Dead or Alive Slot - Review for Canadians, Demo Play & Payout Info

In Dead or Alive, you’re after the NetEnt gang - wanted men, all five of them. Their faces are on the posters, and there’s a reward out. They need to know there’s a new sheriff in town, and this lawman’s faster on the reels than any gunslinger. The situation’s definitely getting wild and sticky. The Sheriff’s got them there sticky wilds on his side too. So let’s take a look at how wild things can get in Dead or Alive gulch.

Dead or Alive Sound and Graphics

It’s a dark and stormy night - it always is in Dead or Alive. The hurricane lamp is swinging away, and it's all looking very gloomy. However, inside the saloon, we have a great game to play. The graphics in Dead or Alive are great with lots of detail. Look at the holster for the gun, for example, or the cowboy leather boots with the spurs - very nicely drawn. There are lots of symbols, including of course the sheriff’s gold star, a cowboy hat, a wanted poster and then the least well drawn, which looks like a cup of espresso but in fact must be a tot of whiskey. The scatter is two crossed pistols and three bullets.

The colour scheme is an authentic sepia, brown-tinged look - no garish reds or greens here. There are some animations too. When the pistol scatters are triggered, you see the chamber rotating, and the sound track gets exciting. When you get two scatters on reels 1 to 4, the fifth reel revs up a gear, and so does the music.

The soundtrack is pretty good - creaky wood, barking dogs and a whistle in the dark. When the reels start spinning you hear the sound of an old cash register being opened, followed by a whirring sound while they spin and some country cowboy guitar music when they stop.

In free spins mode, you’re in full-on saloon bar territory, with a great soundtrack including a honky-tonk piano. The other sound effect puts you in mind of someone sneezing, but maybe it’s meant to be a whip cracking, so hold the Kleenex. You’ll hear this sound whenever you click on one of the control buttons down at the bottom of the play area.

How to Play

For information on the game rules, symbol values and paylines, click the “i” button at the bottom left of the playing area. You’ll be taken to the Help section. Once you’re in the Help section, use the right and left arrows to move from one information screen to the next. To close the Help box, click the X in the top right-hand corner.

The Wanted posters are wild and can substitute for all symbols except the scatter - the two crossed pistols. All wins are paid left to right, with just one win on each betting line - that’s pretty standard in all slots.

With Dead or Alive, you only have nine paylines, and you can’t adjust the number of paylines. Now there are people who never bother to change the number of paylines, even though the slot they are playing will allow them to. So they won’t be too bothered by the fact that Dead or Alive doesn't allow you to adjust the number of paylines.

However, you can of course adjust the size of your wager. You can choose a wager level of from 0.01 to 0.50. At the bottom left of the playing area is the coin value display with a plus and minus on each side - you can use these to raise and lower the value of your bet. There’s also a Max Bet button next to the Spin Start.

Bonus Features

If you want to get that reward in Dead or Alive, brandish those scatters. Five of those crossed pistols will net you a cool 2,500 - you can have a great time in Gulch City with that. But four scatters are only worth 25, while three get you four and two scatters get you just two.

Get three or more scatters (the crossed pistols) and you can win 12 free spins. In this bonus, winning lines pay out twice your wager - this is the kind of free spin we all like!

In free spins mode, the wilds are sticky and will hold their positions for as long as the free spins session carries on. Even when you retrigger the free spins, the original wilds will stay sticky. You can retrigger free spins once in every free spins session.

Better yet, during a free spins play episode, sticky wilds appearing on all of the reels get you five extra free spins. Not all games give free spins during free spins, so this is definitely a plus point for Dead or Alive. Sticky wilds are just like normal wilds and substitute for all symbols except the crossed guns scatter during free spin sessions.

Dead or Alive Symbol Values

• The sheriff's gold star gives you 1,000 for five appearances, 125 for three appearances and 20 for one appearance.
• The holster and gun gives you 750 for five appearances, 100 for three appearances and 20 for one appearance.
• The cowboy hat gives you 400 for five appearances, 75 for three appearances and 15 for one appearance.
• The cowboy boots give you 300 for five appearances, 60 for three appearances and 12 for one appearance.
• The whisky gives you 200 for five appearances, 50 for three appearances and 10 for one appearance.

