There’s something the Wild West and gambling have in common. And it’s not even that saloon regulars liked to pass the time with a game of cards. The life of a typical inhabitant of the American frontier was inextricably linked with risk, and often at stake was often a human life. Chases, intense fights, unique aesthetics inspire developers to create original and exciting machines. Slots in the Western genre are in demand at online casinos and continue to be hits years after their release.

• Key features
• Top ten slots

Key Features

In the apparatuses dedicated to the Wild West, most often used such symbols:

• Portraits of characters: cowboys, sheriffs, Native Americans.
• Guns, cartridges, holsters, used shell casings.
• Paraphernalia: cowboy hat, boots with spurs, horseshoes.

On the reels of video slots of this genre also appear leaflets about the search for criminals, animal skulls, glasses and bottles of alcohol, card denominations. Sheriff’s star performs a special role in many machines: replaces other pictograms, triggers prize functions, expands to the entire row vertically. The playing field is located on the background of desert landscapes, frontier quarters, the interior of the saloon.

Often video slots are developed based on cult movies in the spaghetti western genre, such as The Good The Bad And The Ugly from the provider Gluck

Often video slots are developed based on cult films in the spaghetti western genre, such as The Good The Bad And The Ugly from provider Gluck.

Bonus options are usually shooting-related, and this can apply to both single-screen prize rounds and a risk game. For example, in Wild Guns from Wazdan, the user can increase the payout for the last round by hitting an opponent who is hiding behind one of the curtained windows of the saloon.

Top ten slots

Cowboys Gold

Rating: 4.4

Provider: Pragmatic Play

• RTP (%):96.5
• Volatility:high
• Max. bet:8000
• Min. bet:8

Provider:Pragmatic Play

Year of release:2020

Launching a thematic machine brandPragmatic Plaus five reels, the player can collect paying combos on ten lines. The sheriff’s star is used as a wildcard. The main character is a renegade with a face hidden behind a pink bandana. Every time he falls on the fifth reel, the prize feature is activated. Payouts for all cowboy portraits appearing in the current round are summed up and credited to the player’s account.

Colorful character in the image of a skeleton in a hat gives the user access to ten free spins. They are launched in two cases:

• At least three gift symbols fell out anywhere on the reels.
• On the screen appeared any number of bonus pictograms and a portrait of a renegade.

Each of these combinations during the freespins adds five more to the remaining five. This activates an additional payout multiplier: x2 in the first restart, x3 in the second and x5 in the third. The maximum number of free games per series is 25. During the feature, pirate portraits can fall out with multipliers that are applied to the base coefficients. The volatility of the video slot is above average and the RTP amounted to 96.5%.

Dead or Alive 2

Rating: 3.5

Provider: NetEnt

• RTP (%):96.82
• Volatility:high
• Max. rate:9
• Min. rate:0.09

Provider:NetEnt

Year of release:2019

The game was the continuation of the superhit of the manufacturer NetEnt. The release of the second part took place ten years after the original machine. The developers retained the original structure with five drums. In any rotation, the user has a high chance of winning, because the slot provides at once five wilds! These are portraits of cowboys of different genders and ages. They replace all symbols, except the scatter in the form of a skull with crossed revolvers.

The machine has three modes of free spins. Each of them is characterized by additional favorable rules:

• Doubling payouts and adding sticky wilds to the playing field.
• Additional multipliers for portraits of cowboys.
• Increasing payout multiplier.

The machine is characterized by high volatility, the theoretical return rate is 96.82%

Western Gold Megaways

Rating: 3.4

Provider: iSoftBet

• RTP (%):97
• Volatility:high
• Max. bet:20
• Min. bet:0,2

Provider:iSoftBet

Year of release:2020

Wild West-themed slot from iSoftBet Studios is designed using the MegaWays engine. The six reels can display a different number of cells vertically. The maximum number of possible combos reaches 117,649. The game follows the principle of cascading spins. Revolver, hat, flask, spur and card denominations appear on the reels.

