stake, wins can take a huge leap.

The theoretical Return to Player is a decent 96.38%, but the number might go off the mark if you play for a short session. After all, RTPs are calculated after simulating the spins millions of times. Regardless of that, Wanted Dead or a Wild RTP of 96.38% is significantly above the industry average of 96%. And as for the variance, this Hacksaw slot is pivoted on high volatility (rated 5 out of 5). So, for the large part, wins won't frequent the spins, but when they do, chances are they will be relatively impressive.

Now, let’s take a look at these stats in more detail. The slot’s hit frequency is about 19.30%, which suggests every 5 or so spins will likely fetch out a winning result. And more often than not, it happened in our case as well. But triggering a bonus feature was rather too difficult. For the most part, we were struck in the base game itself, which fetched returns equivalent to the wager at best. So, we’d recommend not relying too much on the base game, as they fetch out below-average returns for most spins. A quicker method would be to use the Buy Bonus option for triggering features.

Theme, Design, and Sound

Not just volatility, even the mood and setting of the slot is quite threatening. Wanted Dead or a Wild takes after the popular Wild West-themed slots but has styled it with a peculiar touch. A wooden reel sits at the center of the screen, surrounded by a scenario that looks like it is coming straight from a painting. Blotches of red cover the entire screen, including the giant sun looking menacingly on the reels. Barbed wires and leafless, distorted trees are also in the background, rendering a spooky and violent atmosphere.

Only the background score doesn’t deviate much from the stereotype. The familiar Wild West guitar and special tunes, recognizable from the movie, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, permeate throughout the playing session.

Symbols and Payouts

A total of 11 paying symbols constitute the slot’s paytable, including a wild symbol that pays up to 20x the bet. The rest of the pay symbols are 10 to A card royals, bulls, masked gunslingers, sacks of money, liquor bottles, and bullet chambers. These icons pay in the range of 1x to 20x the stake.

The wild substitutes for all paying symbols, except bonus and VS symbols. Hence, a straightforward way to bag decent profit from the base game is to get more and more wild and gun chamber symbols since they both pay 20x the bet.

Features and Bonuses

Hacksaw Gaming has integrated several exciting features into Wanted Dead or a Wild, some of which carry the potential to land massive wins.

VS Symbol

Whenever a VS symbol lands, it expands to cover an entire reel, turning itself into a wild reel. Two gunslingers show up within the expanded symbol with two different multipliers. The winner’s multiplier becomes applicable to the win. If you get more than one multiplier in the same spin, the multipliers are added before multiplying by the win amount.

Duel at Dawn

Hitting 3 Duel symbols in the same spin triggers the Duel at Dawn feature with 10 free spins. With this feature active, you stand a better chance to land VS symbols.

Dead Man’s Hand

Getting 3 Dead Man symbols at once activates the Dead Man’s Hand bonus feature. The feature unfolds in two different segments. The first one determines the number of wilds and multipliers you will get. Initially, you get 3 respins, but landing a wild symbol or multiplier resets the number of respins back to 3. Up to 20 wilds and x31 multiplier can be collected via this segment. Once all 3 spins are exhausted, you move on to the next segment of this bonus feature.

This segment is called the Showdown, and it offers 3 respins as well. The number of wilds you won in the previous segment is added to each spin during this segment. Moreover, the accumulated multiplier from the last round applies to all wins during Showdown.

The Great Train Robbery

Hitting 3 The Great Train Robbery symbols trigger this bonus feature and awards you 10 free spins. Wild symbols become sticky during this feature and remain on the reels until the feature ends.

Bonus Buy

The Bonus Buy option is the fastest way to trigger a particular feature in Wanted Dead or a Wild. You can trigger any of the given game features by paying the requisite amount. Note that the feature might not be available in some jurisdictions.

About Hacksaw Gaming

Hacksaw Gaming is still in its first decade of operations but has already achieved a lot. The company was founded in 2017, and within 6 years, they are also already popular in online and crypto casinos. Apart from creating visually stunning, conceptually unique, and innovative slots, Hacksaw’s potential is also realized in the math behind each game.

The vertical design of all Hacksaw Gaming slots are deliberately done to ensure the games are optimized for mobile devices. Also, the game provider’s portfolio is not limited to slots alone. It also includes a decent collection of Scratchcards and Instant Win games, which takes their collection to over 120 games, operating in +20 regulating markets.

Furthermore, Hacksaw Gaming is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and has its games tested by the reputed eCOGRA agency. All of these factors contribute to the company’s growth and trust among players and partners.