Van der Wilde and The Outlaws

Van Der Wilde & The Outlaws is a Wild West-themed slot developed by iSoftBet. The game is set in a dusty, lawless frontier town, with the reels housed in a wooden structure riddled with bullet holes. This setting evokes classic Western imagery, reminiscent of NetEnt's Dead or Alive series.

The main character, Van Der Wilde, leads a gang of outlaws including Bonney Cassidy, Buffalo Butch, and Mad Dog. These characters are depicted in a comic book style, adding visual appeal to the game.

Core Gameplay and Mechanics

Van Der Wilde & The Outlaws features a standard 5×3 grid with 10 fixed paylines. Wins are formed by landing three or more matching symbols on a payline, starting from the leftmost reel. The game's symbols include lower-value 10-A card ranks and higher-value character symbols, with Van Der Wilde himself being the most lucrative at 250x the stake for five of a kind.

The slot incorporates a dual-purpose wild/scatter symbol, represented by an Outlaw badge. This symbol substitutes for all others to form winning combinations and plays a crucial role in triggering the game's bonus features.

With a return to player (RTP) of 96% and high volatility, Van Der Wilde & The Outlaws caters to players who enjoy high-risk, high-reward gameplay. The hit frequency of 20.4% means that, on average, one in five spins results in a win.

Bonus Features

1. Expanding Wins Feature: When a winning combination includes a wild/scatter symbol, the Expanding Wins feature activates. After the initial win is paid, any symbols that formed the win (excluding wilds) expand to cover their entire reel. A new win evaluation is then made, including the original win line. If multiple symbol types formed the initial win, they expand sequentially. Importantly, expanding wins only pay on connecting paylines from left to right.
2. Free Spins Bonus: Landing three or more scatter symbols triggers the Free Spins bonus. Players spin a reel to determine which character's Free Spins they receive: Van der Wilde, Bonney Cassidy, Buffalo Butch, or Mad Dog. The chosen bonus awards 8 free spins and designates the respective character as a Super Symbol.

During free spins, Super Symbols always expand when forming a winning combination, without requiring a wild. This modification significantly increases the potential for substantial wins during the bonus round.

The Free Spins feature can be retriggered by landing three or more scatters during the bonus, awarding an additional 8 spins while retaining the current Super Symbol.

3. Super Free Spins: As an alternative to character-specific free spins, players may win Super Free Spins when spinning the bonus reel. This highly volatile feature awards 5 Super Spins played across four simultaneously spinning game grids. Each grid features one of the character symbols as a Super Symbol, maximizing the potential for multiple expanding symbol wins.

Like the standard Free Spins, the Super Free Spins can also be retriggered by landing three or more scatters.

A standout aspect of Van Der Wilde & The Outlaws is its adaptation of the “book of” slot mechanic. While it incorporates expanding symbols similar to popular “book” games, iSoftBet has implemented crucial differences. In this slot, expanding symbols must be adjacent and start from the leftmost reel to create wins, unlike traditional “book” slots where expanding symbols can pay in any position. This modification adds a unique twist to a familiar mechanic, potentially affecting strategy and win frequency.