The inscription Wild replaces all symbols, except for the scatter in the form of a sheriff’s star. Five such icons start a series of respins. From the drums disappear all pictograms, except those that triggered the feature. Behind the freed cells fly stars with different multipliers. They can disappear or be fixed on the reel. Each stopped symbol prolongs the series. During the repeated spins you can get a fixed jackpot. It is played at three levels: Mini, Major and Mega. The machine has a function of instant activation of the bonus for an additional bet.

The Greatest Train Robbery

Rating: 3.0

Provider: Red Tiger

• RTP (%):96.03
• Volatility:average
• Max. rate:40
• Min. rate:0.2

Provider:Red Tiger

Year of release:2019

The automaton with 5 reels and 40 lines offers the player to join a gang of robbers who have plotted a daring train robbery. The reels are stylized under the railroad tracks, on which trains with cars of stacked symbols move. The inscription Wild replaces most of the pictures, also on the playing field appear jewelry and card denominations. At any moment the bandits can throw explosives on the drums. As a result, one of the prize functions is activated:

• Re-spins are triggered.
• The smoke from the dynamite covers several cells. When the veil dissipates, new symbols of the same kind will appear on the opened positions.
• Fire from the explosion turns the pictograms into wilds.

In one round it is possible to activate several options at once.

The image of a safe triggers free spins. At the beginning of the series of robbers appear on the screen and explode symbols that activated the option. This is how the number of freespins is determined. Video slot has a medium volatility and is translated into several languages.

Wanted Outlaws Nobleways

Rating: 3.2

Provider: Microgaming

• RTP (%):96.41
• Volatility:medium
• Max. bet:100
• Min. bet:0,1

Provider:Microgaming

Year of release:2020

Thanks to the use of patented Nobleways technology, up to 3125 combo variants can be formed on the 5×5 playing field. For each spin you can get payouts with odds of up to x2.5 thousand. Revolvers, cowboy boots, hat, horseshoe with lasso, flyers and card denominations fall on the reels.

Scatter in the form of a sheriff’s star triggers from 10 to 25 free spins. During the freespins, the custodian of the law enters the game. His image falls on all reels, excluding the leftmost, and replaces all other symbols. If it appears simultaneously with one of the flyers, the player receives instant payouts. The RTP of the video slot is 96.41%.

Gunslinger Reloaded

Rating: 3.2

Provider: Play’n GO

• RTP (%):95
• Volatility:average
• Max. bet:100
• Min. bet:0,25

Provider:Play’n Go

Year of release:2018

The apparatus is a re-release of the popular tittle, released ten years earlier. The central character of the game from Play’n Go became a shooter who arrived with the purpose of bringing order to the city. His portrait acts as a wild card. On the five reels also appear a bag of gold, a sheriff’s star, a medallion with a woman’s portrait, playing cards. The scatter is an image of a white horse. Three symbols with a bottle of whiskey trigger free spins with doubled payouts. The number of spins is determined by the shots on the pictograms that activated the option.

Three flyers on the search for criminals start the prize round. In the beginning, the player chooses one of the offenders and then chases him around the city. The slot has a progressive jackpot. It is played with the help of an accumulative bonus. Access to the round appears after the user collects a straight flush of symbols with card denominations. The progress bar is located in the upper right part of the screen. During this game, the user needs to shoot the cards with a revolver. The machine has a medium volatility and RTP at the level of 96%.

Wild Bullets

Rating: 3.1

Provider: Evoplay

• RTP (%):95.98
• Volatility:high
• Max. bet:200
• Min. bet:0,1

Provider:Evoplay

Year of release:2020

In the original apparatus providerEvoplayany role of the typical inhabitants of the Wild West is given to representatives of fauna. On the playing field you can see a snake and a cat in the image of cowboys, a lizard became an Indian, and a cunning fox – sheriff. In paid combinations it replaces most of the missing symbols, but it appears only on the first reel. Another wild is a portrait of a Chihuahua bandit. It appears only on the fifth reel. Both of these symbols increase in length for the entire row vertically if it creates the conditions for forming combos.

