Updated
Lisa Michaels
Wanted Dead or a Wild is a 5x5 slot set in the Wild West, featuring a fantastic set of bonus features and generous cash prizes of up to 12,500x your stake. You’ll find expanding symbols thatfill entire reels to build winning combinations, two free spins rounds, sticky Wild symbols, duels, and win multipliers of up to x100. Symbols include a mysterious bandit wearing a mask and hat, a money bag, an empty bottle of whisky, and (of course!) guns.
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Thanks to the user-friendly controls, I found Wanted Dead or A Wild easy to play from start to finish.
Press the spin button in the bottom-right corner to start playing, or use the autoplay button next to it to program up to 100 automatic spins. That means you can watch the game play itself without tapping the spin button repeatedly. Make sure you monitor your bankroll carefully, though.
To change your stake, click on the up or down arrow in the ‘bet’ area. Press the menu button on the left-hand side to open the game menu. Here, you can turn the sound on or off, activate turbo or super turbo spins, and view the paytable.
NB: The prominent Bonus Buy button requires a more detailed explanation which we cover in the 'How To Win' section below.
Wanted Dead or a Wild has 16 symbols, and they’re all a great fit for the Wild West setting. Even the standard royals are on weathered playing cards, just like a deck that a group of grizzled cowboys might use at a poker table in a saloon.
There are ten paying symbols and six non-paying symbols. These are the Wild, Vs, Train Robbery, Multiplier, Dead, and Duel symbols. Non-paying symbols perform vital functions in the base game and bonus features.
The royals are the low cards. Land five 10, jack, queen, king, or ace cards to win just 1x your stake. The skull and bandit symbols award 5x your bet for 5, while the money bag and whisky bottle pay 10x your stake. The revolver cylinder pays 20x your bet for 5.
After expanding, VS symbols will grow if one or more become part of a winning combination. They will fill an entire reel and show two outlaws, each with a specific multiplier.
A gun duel follows: the multiplier belonging to the survivor will be applied to the whole reel, which will also become Wild. That can occur on every reel, creating an entirely Wild grid. Multiplier values range from x2 to 100x.
There are 15 paylines in Wanted Dead or a Wild. To win, land three or more matching standard symbols on any payline. The Wild symbol can help you win by standing in for other paying symbols (not the VS or other bonus symbols).
Can’t get enough bonus features in slots? You’ll be impressed by Wanted Dead or Wild’s enormous range (like I was). There are 3 bonus games
To trigger this feature, get three or more Duel Scatter symbols during the base game. You’ll win ten free spins with more VS symbols than in the base game.
Land three or more Dead Scatter symbols in the base game to activate this bonus round. It would be best to collect as many Wild and Multiplier symbols as possible in the collect stage, which involves three spins.
Each time you collect either symbol, the remaining spins will be reset to three. The collect stage will only end when you get three consecutive non-winning spins.
The showdown stage will then begin. You’ll get three spins, and the Wilds collected in the earlier stage will be added to the reels for each one. Winnings will be multiplied by the total of the Multiplier symbols collected.
If you land three or more Train Robbery Scatter symbols in the base game, you’ll trigger The Great Train Robbery bonus. This awards ten free spins, and all Wild symbols will become sticky for the entire round.
This feature lets you skip the base game and jump straight into one of the thrilling bonus rounds by purchasing access for a set price. It’s perfect if you want to experience the excitement of the bonus features without waiting for them to trigger naturally.
Here’s what you can choose from:
Cost: 200x your bet.
What You Get: This bonus has two phases. First, you collect wild symbols and multipliers during a series of spins. Once the collection phase is done, all the wilds and multipliers are applied to one big final spin, where you have the chance to land a massive payout.
Cost: 200x your bet.
What You Get: This bonus focuses on the "VS" symbols. When these symbols land, they expand into wilds with random multipliers. If multiple "VS" symbols appear in a single spin, their multipliers combine, offering the potential for huge wins.
Cost: 100x your bet.
What You Get: In this bonus, any wild symbol that lands becomes sticky, staying in place for the rest of the free spins. The more wilds you land, the bigger your chances of hitting substantial wins.
Wanted Dead or a Wild can pay as much as 12,500x your stake. As the symbol values are so low, you’ll need the bonus features to help push your potential winnings higher.
The theoretical Return to Player (RTP) for Wanted Dead or a Wild is 96.38%. That’s a bit higher than the industry average of 96%, but it’s not an exact representation of the expected return. The actual return may vary.
As Wanted Dead or a Wild’s volatility is high, payouts can reach impressive levels, but they’re typically less common than in less volatile slots.
When I loaded Wanted Dead or a Wild, I found myself in a dark, mysterious desert setting. I was expecting a more traditional Wild West design, so I was surprised to see a few gnarled trees against a dusky red sky, a setting sun, and a barbed wire fence.
It’s a fresh look for Western-themed slots, which often feature similar dusty towns and colourful deserts. The setting can change, though, such as in The Great Train Robbery feature.
Regardless of the locale, the visuals are always atmospheric and distinctive. The music also stands out from most other slots in the Wild West, with a moody sound that suits the shadowy graphics.
If you prefer to try slots in demo mode before you play the real thing, take a spin on our demo version of Wanted Dead or Wild. You can test the base game and bonuses without risking your money to determine how they work. Just play spin after spin with a massive supply of virtual credits.
Wanted Dead or a Wild is one of many Western-themed slots on the market. Tombstone is a popular option, based on the real town in Arizona — the site of the famous shootout at the OK Corral. Dead or Alive 2 is the sequel to NetEnt’s famous Wild West slot, with a mind-blowing max win of 111,111x your bet.
Yggdrasil Gaming’s The One Armed Bandit follows a sheriff taking on a team of bandits, with Respins and Free Spins available. Let’s see how they all compare.
If you’re in the mood to play a Western-themed slot with a bold approach, Wanted Dead or a Wild is well worth a try.
I was pleased to find it offers much more than its witty pun-tastic title: it’s a well-crafted slot with a generous max win of 12,500x your bet and many fantastic bonus features to play. You can land expanding symbols, watch outlaws go head to head in duels, trigger two types of free spins rounds, and get win multipliers of up to x100.
The RTP is higher than average. However, volatility is high, and the symbol values are low. I found payouts quite sporadic, and most wins will likely be small without multipliers to boost their value.
Lisa started off as a croupier at her local casino. However she found her niche in writing and has subsequently used her real-world gambling experiences to help produce and review the many online slots that are released monthly. Lisa also contributes to keeping you up to date with Canadian newsworthy stories.
