Born Wild
By Hacksaw Gaming
Back in June 2021, Hacksaw Gaming, then still relatively early in their journey to high-risk superstars, released Born Wild, a highly volatile slot with a top prize of £10,000,000. Perhaps it was just too volatile to gain traction with slots players because a year later, in July 2022, Hacksaw re-released it with a toned-down variance and a far more realistic top win of 2,500x. The result is a cool, skater-style game with the same graffiti styling that you find in slots like Break Bones, and a balanced pay model that will appeal to a wider audience than the original.
| Game Name | Born Wild |
|---|---|
| Developer | Hacksaw Gaming |
| Release Date | July 2022 (Re-Launch) |
| Rows | 4 |
| Reels | 5 |
| Paylines | 26 |
| RTP Rate | 96.2% |
| Max Win | 2,500x |
| Min Bet | £0.20 |
Play Born Wild For Real At These Slot Sites
Review Scorecard
What Our Reviewer Says …
Original style, cool theme and artwork and potential to deliver nice wins with sticky wilds. A worthwhile re-boot from Hacksaw!
What We Like
- Original, skater-style design
- Sticky wilds in free spins round
- Balanced pay model for regular wins
- Cool bass-funk soundtrack
What We Didn't Like
- Less multipliers than other HG slots
- Lower top payout than most HG games
Theme and Design
With its odd mix of skater-style artwork and scary animal images, Born Wild is an eccentric and original slot that shows Hacksaw as a developer prepared to strike out on their own. You won’t see any other games like this. A simple, slimline 5x4 reel set with a dark granite backdrop, graffiti logo and neon colors perfectly reflects the simple gameplay that Born Wild is all about.
We've come to know Hacksaw as a modern slot developer with mobile play in mind, and the design of this game perfectly shows how they are appealing to both the aesthetic tastes and play habits of a new generation of slots fans.
RTP and Variance
Born Wild has three possible RTP settings: 96.2%, 94.25% or 92.14%. Your casino will choose which setting to run the game on. We checked the RTP at five of our favourite online slot sites in the UK. This is what we found:
- MrQ (independent): 96.2%
- BacanaPlay (Skill on Net): 92.14%
- Temple Nile (White Hat Gaming): 94.25%
- Casumo (independent): 94.25%
- MrPlay (Aspire Global): 92.14%
Most casino operators choose to run the games at the lower settings. MrQ was the only site we found where the optimum setting was chosen. We recommend you play there if RTP is a big concern for you.
Regarding variance, Born Wild was originally a notoriously volatile game with an outrageously high win potential, but since its re-vamp it is now rated as medium-variance so it provides a more balanced payout exprience with fewer extreme peaks and troughs.
Maximum Win
Born Wild has one of the lowest maximum win levels of any Hacksaw Gaming slot at 2,500x. If this is too low for you then you could try other mid-variance games from this studio like Fruit Duel (3,333x) or Gronk’s Gems (7,500x).
Symbols and Paytable
The game grid here is a 5 reel and 4 row set up with wins formed by landing 3 or more identical symbols along one of 26 paylines from left to right.
As well as an original symbol format, the paytable offers some good value at the top end of the premiums and 5 of a kind wilds. Here is how it works:
Never ones to do things the traditional way, instead of using symbols, Hacksaw have opted for animal noises to represent the low payers on the reels: Howl, Claw, Hiss, Grrr, Roar! These are valued at from 0.1x for three Howls up to 1x for five Roars. The premiums are the animals themselves: snake, lion, gorilla, rhino, wolf. These are valued at between 0.5x for 3 wolves up to 15x for 5 snakes.
Wild symbols are also available and these substitute for all others to complete win lines as well as paying up a 50x prize if 5 land on a payline.
Features and Gameplay
As well as the standard symbols there are also TWO special symbols in this game - the Lion and the Free Spins Lion. Each triggers a special feature.
The Lion’s Roar, Re-Spins and Potential 2,500x Win
Firstly, you have the Lion’s Roar. This will be triggered by landing the Lion three or more times on one spin in the base game. Now Lions are sticky and re-spins keep happening until no more new Lions drop. At this point, your Lions convert to Wilds and THREE more spins are credited.
This has big potential as theoretically you could fill the entire screen with Lions and trigger the max 2,500x payout.
Get Free Spins With Sticky Wilds
The free spins round is triggered by landing the Free Spins symbol three or more times on one spin. This round is simple – ALL wilds stick through out and you get 10 free spins.
More Games Like Born Wild Slot
Chaos Crew by Hacksaw Gaming – If you are into the Hacksaw style we see in Born Wild – monochrome backgrounds and splashes of neon colors and graffiti – but want the volatility dialled up then dive into Chaos Crew: 5 reels, 5 rows and 15 lines of high variance mayhem. Wilds and multipliers aplenty drives wins up to 10,000x potential.
Break Bones by Hacksaw Gaming – Alternatively, keep things simpler with this medium variance 3 reel, 3 row game with a 3,333x top win. It’s an edgy little game that utilises the Echo Spins feature from Itero with global multipliers of up to 100x.
Where to Play Born Wild Slot – Further Recommendations
Bacana Play – This Skill on Net slot site is a great place to try Hacksaw Games. In total they have more than 4,000 slots to try and you can search your favourites using a cool search menu to filter by paylines, supplier, theme and more. Deposit from just £10 including Paypal.
Dream Vegas – Alternatively try one of our favourite White Hat Gaming casinos, Dream Vegas. Here there are over 2,500 games to try including the full Hacksaw list and others like Nolimit City. Deposit and play from £20. Paypal and Trustly options included.
Final Verdict
The Born Wild re-boot showcases Hacksaw’s ability to create excellent mid-variance slots to sit alongside their mind-bendingly volatile games. This slot has everything we love about this studio – including cool artwork, leftfield design and features (never seen symbols replaced by animal noises!) and ace gameplay. Born Wild is essentially a very simple slot that comes down to converting as many lions as possible into wilds in the Lion’s Roar or scoring as many sticky wilds as possible in the free spins round. It’s no Hand of Anubis, but if you are looking for a more balanced game, Born Wild makes a good choice.
Testing Notes
You can check out the highlights video from a 30-minute real money session playing Born Wild at Casumo Casino below. It’s a fun play. I like the skater-style Hacksaw bring to their games and the action ticked along at a good pace with a few low value wins, lion roars and not much else for the first 100 or so spins.
Then the Free Spins round triggered and things got interesting … With just 10 spins, if you get lucky like I did and land enough Wilds early on – remember they stick – you can score some decent payouts. Overall, I had 12 positions Wild on the grid and ended the round was a 347x which is OK.
So, not a bad run though the other feature – Lion’s Roar – never triggered for me.
Born Wild Highlights Video - Real Play With 347x Win
We played Born Wild for real money at Casumo. This highlights video includes a free spins round with 12 sticky wilds and a 347x win. Find more highlights videos on our You Tube channel.
Who Made Born Wild?
- Name: Hacksaw Gaming
- UK License: 54059
- Total Games: 50 +
- Known For: Dark, high variance output and bonus rounds driven by combining multipliers
- Popular Slots: Hand of Anubis, Itero, Gladiator Legends, Break Bones
