Wizard Games have quickly established themselves as a studio that isn’t afraid to lead the way in mainstream online slot gaming, and we’re once again happy to take a look at one of their releases. This time, it’s called Wild West Ways, and its base game takes place on a classic5x3 field with 243 ways to win. Honestly, it reminded us quite a lot of Quickspin’sSticky Bandits, though that game came out way back in 2017.
Visually, the Wild West Ways slot is a very polished package, but its Wild West theme is by no means original. One gets the feeling that we’re getting to the point when we’ll have almost as many Wild West slots as Egyptian slots, but, fortunately, we’re not quite there yet. Still, if you’re a bit bored of gunslingers and everything like that, there’s nothing for you here.
From the mathematical point of view, the Wild West Ways slot isa medium volatility affairwith a very solid max win of5,000x. Its hit frequency is22.54%, and you can dive into the action for stakes between£0.20and£100per spin. Like most Wizard Games slots, even Wild West Ways comes with RTP ranges, and its available RTP values are91.06%, 94.01% and 96.10%. Here, we’d like to recall that Quickspin’s Sticky Bandits comes with a higher 96.58% RTP and that it doesn’t even have any other RTP versions, but that’s how the online slot gaming scene has changed since 2017 – the RTPs are lower on average and there are more games with RTP ranges than ever before.
The dynamic paytable of the Wild West Ways slot features as many as 10 pay symbols, which are divided into three clear-cut categories. First, there are 4 low pays with card ranks that pay up to 1x your bet per combination. Then, there are 3 mid pays with tequilas, skulls and bags full of coins, which pay up to 2x your bet per combination. Finally, there are 3 high pays with characters symbols that can net youup to 3.75x your bet for a set.
In addition to pay symbols, you can also landWilds, Scatters and Blanks. Wilds can substitute for pay symbols in winning combos, Scatters trigger the Free Spins feature, and Blanks work as blocker symbols that contribute nothing at all.
At any point of the base game, you can randomly get tothe Sticky Respins featurefor a total of 3 respins after a win. The symbols that created the win remain Sticky for those respins, and you can land only new symbols of that type and Blanks as they go on. In other words, you’ll get a chance to boost your payout.
Finding 3, 4, or 5 Scatter symbols triggersthe Free Spins featurewith 7, 10, or 15 free spins, respectively. Before the feature starts, the game randomly selects one of the pay symbols, and only symbols of that kind plus all 3 specials will be kept on the reels. Each Scatter symbol that you land willadd 2 extra free spins to your tally, and getting 3 will remove all Scatters from the reels. In exchange, though, you’ll getan extra row added to the playing board, so you’ll be playing with a 5×4 setup instead of the basic 5×3 one. Overall, then, it’s way more imaginative than just having Sticky Wilds like in Sticky Bandits.
Last but not least, there are 3 special bet options that you can take advantage of. First, there’sthe Boost featurethat you can activate at any point and increase your chances of triggering the Free Spins feature in exchange for a 1.25x increase in the bet size. Then, there are also2 Buy Bonus options. For 85x your bet, you can get right to the Free Spins feature with 7, 10, or 15 free spins. For 155x your bet, meanwhile, you can get to the Free Spins feature with the Sticky symbol chosen only from mid pays and high pays.
Alright, so what do we think about the Wild West Ways slot? Well, there’s no doubt that it’syet another excellent effort from Wizard Games, and it’s also one that we’d recommend over an older game like Sticky Bandits. It’s a more polished package overall, and its gameplay combination that focuses on Sticky symbols is way more imaginative than the classic bits with Sticky Wilds that the Sticky Bandits slot offers. Just make sure to find the Wild West Ways slot with its top RTP before diving in – the other versions just aren’t worth it!
Pros
Cons
Wizard Games has once again proven its leadership in the online slot gaming industry with its new release, Wild West Ways. Set on a traditional 5×3 field, the game offers 243 ways to win, reminding us of Quickspin’s Sticky Bandits from 2017. Wild West Ways features a polished design and a Wild West theme, though it’s not the first of its kind. <br><br>The game has a medium volatility with a maximum win of 5,000x, a hit frequency of 22.54%, and betting stakes ranging from £0.20 to £100 per spin. It also offers three RTP values: 91.06%, 94.01%, and 96.10%. This is a change from the 2017 Sticky Bandits game, which had a higher RTP of 96.58% and no additional RTP versions, reflecting the industry trend towards lower RTPs and more games with RTP ranges. <br><br>Wild West Ways has 10 pay symbols divided into three categories: low pays (with card ranks), mid pays (with tequilas, skulls, and bags of coins), and high pays (with character symbols). Players can also land Wilds, Scatters, and Blanks. The Sticky Respins feature can randomly trigger in the base game, offering a chance to boost your payout. <br><br>The Free Spins feature is triggered by landing 3, 4, or 5 Scatter symbols and offers 7, 10, or 15 free spins. An extra row is added to the playing board when 3 Scatter symbols are landed, creating a 5×4 setup. There are also three special bet options: the Boost feature and two Buy Bonus options.<br><br>In summary, Wild West Ways is another high-quality game from Wizard Games. It offers more polish and imagination than older games like Sticky Bandits, thanks to its Sticky symbols gameplay. However, we recommend finding the version with the highest RTP before starting, as the other versions may not be as rewarding.