Wanted Dead or a Wild - Review + Demo

Quick Summary:

• 🤠 Max Win:Hit up to 12,500x your bet through bonus features and multipliers.
• 🆕 DuelReels™ Feature:Watch two outlaws duel on the reels, awarding random multipliers up to 100x.
• 💥 Bonus Features:Three unique rounds — The Great Train Robbery, Duel at Dawn, and Dead Man's Hand.
• 🎨 Visuals & Theme: Dark, atmospheric Western with moody backdrops and eerie animations.
• 🔢 Gameplay: 5x5 grid with 15 paylines; multipliers and expanding VS symbols spice things up.
• ⚠️ High Volatility:Big win potential but expect stretches without significant hits.
• 💰 Bet Range: $0.20 – $100; suits casual and serious players.
• 📈 Bonus Buy: Solid 96.38% Return to Player, slightly above average.

Play Free Demo

Try Wanted Dead or a Wild for free today with our demo.

Wanted Dead or a Wild: Theme, Presentation, and Music

I’ve played my fair share of Western-themed slots, and was surprised to see how far Wanted Dead or a Wild strays from the usual aesthetic.

There are no dusty saloons or streets lined with wooden buildings here. Instead, Wanted Dead or a Wild transports you to a mysterious landscape of gnarled trees and barbed wire. Overhead, a full yellow moon hangs in a blood-red sky, which plays a huge part in establishing the game’s dark mood.

Wanted Dead or a Wild’s music has the classic Western style you probably expect, though it’s more subdued than the soundtracks in some similar slots.

How to Play Wanted Dead or a Wild

Wanted Dead or a Wild is a user-friendly slot with the same streamlined controls seen in other Hacksaw Gaming releases. Push the ‘spin’ button below the reels to play the game manually or use the Autoplay feature to spin automatically instead. To change your bet in the base game, click on the vertical arrows next to the ‘spin’ button. Wagers range from $0.20 to $100 per spin.

Wanted Dead or a Wild uses a 5x5 grid with 15 fixed paylines. Land three, four, or five matching symbols on any payline to win. Certain symbols trigger bonuses instead of awarding prizes — I’ll cover these below.

Wanted Dead or a Wild Symbols and Payouts

The symbols in Wanted Dead or a Wild aren’t particularly original: you’ll see a bandit, a whiskey bottle, the chamber of a revolver, a bag with a dollar sign on it, a skull, and a set of playing cards representing the royals (10 - Ace).

Multiple bonus symbols, such as the Wild, Multiplier, and VS symbols, can also land during the base game.

Values are low right across the paytable, with the most valuable symbols (revolver and the Wild) paying just 20x your bet for 5. Fortunately, multipliers may kick in and give you a chance to scoop bigger payouts — the top prize is generous at 12,500x the bet.

Here are all the payouts for standard symbols in Wanted Dead or a Wild:

Wanted Dead or a Wild Volatility and Return to Player

Wanted Dead or a Wild is highly volatile, and I only managed a few tiny wins during my time with it (e.g. $0.10 and $0.50 back from a $1.00 spin). Some big payouts might be available theoretically, but most are likely to be very small.

How about the theoretical Return to Player (RTP)? Wanted Dead or a Wild’s is decent at 96.38%, a little higher than the 96% average for slots.

Bonus Features in Wanted Dead or a Wild

When I played Wanted Dead or a Wild, the bonuses impressed me more than any of the game’s other good points. Let’s take a closer look:

Wild Symbol

The Wild symbol substitutes for all other symbols except the bonus and VS symbols.

Duel at Dawn Feature

Match three or more Duel Scatters anywhere in the base game to play the Duel at Dawn feature. This will give you 10 free spins and add more VS symbols to the reels to give you a better chance of grabbing bigger prizes.

Dead Man’s Hand

Land three or more Dead Scatter symbols in the base game to trigger the Dead Man’s Hand feature. This is split into two phases: Collect and Showdown.

In the first phase, you need to collect as many Wild symbols and multiplier symbols as you can across three spins. Wilds will be gathered to the left of the grid and the current total multiplier will be shown on the right.

Whenever you collect a Wild or multiplier symbol, the number of remaining spins will reset to three. This phase will end after three consecutive non-winning spins.

In the Showdown phase, you’ll get another three spins. All the Wilds you accumulated will be added to the grid, and each win will be multiplied by the collected total multiplier.

The Great Train Robbery

If you get three or more Train Robbery Scatters in the base game, you’ll get to play The Great Train Robbery feature. This awards 10 free spins, and any Wilds that land will stay on the reels until the bonus ends.

VS Symbols

VS symbols can land in the base game and Duel at Dawn bonus. They may expand to fill an entire reel, but only if they will form part of a winning combination after expanding. Once a VS symbol expands, it will show two outlaws: each has a multiplier of between 2x and 100x.

The outlaws will have a classic Western duel, and only one can survive. The multiplier for the character left standing will be applied across the whole expanded reel, turning it Wild.

If a VS symbol hits and expands on every reel, the entire grid will become Wild.

Bonus Buy

If you want to trigger one of the bonus features instantly, you can use the Bonus Buy function. The Great Train Robbery, Duel at Dawn, and Dead Man’s Hand features cost 80x, 200x, and 400x your bet, respectively.

How Does Wanted Dead or a Wild Compare to Similar Slots?

If you’ve spent any time at online casinos, you’ll know there are plenty of Western-themed slots out there. How does Wanted Dead or a Wild measure up? Let’s compare it to three other Western slots from different developers:

Verdict

Wanted Dead or a Wild is an outstanding Western slot, but it’s not perfect. The main issue is the basic symbol values: the top symbols on the paytable only offer up to 20x your stake. The high volatility can create long stretches without wins, too.

The bonus features can help bump up your winnings, though, especially the Dead Man’s Hand round (courtesy of its multipliers). Along with the moody visual style, the bonuses give Wanted Dead or a Wild a distinctive feel that fans of Westerns might enjoy.

Wanted Dead or a Wild FAQs

What is the top win in Wanted Dead or a Wild?

You could win up to 12,500x your bet in Wanted Dead or a Wild, which is a fairly generous top prize.

Can I win free spins in Wanted Dead or a Wild?

Yes, you can win free spins in Wanted Dead or a Wild’s bonus features, with 10 awarded in The Great Train Robbery.

Can I play Wanted Dead or a Wild on a mobile device?

Yes, you can play Wanted Dead or a Wild on a phone or tablet, as it was developed for mobile compatibility.