Game Review: Wanted Dead or A Wild

Wanted Dead or A Wild

Recommendation GambleBoost Approved
Hacksaw Gaming
GambleBoost Rating
Star Rating 4
User Rating
Star Rating 5.0 (3)
Users recommend
Recommend 3
A much-loved western experience from the team over at Hacksaw Gaming, Wanted Dead or a Wild is a relatively new game, launched in late 2021, and a much darker take on the traditionally feel-good Western scenes we are used to, accompanied by a very Ennio Morricone-esque soundtrack. The imagery is perfect for lovers of the cowboy theme, but with a much darker, grittier almost graphic novel style. Think Dirty Harry meets Gotham City and you will get the idea.
A much-loved western experience from the team over at Hacksaw Gaming, Wanted Dead or a Wild is a relatively new game, launched in late 2021, and a much darker take on the traditionally feel-good Western scenes we are used to, accompanied by a very Ennio Morricone-esque soundtrack. The imagery is perfect for lovers of the cowboy theme, but with a much darker, grittier almost graphic novel style. Think Dirty Harry meets Gotham City and you will get the idea.
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The GambleBoost Experiment: 1000 Wanted Dead or a Wild Spins Timelapse

GambleBoost Review

Plus
  • Maximum winnings up to x12,500
  • Bets start as low as 20 cents
  • Sticky and expanding jokers
  • Fairly unique theme
  • Possible to purchase bonus rounds
  • Available to play as a demo
Minus
  • No progressive jackpot
1000 Spins Test: Wanted Dead or A Wild, Starting Balance: 1000€

Free Spins

0 of 1000 Spins triggered free spins.

Our GambleBoost Team played 1,000 Spins in order to test the slot Wanted Dead or a Wild and give you a first glimpse of the exciting gameplay. Enjoy!

Balance
Spins

The bet size was 1€ per spin.

Free spins were triggered 0 times in 1000 spins.

Our test results may vary from your experiences due to the randomness of slots.

Details

Release Year

2021

Available for

Desktop, Mobile

RTP

94.55%

Provider

Features

Free Spins Bonus High Volatility Wild West Adventure Expanding Scatter Symbol

Free Spins and Bonus Features

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Straight off the bat, let’s talk about free spins. Wanted Dead or a Wild has 3 different free spins features and each vary in terms of their volatility. The three options are the following:

The Great Train Robbery – This feature is activated when players land 3 or more Train Robbery symbols. During this feature players will earn themselves 10 free spins and all Wild symbols will be sticky.

Duel at Dawn – When players land 3 or more of the Duel symbols, the Duel at Dawn Bonus feature will start, giving the player 10 free spins.

Dead Man’s Hand – This feature is activated when players land 3 or more Dead symbols. During this feature, players accumulate Wilds and multipliers that will be applied to the respective winnings afterwards. These are the rarest symbols in the game.

VS Symbol – Each VS symbol that lands on the reels as part of a successful combination will expand and cover the entire reel. An animation of two gunslinging bandits appears, fighting with different multipliers. Whoever wins will get his multiplier applied to the entire reel. If you can successfully land more than 1 VS symbol, then the values will be added and multiplied with the line wins.

Volatility

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The volatility of a game is the hit rate combined with the maximum win you can get on a slot. Slots with a very high volatility may offer larger cash prizes, but your wins are unlikely to be frequent. However, a game with low volatility may offer smaller payouts, but you may notice that you win more often.

Wanted Dead or a Wild is considered a fairly high volatility game and has a minimum bet of $0.20 cents and a maximum bet of $100. Players can win up to an eye watering 12,500 times their original bet. It also has an RTP of 94.55%, however there are two things to note about that: This number can be affected by the site you’re playing on, and also all three of the bonus games have different rates so be aware of both of these things whilst playing. During the bonus rounds the RTP can go as low as 88.42% and 92.33%, but it also can go all the way to 96.48%!

Mobile Version

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Wanted Dead or A Wild is available as a mobile app that can be downloaded. It also works perfectly fine running on a web app on mobile sites across all platforms, both desktop and mobile including Android, iOS, Windows and MacOS systems. Allowing you to play with ease both from home, and on the go!