As with many slots, Dead or Alive also uses playing cards. Like the symbols, these pay on five, four and three appearances, as follows:

• The Ace gives you 100 for five appearances, 20 for three appearances and 10 for one appearance.
• The King gives you 75 for five appearances, 15 for three appearances and 5 for one appearance.
• The Queen gives you 50 for five appearances, 12 for three appearances and 4 for one appearance.
• The Jack gives you 40 for five appearances, 10 for three appearances and 2 for one appearance.
• The Ten gives you 25 for five appearances, 10 for three appearances and 2 for one appearance.

RTP and Volatility

You'll find varying estimates of the Dead or Alive RTP online. However, the consensus figure is 96.8%. While Netent does have some slots in the 97% range, this is still a pretty generous figure and on the higher end of the average RTP you can get while playing.

Dead or Alive is a medium-volatility game. But as mentioned above, NetEnt now wants to cater for those players who want high-volatility games that offer the chance of really big payouts. The games will have the same RTP as NetEnt’s standard games but with much bigger prizes. So volatility is definitely a driver in games design as far as the developers are concerned.

A great advantage of Slots Temple is that you can select the games that have the volatility level you like. Just click on “Features” in the top menu and choose the level of volatility you prefer.

Max-win 1,000x

Volatility High

RTP 96.8%

If You Like Dead or Alive You’ll Love These!

Yee ha! There are lots of Western-themed slots! Why not start by trying Cowboys go West? The graphics aren’t quite as realistic, and it’s a lot more Technicolor, but the sound track is very good. Cracking gunshots, manic fiddle playing and loud cries of Yee ha! This is a five-reel, 25-payline game - but you can adjust the paylines.

The game comes from World Match, who are pretty generous with the free spins. You can win up to 12, and during a free spins round your bets are multiplied by two. What’s more, there’s a great bonus game. We’ve all seen the shot in the cowboy film where the sharpshooter lines up the tin cans on the wall and sets them all jumping as he hits every one. This game lets you do the same.

You have to get three or more Bonus Game symbols to get a shot at the tin cans, and then you need to hit six out of the nine cans. Each can has a different prize, and you get to see these once the Bonus Game is over.

Cowboys Go West is a unique game with a great bonus round and definitely worth trying if you don’t know it. It’s also easy to configure - you can set your bet level, autospin number and paylines.

Play Responsibly

When you’re playing free slots you’re only spending time, and that’s a great thing about them. They’re an excellent alternative to the online casinos, where you have to register and deposit money in order to pay. Even if you register with a casino that allows you to play for free on a “no deposit” basis, it can be tempting once you’ve registered to simply switch over, deposit some cash to get a bonus and then find you’re playing for money all the time.

You can play for free at Slots Temple without being tempted to flip over to wagering for money. So it’s a great site to use if you have been playing for money and would like to wean yourself off that habit. There are thousands of titles here at Slots Temple. That’s far more than are carried by online casinos. So instead of betting money, why not explore the amazing slots on offer? One of the great features of Slots Temple is that as well as searching on individual words, you can explore themes such as Outer Space or Ancient Egypt.

Even when you’re playing for free, you need to control your play so that it doesn’t take up time you should be spending on other things. For example, if you find that you’re getting behind with your studies or not arriving at work on time because of playing slots, you need to take a look at your slot use and regulate it so that it doesn’t adversely affect other aspects of your life.

Some people schedule playing times or tell themselves they can only play when they’ve completed a task they need to do, whether that’s doing the washing or writing an essay! Others try to stop themselves getting too obsessed with a particular title and vary the titles they play so that none of them gets a grip on them.

Disclaimer: Dead or Alive trademark / license is owned by Net Ent. This site is not endorsed by Net Ent.