Bullets and Bounty: Slot Overview
Where the West begins might have been described by Arthur Chapman as the place ‘where the handclasp’s a little stronger’ and ‘the smile dwells a little longer’, but neither of those things applies to developer Hacksaw Gaming‘s interpretation of this infamous stretch of earth. On the contrary, Hacksaw Gaming prefers to explore a darker, grimmer, shootier side in slots like Wanted Dead or a Wild or Duel at Dawn. Another desperado has joined the ranks in the form of Bullets and Bounty, a Wild Western slot that not only makes use of Hacksaw Gaming’s VS symbols but puts them up against new Bounty VS symbols, while building three dynamic bonus games around them.
Ever since Wanted Dead or a Wild hit gamblers’ screens, Hacksaw Gaming has proven on more than one occasion that it’s mastered the art of painting a grim Wild Western picture. Bullets and Bounty continues the tradition. Its grey, oppressive, flame-touched game world is not for the faint-hearted, and this is the sort of place you gotta be quick on the draw to survive for any length of time. Fortunately, the game’s lead character, Katherine ‘Quick Draw Kate’ O’Callaghan, literally has that in her name, and while Kate ‘never pulls first’ she ‘just pulls fast’ using a pistol called ‘The Last Word’. Basically, she isn’t someone you want to mess around with, and Hacksaw Gaming has produced another darkly alluring patch of the West for players to try their luck.
Bullets and Bounty’s low-medium volatility feels at odds with its rough ‘n’ ready appearance, but there you have it, while its RTP at most is 96.27%. The bet range goes from a minimum of 10c to a maximum of $/€100 per spin, while the shoot ’em action takes place on a 5×4, 19-payline gaming area.
The four playing card suits are Bullets and Bounty’s low pays, awarding 1 times the bet when landing 5 OAK across a payline. After them are cartwheels, skulls, pistols, hats, and badges, paying 2x to 10x for 5 OAK. Regular wilds and expanded wilds can appear in the game, all paying 30x for a line of five and all substitute for any regular paying symbol.
Bullets and Bounty: Slot Features
Hacksaw Gaming’s signature VS symbols team up with Bounty VS symbols, as players spin to trigger three bonus rounds, while also having the opportunity to buy various features.
DuelReels
When a VS or Bounty VS symbol hits, it expands into a five-symbol-high DuelReel if it will be part of a win when expanded. An expanded DuelReel is wild, so it substitutes for all pay symbols, and it triggers a duel between two duellists on the symbol, with a multiplier assigned to each duellist.
When a VS symbol expands, it expands into an Outlaw DuelReel, which gets the multiplier from the winning duellist. This multiplier is applied to all wins connected to that reel. If more than one Outlaw DuelReel is part of the same win, the multipliers are combined before being used. Possible values for Outlaw DuelReels range from x2 to x100.
Expanded Bounty VS symbols expand into a Bounty DuelReel with a duel between a Bounty Hunter and an Outlaw. If the Bounty Hunter wins, she collects the multiplier from the Outlaw and adds it to her own, then another Duel is triggered on the same Bounty DuelReel. This repeats till the Bounty Hunter loses, or after 3 Duels have occurred. Then, her multiplier is applied to the Bounty DuelReel. The multiplier values for the Bounty DuelReels start at x2.
True Grit Bonus Game
10 True Grit free spins are triggered by landing 3 FS scatters in the base game. Players are then able to play the feature or gamble. True Grit has the base game mechanics as well as Progressive Bounty Hunter Multipliers, which makes the latest Bounty Hunter Multiplier to win in a DuelReel the starting multiplier for the next Bounty Hunter in a DuelReel. Hitting 2 or 3 FS scatters in the feature awards a further +2 or +4 free spins, respectively.
Should players gamble, a revolver spins to land 1 of 6 outcomes. Outcomes 1 and 2 immediately award the Four Shots to Freedom bonus, outcomes 3 and 4 award 5x the bet, while outcomes 5 and 6 award 10x and 20x, respectively.
Four Shots to Freedom
Landing 4 FS scatters in the base game awards 10 free Four Shots to Freedom spins. As well as the base game mechanics, a Bullet & Bounty Bar is displayed by the grid, and only Bounty VS symbols appear on regular free spins. Each duel the Bounty Hunter wins increases the Bullet & Bounty Bar by one step, and there are four levels.
- 2 Bounty Hunter wins unlock level 1, awarding +3 extra free and a DuelSpin with at least 2 VS symbols.
- 3 further Bounty Hunter wins unlock level 2, awarding +3 extra free and a DuelSpin with at least 3 VS symbols.
- 4 further Bounty Hunter wins unlock level 3, awarding +3 extra free and a DuelSpin with at least 4 VS symbols.
- 5 further Bounty Hunter wins unlock level 4, awarding +3 extra free and a DuelSpin with at least 5 VS symbols.
Go Ahead, Make Her Day Hidden Epic Bonus
10 Go Ahead, Make Her Day free spins are triggered by landing 5 FS scatters in the base game. It has the mechanics of Four Shots to Freedom, and starts on level 1. It also has Progressive Bounty Hunter Multipliers.
Feature Buys
Costing 3x the bet, BonusHunt FeatureSpins cause each spin to be 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus, while Bad Blood FeatureSpins at 60x guarantee each spin lands at least 2 VS, Bounty VS or a combination of both symbols. Also costing 60x, Draw or Die FeatureSpins guarantee at least 1 Bounty VS symbol lands. From there, players may buy True Grit for 70x or Four Shots to Freedom for 200x.
Bullets and Bounty: Slot Verdict
VS symbols are a key part of the Hacksaw Gaming feature arsenal, reappearing on a regular basis since they first began popping up in games like Warrior Ways and Gladiator Legends. For players who prefer the suspenseful way they duel to determine a multiplier, rather than just land a symbol with a multiplier already attached, they certainly provide that. More so when a large value wins out over a meagre one. This feature has been used quite often, but any hints of tedium are offset by the introduction of Bounty VS symbols, which function quite closely to regular VS symbols, except the way duels can be repeated on the same symbol up to three times, adding to the multiplier each time Kate wins is an excellent twist. It gets even better upon reaching free spins where the progressive feature makes the latest multiplier value the first one.
Another positive Hacksaw Gaming trait is its talent for designing bonus rounds with ascending levels of potency and desirability. Stepping up from True Grit to Four Shots to Freedom, players gain the ability to level up, where the fourth level’s 5 VS symbol DuelSpin is a seductive thought. Go Ahead, Make Her Day is theoretically so good you can’t even buy it, as is the situation with all of the studio’s Hidden Bonus features. They might not be easy to trigger, but they do give base game only players a motivation to keep grinding on. Furthermore, the game’s 20,000x the bet win cap is technically achievable in all modes, so it’s not like you need to be levelling up or progressing things to crack Bullets and Bounty’s best bits.
Bullets and Bounty builds on an already strong feature while meshing it well with the three bonus rounds. On their own, Bounty VS symbols prove their worth, but linking them to level unlocking, DuelSpins, and value progression significantly ups their firepower. On a technical level, Bullets and Bounty might not be as volatile as some would prefer (at least on paper, though in practice it might seem plenty volatile), but it’s a thrilling Hacksaw Gaming Western peppered with blood and violence.
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