Deadwood Slot Review

03/12/2020 | Categories: Nolimit City Slots | Published by: Joe | Last updated: 05/01/2024

Nolimit City has always been an underrated developer. They do not have the brand recognition of other iGaming juggernauts, but Nolimit lurks in the shadows, releasing products of comparable quality. In April of 2020, the company decided to draw their pistols and whip out a sequel to their western-themed slot, Tombstone. While that game borrowed the name of one notorious wild west town, this one bears the name of another, as well as the HBO show that brought its mythology into the mainstream. Deadwood is Nolimit’s attempt to compete with sequels to titles such as Money Train and Dead or Alive.

Theme & Design

Deadwood was an outlaw hideout town in South Dakota, and this game’s backdrop features its main street. Now, whether it resembles the actual Deadwood street, we cannot be sure. Going by Google Images, it doesn’t appear to be the case. The backdrop does have a sepia tone, trying to imitate old-timey photos.

The reel grid is in the center, surrounded by a metal frame. When you get lucky, this metal construction begins to heat up, and embers fly across the screen. The slot features some vintage fonts that complement its theme and some wild animations. We especially enjoyed the Feed’Em to the Pigs one, which is a nod to the HBO series, where characters would dispose of corpses in such a manner, which is historically inaccurate. The animations do get annoying, as, at times, there are too many of them. They look nice, but we would prefer them in smaller doses.

There is no classic buttons panel at the bottom of your screen here. The spin and auto-spin ones are in your lower right, while the settings, mute button, the buy feature one, and the bet adjuster are in the lower left of your screen.

Specs & Gameplay

Deadwood is a game that plays out on a 3-4-4-4-3 grid and utilizes the 576 ways to win format. Bet sizes range from $0.2 to $100, and the max exposure is a high x13,950. It is a high variance game that has an RTP that ranges from 94.15% to 96.02%. The percentage depends on your operator. If you opt to buy your way inside the bonus feature, the RTP will rise by 0.01%.

The low-paying symbols are your classic royals 10 to A, crafted from metal, featuring rust and bullet holes. For five of a kind, these award wins from x1 to x1.25 your bet. The high-paying symbols are whiskey bottles, bars of gold, broken safes, and gold pocket-watches. For five of a kind, these will win you a prize that’s x1.5 to x.3.75 your bet. The game’s three characters are its xNudge Wilds. They are a gun-toting blonde, a bearded gunman, and a Native American outlaw. A buffalo skull with two colts is the Scatter, and a sheriff’s badge is the Bonus Symbol.

Bonus Features

If you have ever played Tombstone, then you’ll know what to expect here. Deadwood is a feature-rich game, and the one that Nolimit most advertises is the progressive xNudge multiplier. Each outlaw has its reel, from two to four, and when one of these 4-symbol xNudge Wilds appears in view, the nudge mechanics pull them down so that they cover the whole reel. Every nudge down increases the win multiplier by x1. If you land all three, you can get an x12 multiplier.

Deadwood has two free spins features. If you land three buffalo skulls, you can pick between the Gunslinger or the Hunter Spins mode, and you get eight free spins to start in either. The biggest prizes lay in the Gunslinger mode, as there you can activate a sticky xNudge Multiplier that has no upper limit. The multiplier will keep building for every xNudge you land during this feature. The Hunter Spins do not provide as massive prizes, but you get at least one Hunter Wild per free spin, but the xNudge multiplier will reset between spins. If you land a sheriff badge during this feature, you’ll get an extra free spin.

If you land two sheriff badges on reels one and five on a spin, you gain access to the Shoot-Out feature, and all low-paying symbols on the central three-reels turn into single Wilds for the current reel rotation. However, if you land three Scatters and two sheriff badges, you’ll activate the Shoot-Out Free Spins feature. You again get the chance to pick either eight Hunter or eight Gunslinger Spins – with the benefit that all low-paying symbols on the central three reels turn into Wilds.

There is also a Bonus Buy feature, which lets you instant access to the free spins. If you want to buy your way in the Shoot-Out mode, you’ll have to stake an x750 bet or an x71 bet for the standard features.