Theme and Design
The Dead or Alive demo is set in the Wild West era, specifically during the 1880s. The theme revolves around cowboys, outlaws, and gunfights, transporting players to an authentic Western town filled with wooden buildings, dusty roads, and horseback riders. NetEnt’s design team has meticulously crafted a visually stunning game environment that will capture the imagination of even the most dead or alive demo seasoned gamers.
The reels are set against the backdrop of a sunny Western town, complete with wooden signs creaking in the wind and the distant sound of galloping horses. The overall color palette is predominantly brown, beige, and golden hues, accurately reflecting the era’s aesthetic. However, NetEnt has introduced an element of contrast by adding subtle hints of blue and green to the game elements, creating a visually appealing effect.
Symbols
The Dead or Alive demo boasts 9 standard symbols divided into two categories: low-paying and high-paying icons. The lower paying symbols are represented by playing card ranks from 10-Ace (Ace being the highest value among these), while the higher paying symbols include four unique cowboy characters, each with distinctive attire and facial expressions.
The cowboy characters – Sheriff, Gunslinger, Saloon Girl, and Black Jack – serve as high-paying icons, rewarding players for achieving specific winning combinations. These symbols have a classic Wild West look and feel, further reinforcing the theme’s authenticity.
Payouts
Each symbol has an assigned payout value based on its respective rank or rarity within the game. The standard low-paying symbols offer relatively modest payouts, ranging from 1 to 5 times the player’s initial bet for five matching symbols across a payline.
However, when three cowboy characters appear in combination on adjacent reels, rewards become substantial. For example, achieving three Sheriff icons offers up to 20 times the player’s stake for five consecutive wins. The high-paying cowboys provide more generous payouts as well:
- Three Saloon Girl icons yield a maximum win of 40x
- Three Gunslinger icons return up to 60x
- Finally, landing five Black Jacks grant players an impressive max payout of 100 times their bet
Wilds and Scatters
Both Wild symbols and Scatter elements are present in the Dead or Alive demo. The Scatter is denoted by a stylized Wild West-inspired image featuring two guns crossed with a skull and a bandana in between. These scatter icons serve as multipliers for any subsequent free spins won.
When three, four, or five of these scatters align across paylines, they respectively trigger 15x, 25x, or an incredible 50x multiplier on the initial bet during the bonus round. However, a Scatter’s primary role is triggering the main attraction – a Free Spins mode where each reel comes alive with multiple opportunities to land winning combinations.
Free Spins
Upon collecting five Wild icons (substituting any standard symbol) while enjoying free spins or when landing three Scatters on active lines during base play, players qualify for Dead Man’s Hand feature. However, this is not the actual Free Spin bonus we are about to discuss.
For real money online casino games and demo modes alike, there exist specific sets of reels that come with four free spin setups: High Volatility Reel Set (1-8), Mid Volatility Reel Sets A & B (2-7 or 3-6), Medium Low Volatility Reel Set (4-5) – note that these can differ based on online casinos and also software companies. For purposes of explanation, we’ll assume a medium volatility reel set.
In this Free Spins game mode:
- Any Wild symbols present on reels trigger additional free spins
- A ‘Wild Chase’ feature comes into play when a Wild symbol is added to the reels during any spin, increasing wilds with every subsequent turn by 1 more than the previous one (up to 5 total extra wilds).