How does the Dead or Alive slot work?
As we stated earlier, the Dead or Alive slot is not a complicated slot. There are only 9 paylines and the game is played on 5 reels with 3 symbols per reel. The minimum bet is C$0.09 per spin and the maximum bet is capped at a relatively low C$ 18 per spin. A higher maximum bet would mean too much risk for the casino.
In the background we see a typical American Wild West landscape, complete with windmill and mesas.
The symbols consist of typical cowboy attributes such as cowboy boots, hats, holsters, glasses of whiskey and pistols. The symbols are completed with the card symbols 10, J, Q, K and A. The wild symbol substitutes for all symbols except the scatters.
5 Sheriff stars on an active payline pays out 1,000 coins and 5 holsters are good for 750 coins. Furthermore, we are not going to dwell too long on the payouts of the symbols in the base game. These are not very interesting at all in Dead or Alive. Much more interesting is how you get those sky-high wins in Dead or Alive.
How do you win the big money at Dead or Alive?
There are roughly two ways to grab fat payouts with the Dead or Alive slot.
5 scatters = 2,500 x your bet
The first way to win big at this slot is to spin 5 scatters (the pistols). That will earn you a payout of no less than 2,500 x your stake. Do the math: on a bet of only 90 cents, that's already 2,250 euros, right in your hand. Or rather, in your casino account. On top of this sky-high payout, you'll also win the free spins bonus.
The free spins bonus
3 or more scatters will get you the free spins bonus. You win 12 free spins with a 2x multiplier. But the big bonus is that all wilds (the Wanted villain posters) act as sticky wilds during the free spins. And a full line of wilds will earn you 3,000 coins. So if you manage to create a so-called “wild line” early in the game, you win a fat payout every spin. If you manage to create multiple wild lines, then you can sit back and watch the ship of money sail in.
Are we there yet? Definitely not.
Earn 5 extra spins
If you've spun at least 1 wild on each reel, then you'll also get an extra 5 free spins as a gift. So if you have a wild line, then you know that with all of your remaining spins + 5 extra spins it will earn you the sweet sum of 3,000 coins.
What do we think of Dead or Alive?
We have a love/hate relationship with Dead Or Alive. Actually, we don't like this slot at all. Boring, monotonous and predictable. Bonus rounds are infrequent and when they do fall, it's often nothing to write home about.
But when Dead Or Alive wants to give, it's extreme. And then we forget about all those boring, losing sessions in one fell swoop. There is a very good reason to love Dead Or Alive: the bonus rounds can pay out extremely big Dead Or Alive is the textbook example of a high variance online slot machine: a single, extremely high payout and very, very many losing sessions. If you can live with that, then Dead Or Alive is an excellent choice.
If you're looking for excitement and entertainment, look at another Netent slot and only invest C$10 or C$0 in Dead Or Alive once in a while. Of course, you never know…. 4 stars out of 5.
