Wild Moon Saloon

Wild Moon Saloon Overview

Set in a frontier town where the power of the law is fraying thanks to the thin number of officers on the ground, this game explores the vigilante justice system seen in every Western film since the genre began. Developed by the Stakelogic studio, Wild Moon Saloon is a typical Wild West slot with a few decent bonus features, 40 pay lines and a maximum win of 5,000x the stake per spin. This means shootouts, hundred-yard stares and a generous application of whiskey. The cartoon style of this game is appealing and is an art style that works well with the subject matter.

There are three bonus features in this game. The first is a free spins game with a few modifiers. This game is triggered when players land three or more scatter symbols on the reels at the same time. This rewards eight free spins and several modifier picks (the number of modifier picks is proportionate to the number of scatters landed). The other main feature in this game is the mystery symbols feature. These random symbols appear and award one of the modifiers to help players score more wins throughout the game. Finally, this game also has a bonus buy option. However, it is not available in the UK.

Theme and Symbols

The theme for this game, as is immediately apparent when you open the slot, is the Wild West. This is a genre of film and tv that is typically set in the North American Old West. This genre is characterized by its focus on the lawless and often dangerous aspects of the American frontier. Wild West films and tv shows often feature cowboys, outlaws, and gunslingers as the main characters. These stories typically involve themes of revenge, justice, and survival. Stakelogic has done a good job of fulfilling all these typical tropes with this game. Although it is a popular theme, something about Wild West games always seems thrilling.

The background for this game is a frontier town in the Wild West where farmers, ranchers, miners, and lawmen try to rub along as best as possible. The town could be located on the edge of a vast prairie, and it strikes one as the only place for miles around that has any civilization. In the base game, players will see the town's main streets, with all the storefronts and hitching posts. However, move into the bonus game, and suddenly players are moved into the saloon where beer and whisky stain the tables and the windows are boarded up with planks.

The playing board for this game has been designed to look like a welcome sign to the town.
The symbols for this game are split into low-paying, high-paying and special symbols. The low-paying symbols for this game are the J, Q, K and A in playing card royals. The A is the most valuable of these, paying out at 3x the stake for the top combination. The more valuable symbols are the whiskey bottle and the four gunslingers. The most valuable of these is the gunslinger with a red background, which pays out at 12.5x the stake for the top combination. The specials for this game are the saloon door scatter and the rider in the night wild.

Game Play

Wild Moon Saloon is played on a 5-reel, 4-row machine with 40 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 Wild Moon Saloon is 20p 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 Wild Moon Saloon is 95.8%, which is below average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 5,000x your stake.

Features

The main bonus feature in this game is simply called the bonus game and is triggered when players land three or more scatter symbols on the reels simultaneously. This awards the player eight free spins. However, the number of scatters that you use to trigger the bonus will also determine the number of modifier picks you are granted to take into the free spins round. The more scatters landed, the more picks you are given.

The modifiers available are described below:
• Extra free spins.
• Increase the value of the win multiplier.
• Turn any high pay character symbol into a scatter pay symbol.
• Activate one of the Wild Modifiers for all free spins.

Scatter pay symbols are important as they can fall within the free spins game after it has begun. In this phase, they act as cash symbols. The more that you accrue on the board, the bigger an eventual payout will be, up to 100x the stake for 15 plus scatters.
Wild modifiers also come in four different types. Random wilds add up to seven wilds anywhere on the board. Exploding wilds explode, removing other symbols around them. Wild reels turn up to three reels wilds. And finally, rising wilds trigger re-spins when wilds fall and move one position per re-spin until they fall off the board.

Landing two or more additional scatters in this game gives players additional modifier picks. You are given one pick for every two additional scatters landed.
The mystery symbols bonus is available on any base game spin. When triggered, it awards one of the wild modifiers mentioned above for one spin.
Finally, a bonus buy option allows players to purchase access to the bonus game. However, this is not available in the UK.

Conclusion

Overall, Wild Moon Saloon is a great game with great potential. The graphics are top-notch, and the gameplay is smooth. The bonus features are also generous and can lead to some big wins. However, the RTP and volatility suggest that wins might be few and far between. However, this seems to be a pretty typical set-up for Stakelogic games these days.