The image of a steam locomotive is used as a scatter. It triggers ten free spins. If the bandit and the sheriff at the same time fell on the outer reels in full size, the prize round with three levels begins:

1. A train appears above the reels, scattering suitcases with multipliers from x2 to x6.
2. A shootout ensues between the heroes, but the bullets hit the luggage.
3. The winner is determined: the one who managed to hit the biggest multiplier.

After any losing spin in the main mode, one of two random prize features can be activated. During the first one, a sheriff appears on the three center reels. The second option adds a bandit symbol to the center reel with an additional x3 multiplier.

Sticky Bandits: Wild Return

Rating: 2.9

Provider: Quickspin

• RTP (%):96.22
• Volatility:high
• Max. rate:100
• Min. bet:0.2

Provider:Quickspin

Year of release:2019

Another sequel to the popular slot about the Wild West is released by Quickspin studio in 2019. The original version, released two years earlier, took a place in the gold collection of the manufacturer. In the updated game, a girl joined the gang of protagonists, the gameplay was replenished with new profitable features, and the number of lines increased to 40. The action unfolds in the saloon “Three Skulls”. Portraits of the main characters can appear in the format 2×2 and 3×3. In the role of the wild is a gold coin.

If on the first reel falls out a symbol in the form of a one-armed bandit, the user goes into a mini-game. In it, he can get instant payouts by spinning the reels of the vintage machine.

Scatter with a skull in a cowboy headdress starts seven freespins with an additional sticky wild. Giant pictograms with central characters can also be endowed with the same features. This happens if the symbol has been shot with a revolver after the reels stop. The RTP of the slot is 96.22%, the volatility is high.

Big Bucks Bandits Megaways

Rating: 3.3

Provider: Yggdrasil Gaming

• RTP (%):96.1
• Volatility:high
• Max. bet:25
• Min. bet:0.2

Provider:Yggdrasil

Year of release:2021

The machine has appeared in online casinos thanks to the collaboration between Yggdrasil and ReelPlay. The slot is created using the patented MegaWays mechanics and offers 117,649 ways to win! Spins take place on six reels with a variable number of cells vertically. At the top of the screen there is an additional reel with four positions. Symbols on it change each other horizontally. On the playing field appear male and female portraits, bottle, animal skull, cactus, boots and other pictograms. The sheriff’s star is a wild that will fall only on the top extra reel. Spins take place in the form of cascading spins.

Scatter with a money bag activates respins. During them, all the pictograms that launched the option are fixed on the screen, and the other pictures disappear. New scatter symbols can appear on the reels. In this case, a series of repeated rotations is extended. The gameplay of the machine includes a four-level jackpot, which can be obtained during the respins. After the end of re-spins there is a chance to multiply the total payouts for them in the risk game. The volatility level of the apparatus is between medium and high, and the theoretical return rate is 96.1%. The apparatus has a function of instant activation of the bonus for the corresponding bet.

West Town

Rating: 3.3

Provider: BGaming

• RTP (%):96.95
• Volatility:average
• Max. bet:9
• Min. bet:0,1

Provider:BGaming

Year of release:2016

The video slot takes the user to the American province with wooden buildings and stables. A chest, a gun, a glass of whiskey, a police badge and other themed images fall on five reels with nine paylines. The slot has pictograms in the form of playing cards. If the user manages to collect a flush royale from them, the reward will be equal to the total bet with a multiplier x15. Wild is a joker with the image of a skull. It replaces only card symbols.

The combination of the sheriff’s star, a portrait of the bandit and a leaflet about the search for the criminal triggers ten free spins. During them on the reels appear only cards. RTP of the machine – 96.95%.