Sticky Bandits: Trail of Blood

Sticky Bandits Trail of Blood Overview

Created by the provider Quickspin, Sticky Bandits: Trail of Blood is the long-awaited sequel of the much-loved game Sticky Bandits from the same designer and the fourth in the series. For this newest game, Quickspin has moved the action into a small pioneering town where Tex Tallonis is taking revenge on bandits who hunted down and killed his family. The tone for this game, as opposed to the previous ones in the series, is much darker, with murder and hangings the main inspiration for the aesthetics. Mechanically, this is a five-reel, three-row game with an RTP of 96.23%.

The main feature included in this game involves the sticky wilds that players will encounter throughout the game. However, in addition to these wilds helping to score more wins by substituting for other symbols, they can also help to trigger additional bonuses. For example, if you simultaneously land three or more wilds on the board, you will trigger the free spins round. Do so, and all the sticky wilds will be held in place for the duration of the spins. Any new wilds that fall will also become sticky, in addition to giving you an extra spin per wild. This game also has a bonus buy option. All features will be explained in more detail later on in the review.

Theme and Symbols

If you played the previous games in this series, the sudden departure from this new game's optimistic, American dream aesthetic might shock you. Indeed, suddenly Quickspin seems to want to go in a completely different direction with this new game, making things much darker and more horrific. Rather than open blue skies and happy cowboys trotting into the sunset, this game introduces us to a town that has been shot to pieces, with blood and misery taking centre stage. All around the board are gallows, gunshots and a blood-red sky that suggests a murderous environment.

The background for this game is the little town that has become a place of violent retribution. To the board's right, one of the terrifying aspects of the scene is a lynching post (a noose thrown over a tree). However, one of the most striking visual choices the designers have made here is to have the sky coloured in an evil scarlet hue that intones serious slasher movie vibes. The background gives a very sinister aspect to his game for sure and works well with the terrifying and blood-splattered symbols on the board.
The playing board has been designed to look like a combination of a tombstone and a pub sign.

The symbols for this game are split into low-value, high-value and special symbols. The low-value symbols are the J, Q, K and A in playing card royals. The most valuable of these is the A, worth 10x the stake for the top combination. The more valuable symbols are the Molotov cocktail, the knuckle duster, the Kinfe, and the golden gun. The gun is the most valuable icon, worth 75x the stake for the top combination. The specials for this game are the bonus bottle and the wild icons that look like various characters in this town, such as the mayor.

Game Play

Sticky Bandits: Trail of Blood is played on a 5-reel, 3-row machine with ten fixed pay lines. To win combinations, players must land three or more matching symbols on pay lines moving from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel.
The betting range for Sticky Bandits: Trail of Blood is 10p to £100 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stake up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen.
Volatility for this slot is rated in the high range. The return to player percentage for Sticky Bandits: Trail of Blood is 96.23%, which is above average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 17,000x your stake.

Features

The main feature in this game starts with the sticky wilds that you will see throughout the game. These icons substitute any other symbol on the board apart from the bonus scatter symbol to help score more wins. In addition, landing them in combination will also trigger the free spins round. You can do this by simultaneously landing three or more of them on the board. The more scatters you land to trigger the bonus, the more free spins you will be given. The most you can earn is fifteen.

When the free spins round begins, all triggering wilds remain stuck to their positions for the duration of the feature. If any new wilds land, they will also stick to their positions and add an extra sin to your tally.

The other feature in this game is the bonus buy. This gives you instant access to the free spins round for a price. However, this option is not available in the UK.

Conclusion

Although dark and murderous in tone, this game can be fairly upbeat in terms of the wins that can be found. This is because the RTP is high, the top payout exciting, and the features highly rewarding. The only real letdown here is the very high volatility which could make things very difficult to predict regarding hit frequency. All in all, though, this is a good product from the Quickspin studio.