Wanted Dead or a Wild from Hacksaw Gaming transforms the lawless frontier into a blood-soaked duel where outlaws face off on expanding wild reels under a blood-red sunset. Set against gnarled trees and barbed-wire fences, this dark Wild West slot debuts the signature DuelReels™ mechanic—VS symbols trigger showdowns with multipliers up to 100x that stack together for explosive wins. Choose your fate across three volatile bonus rounds: sticky wild train heists, multiplier-heavy gunfights, or the brutal collect-and-win Dead Man’s Hand, all chasing a 12,500x max payout.
By pressing play, you agree that you are above legal age in your jurisdiction and accept our terms of use.
Key Highlights:
- Wild West slot from Hacksaw Gaming (released September 29, 2021) featuring the innovative DuelReels™ mechanic where VS symbols create dueling outlaws with multipliers ranging from 2x to 100x.
- Three distinct bonus rounds with escalating volatility: Great Train Robbery (sticky wilds), Duel at Dawn (VS-heavy spins), and Dead Man’s Hand (collect-and-win mechanic).
- High volatility (4/5) with 19.3% hit frequency (roughly 1 in 5 spins wins) and maximum win potential of 12,500x your bet.
- 5×5 grid with 15 fixed paylines, 96.38% RTP (default), and $0.20-$100 bet range.
- Bonus buy options at 80x, 200x, and 400x your bet for direct access to all three features.
Theme and Visuals
Hacksaw Gaming abandons the cheerful frontier town aesthetic for something far more sinister. The 5×5 grid sits against a bleak desert under a blood-red dusk sky, with twisted dead trees and barbed-wire fences creating an atmosphere of lawlessness and danger. The haunting, ambient soundtrack replaces typical upbeat Western jigs, enhancing the ominous tone that draws comparisons to NetEnt’s Dead or Alive 2—but darker, with gritty comic book-styled artwork.
Symbols match the outlaw theme perfectly: high-paying symbols include a cattle skull, masked bandit, money bag, whiskey bottle, and revolver chamber, while low-value 10-A card ranks use weathered Western fonts. The golden sheriff badge Wild actually says “WILD” on it, substituting for regular symbols to complete wins. Comic-style animations flash during VS duels and wild expansions, adding visual excitement to big wins. This is a merciless Wild West filled with deadly duels, not a family-friendly saloon.
How to Play Wanted Dead or a Wild
Playing Wanted Dead or a Wild is straightforward once you grasp the DuelReels™ mechanic and bonus triggers. Here’s your complete guide:
- Launch the game and wait for the blood-red Wild West landscape to load.
- Set your bet using the stake controls—minimum $0.20, maximum $100 per spin (some casinos offer up to $1,500).
- Understand the paylines: The 5×5 grid uses 15 fixed paylines. You need at least 3 matching symbols on a payline from left to right to win.
- Hit spin or enable autoplay (up to 1,000 spins with turbo mode available).
- Watch for VS symbols: When VS symbols land and form part of a winning combination, they trigger a duel. The outlaw with the higher multiplier (2x-100x) wins, and their entire reel turns wild with that multiplier applied.
- Track bonus triggers: Collect 3+ matching scatter symbols (Train Robbery, crossed pistols with “DUEL”, or “DEAD” badge) to trigger one of three free spins rounds.
💡 Pro Tip: VS symbols must be part of a winning combination to expand. Two VS symbols alone won’t activate the DuelReels™ mechanic without a connected win.
Symbols and Paytable
Wanted Dead or a Wild uses 15 fixed paylines across a 5×5 grid. Here’s what each symbol pays for landing 3, 4, or 5 matching symbols on a payline:
| Symbol | 3 OAK | 4 OAK | 5 OAK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revolver Chamber (Premium) | 4x | 10x | 20x |
| Whiskey Bottle (Premium) | 2x | 5x | 10x |
| Money Bag (Premium) | 2x | 5x | 10x |
| Outlaw / Skull (Mid) | 1x | 2.5x | 5x |
| Ace / King (Royal) | 0.2x | 0.5x | 1x |
| Queen / Jack (Royal) | 0.2x | 0.5x | 1x |
| 10 (Royal) | 0.2x | 0.5x | 1x |
| Wild (Sheriff Badge) | — | — | 20x |
Payout Examples
- Betting $1 and landing 5 Revolver Chambers awards $20 (20x multiplier).