First Impression

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If you know Hacksaw, then you’ll recognize the particular style and layout right away. Like most of their games, this one plays on a grid of 5×5 with 15 different ways to win. Ultimately, it’s a straightforward format designed for even the most novice gamers.

The goal of the game is to catch all of the outlaws and collect the bounty. All you have to do is match up 5 symbols to win. The low payout symbols are 10, J, Q, K and A. If you land 5 of the same symbol types, it gives you 1x your bet. The highest pay out symbols are a buffalo skull, an outlaw, a sack of money, a bottle and a gun.

If you land 5 of the same symbol types, it gives you anywhere between 5x all the way up to 20x the bet. The game’s wild symbol consists of a sheriff’s badge. Five of those will give you 20X and during the spins you will also be able to land VS, The Great Train Robbery, as well as Duel and Dead scatter symbols.

Theme

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The best way to describe Wanted Dead or A Wild is like a John Wayne movie on Halloween. The slot definitely conveys the western feel with its aesthetic featuring whiskey bottles, money bags and revolvers, but there’s also a much darker, almost spooky vibe. For instance, when you get the Dead Man’s Hand bonus, the background changes from the dusty western aesthetic to an almost unsettling undead graveyard.

When you earn yourself the Great Train Robbery, the background switches to a train ride through (once again) graveyards and fog. If you’re after an aesthetic that’s more in the realm of traditional cowboy westerns then perhaps this game is not the right one for you, but if you are a horror aficionado or just looking for something different, this slot is certainly worth a try!

Gameplay

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Despite being very simple with not much variation, Wanted Dead or a Wild is actually a pretty fun game. The tonal shift from the feel-good western themes we are generally used to, to the much darker “spooky” does give the slot an interesting feel, and somewhat changes the tension, especially during the bonus rounds!

The game’s lowest payout symbols are 10-A card royals, which will all earn you prizes of x1 if there are five of a kind. The highest payout symbols are a cow’s skull, a cowboy hat, a money bag, a bottle of whiskey, and a gun chamber. If you get five identical symbols from this batch, you can win yourself a prize in the range of x5 to x20. The gun chamber is the most valuable symbol overall.

Design

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The design and layout for Wanted Dead or a Wild are super simple, with the 5×5 table on a wooden board set against a variety of backgrounds depending on the part of the game.

The main game has a red orange almost sunset aesthetic, with trees and an image of the sun in the background, very similar to Duel at Dawn whilst The Great Train Robbery changes the color scheme to a darker blue grey with the image of a train track. The Dead Man’s Hand has a green, graveyard aesthetic. Besides occasionally throwing in minor animations, the design of the game does not change at all beyond the simple 5×5 set up.

The bar at the bottom shows you your available balance, up and down arrows to increase/decrease your bet, the spin button, a “Buy Bonus” feature that allows you to purchase the three bonuses, and a pop-up menu giving you options such as sound, info, home, and also Turbo and Super Turbo options! All in all, the game’s layout is very minimal, but it serves its purpose well as the game is not cluttered with lots of different choices.

Sound

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The music isn’t the most exciting, but it does fit the mood very well, with very simple acoustic guitar patterns and some light percussion looped throughout the gameplay. Each bonus round comes with its own unique soundtrack.

Dead Man’s Hand changes the music to an ominous almost droning synth, church bells ringing and spooky spoken voices. When you get to the showdown for instance, the tempo increases drastically, and the drums become heavier as the stakes get higher. Of course, gun shots and the “western whistle” can also be heard throughout.

Information

Min Bet

€0.20

Max Bet

€100

Max Multiplier

12,500x

Volatility

High

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Community Review(3)

5/5
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1 Star Rating
2 Star Rating
3 Star Rating
4 Star Rating
5 Star Rating

Free Spins

4.8/5 (3)

Volatility

4/5 (3)

Mobile Version

4.5/5 (3)

First Impression and Design

4.8/5 (3)

Theme

4.8/5 (3)

Gameplay

5/5 (2)

Design

4.8/5 (3)

Sound

4.5/5 (3)

Community Reviews (3):

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