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It is not every day that you see a software provider pull up a perfect western-themed slot in the flawless manner that Hacksaw Gaming has done. From cool animations to three unique buy bonuses, Wanted Dead or a Wild is not your regular slot. Therefore, it is not surprising that we have received lots of requests on how to play Wanted Dead or a Wild. For the basics, this is a 5×5 reel slot with 15 paylines and 96.38% RTP. However, our best guess is that you are here for more than the basics. Stick to the end as we unwrap this old-school cowboy-themed game layer by layer.
The Wanted Dead or a Wild slot follows the rules of regular slots, where you win by matching three or more of the same icons on a payline. There are 11 main symbols in this game, and they all stay loyal to the cowboy theme. You will encounter three more special icons, namely the VS symbol, the Train Robbery icon, and the Duel symbol. Land three of each kind to launch one of the game’s distinct bonus features. Alternatively, you can simply purchase them. We’ll discuss more on that in a bit.
The card icons, namely 10, J, Q, K, and A, are the lower-paying icons, and they all offer identical payouts. Winning in Wanted Dead or a Wild involves matching three to five of the same type on the payline. Match 3, 4, or 5 of the same kind on the payline, and they will return 0.1x, 0.5x, or 1x of your bet, respectively.
However, if you want to walk away feeling like a proud cowboy after a successful casino shootout, you should be aiming for the higher-paying icons, namely a bucking bull, a faceless cowboy with a hat, a sack of money, a whiskey bottle, and a badge, which is also the highest-paying symbol among the regular icons. There is also the wild symbol, which can substitute every other icon to form a winning combination. See the table below to understand how Wanted Dead or a Wild works.
| Symbol | 3 of a kind | 4 of a kind | 5 of a kind |
| Bucking Bull | 0.5x | 2.5x | 5x |
| Faceless cowboy | 0.5x | 2.5x | 5x |
| Sack of money | 1x | 5x | 10x |
| Whiskey bottle | 1x | 5x | 10x |
| Badge | 2x | 10x | 20x |
| Wild | – | – | 20x |
This high volatility slot has a flexible betting system where you can lower your bets to $0.2 per spin or increase them to $100 per spin. This makes it accessible to both recreational players and those eager to make the most of the game’s 12,500x max win potential.
This action-packed reel game gets more interesting when you try one of the three buy bonus features. Spend 80x, 200x, or 400x your bet to purchase one of the three bonus features, namely The Great Train Robbery, Duel at Dawn, or Dead Man’s Hand, and enjoy this game on a whole new level. In fact, a lot of punters think this is the best way to play Wanted Dead or a Wild, and we will tell you why.
Purchase this for 80x your bet, and three «The Great Train Robbery» badges will land on the reels. A short, cool animation shows a speeding train emerging, and the reels will reappear behind the train, granting you 10 free spins with sticky wilds. When you land a wild after each spin, it will remain on the reel throughout the entire duration of the game. This massively boosts your winning potential on the Wanted Dead or a Wild slot. This is a medium volatility feature.
This high volatility feature allows you to purchase 200x of your bet. Here, the goal is to land the VS symbols to trigger a duel bonus that turns the entire reel into an expanding wild x multiplier that can reach up to 100x. When you land the VS symbol with a winning combination, you will get a cool animation that will show you taking out a rival in a casino shootout. It’s a cool addition that is always refreshing to watch.
This is probably the reason why there are lots of questions on how to play Wanted Dead or a Wild. This high volatility bonus feature plays in two phases. In the collect phase, you can get up to 20 wild cards and a multiplier of 31x. The phase ends when you land three non-winning spins. In the showdown feature, all the collected wilds will randomly land on the reels, and your wins will be multiplied by the number of multipliers you received from the previous phase.
The Wanted Dead or a Wild slot has a clean design and features the first Hacksaw Gaming’s DuelReels feature. It is triggered when you land three VS symbols, which expand to fill the screen if they form a winning combination. There is a multiplier on either end, and the multiplier from the duel winner is applied. Hacksaw nailed the graphics, sounds, and every aspect of this game, which has made it extremely enjoyable.