- Five Whiskey Bottles on a $5 bet pays $50 (10x × $5).
- All five royal card symbols (10-A) pay identically: 1x for five of a kind on a $1 bet returns just $1.
- Five Wild sheriff badges on a payline pay 20x, the same as the top-paying Revolver Chamber symbol.
Base game paytable values are intentionally modest—the real money comes from the DuelReels™ multipliers and bonus features. All royal symbols paying only 1x for a full line means standard wins tend to be small without multiplier boosts.
Wild Symbols
The golden sheriff badge Wild substitutes for all regular pay symbols to help complete winning combinations. Five Wilds on a payline pay 20x your bet, matching the top-paying Revolver Chamber symbol. Wilds don’t replace bonus scatter symbols (Train Robbery, Duel, or DEAD). The real power comes from the DuelReels™ feature, which transforms entire reels into wilds with multipliers when VS symbols trigger duels.
Scatter Symbols
Three different scatter symbols each trigger their own unique bonus round. You need at least 3 matching scatters to activate a feature: Train Robbery symbols (literally labeled “The Great Train Robbery”) trigger sticky wild free spins, Duel symbols (crossed pistols with “DUEL”) activate VS-heavy free spins, and DEAD symbols (sheriff-style badge with “DEAD”) unlock the collect-and-win bonus. Scatters don’t pay cash prizes—their value is in triggering features.
Slot Features
DuelReels™ Mechanic
This is Hacksaw Gaming’s signature innovation for Wanted Dead or a Wild—the first slot to debut the DuelReels™ mechanic. When VS symbols land and form part of a winning combination, they trigger a showdown between two outlaws, each carrying a random multiplier. Possible multiplier values are: 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x, 8x, 9x, 10x, 20x, 25x, 50x, or the coveted 100x.
- Here’s how it works: The outlaws duel, and the one with the higher multiplier wins. The entire reel where the winning outlaw landed transforms into a wild reel, and that outlaw’s multiplier applies to all wins on that reel. If multiple wild reels from different duels contribute to the same winning combination, their multipliers add together. For example, a 3x duel and a 10x duel on the same win creates a combined 13x multiplier boost.
- Critical requirement: VS symbols only expand if they will result in a winning combination when they turn wild. Landing VS symbols in spots that don’t connect with any win means they stay inert and don’t expand. This conditional activation injects massive volatility—when multiple high-multiplier duels align on a single spin, payouts explode far beyond standard paytable limits.
💡 Pro Tip: The DuelReels™ mechanic becomes significantly more powerful during the Duel at Dawn bonus round, where the reels are super-loaded with VS symbols, dramatically increasing your chances of triggering multiple simultaneous duels with stacked multipliers.
Slot Bonus Features
RTP & Volatility
RTP (Return to Player)
Wanted Dead or a Wild has a default RTP of 96.38%, just above the industry average of 96%. However, Hacksaw Gaming offers multiple RTP configurations: 94.55%, 92.33%, or even 88.42% depending on the casino operator. The gap between 96.38% and 88.42% is nearly 8 percentage points—you’re essentially giving the casino an extra $8 per $100 wagered on the lowest version. Always check the game’s information screen before playing to confirm which RTP version you’re on.
Volatility
This is a high-volatility slot, rated 4 out of 5 on Hacksaw Gaming’s scale. The hit frequency is only about 19.3%—roughly 1 in 5 spins hits any win at all. High volatility means extended dry spells punctuated by occasional large wins. You might burn through 50-100 spins without hitting anything significant, then suddenly land a DuelReels™ combo or bonus round that pays 500x or more.
The three bonus rounds have individual volatility profiles: The Great Train Robbery is medium volatility, Duel at Dawn ramps up to very high volatility, and Dead Man’s Hand sits at high volatility with the best RTP (96.43%). You’ll need a healthy bankroll to survive the variance—budget at least 100-200x your base bet for base game play, significantly more if you’re bonus buying.
💡 Pro Tip: High-volatility slots like Wanted Dead or a Wild are not designed for casual players with tight budgets. If you’re working with limited funds, stick to The Great Train Robbery bonus or lower your bet size significantly. Chasing Dead Man’s Hand at 400x your bet can drain your account in 2-3 failed attempts.
Pros and Cons
✅ Pros
- Immersive dark Wild West theme with blood-red sunset, gritty comic-book artwork, and haunting ambient soundtrack creates unique atmosphere
- Innovative DuelReels™ mechanic with multipliers from 2x to 100x that add together across multiple duels creates explosive base game potential
- Three mechanically distinct bonus rounds with different volatility profiles let you choose your risk level—not just cosmetic variations
- 12,500x max win potential is substantial and realistically achievable compared to mythical 100,000x+ caps on other slots
- 96.38% RTP is above industry average, with bonus features offering 96.27%-96.43% RTP individually
- Flexible bonus buy options at 80x, 200x, and 400x give players control over feature access
- HTML5 platform delivers smooth mobile and desktop play with no loss of features or graphic quality
❌ Cons
- Multiple RTP versions ranging from 96.38% down to 88.42% mean you could unknowingly play a severely nerfed configuration
- Extremely high volatility with only 19.3% hit frequency means long dry spells with little payout are common
- DuelReels™ mechanic only activates when VS symbols form part of a winning combination, limiting activation frequency in base game
- Base game paytable values are weak without DuelReels™ activation—all royals pay only 1x for five of a kind
- Only 15 paylines means fewer chances to connect winning combos compared to 243+ ways slots
- Dead Man’s Hand at 400x bonus buy cost is prohibitively expensive and can drain bankrolls in 2-3 failed purchases
Conclusion
Wanted Dead or a Wild delivers genuine mechanical innovation through the DuelReels™ system, transforming a crowded Wild West theme into something that actually plays differently. The three bonus rounds offer real variety—sticky wilds, VS-heavy spins, and collect-and-win mechanics aren’t just cosmetic variations. The 12,500x max win sits in that sweet spot where it’s substantial but realistically achievable, not a mythical number that hits once every hundred million spins.
Best suited for high-volatility thrill-seekers who appreciate mechanical innovation and have the bankroll to handle brutal swings. If you want a Wild West slot that plays differently from generic cowboy-themed games, this delivers. Just verify the 96.38% RTP version, budget properly, and prepare for extended dead spells between explosive DuelReels™ combos.
FAQs
Set your bet ($0.20-$100), then spin the 5×5 grid with 15 fixed paylines. Land 3+ matching symbols left to right to win. VS symbols trigger duels when they land and form part of a win—outlaws face off with multipliers from 2x-100x, the winner’s multiplier turns their entire reel wild. Collect 3+ matching scatters (Train Robbery, Duel, or DEAD) to trigger one of three distinct free spins features.
Default RTP is 96.38%, but operators can configure it to 94.55%, 92.33%, or 88.42%—always check before playing. Volatility is high (4/5) with only 19.3% hit frequency (about 1 in 5 spins wins). Expect extended dry spells between occasional large wins. Budget 100-200x your bet size minimum to survive variance.
The Great Train Robbery (3+ scatters): 10 free spins with sticky wilds, medium volatility, 80x buy. Duel at Dawn (3+ scatters): 10 free spins with enhanced VS symbol frequency, very high volatility, 200x buy. Dead Man’s Hand (3+ scatters): Collect phase (gather up to 20 wilds and 31x multiplier) followed by Showdown phase (3 spins with collected wilds), high volatility, 400x buy.
When VS symbols land and form part of a winning combination, they trigger a duel between two outlaws with random multipliers (2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x, 8x, 9x, 10x, 20x, 25x, 50x, or 100x). The higher multiplier wins, turning that entire reel wild with the multiplier applied. Multiple wild reels on the same win add their multipliers together—a 3x and 10x duel creates a 13x total boost.
Depends on your risk tolerance. The Great Train Robbery (80x buy) offers steady wins through sticky wilds with medium volatility—best for conservative players. Duel at Dawn (200x buy) delivers explosive multiplier action with very high volatility—ideal for chasing big hits. Dead Man’s Hand (400x buy) has highest max win potential through collect-and-win mechanic but costs the most and carries extreme variance.
Yes, fully optimized for mobile play on smartphones and tablets (Android, iOS) via HTML5 with no download required. Touch controls support spin, bet adjustment, autoplay (up to 1,000 spins), turbo mode, and bonus buys. Graphics, animations, and features are identical to desktop with smooth performance on all devices.