Gameplay & Features 9/10

Dead Rider’s Trail is all about hitting the Trail where there are numerous ways to add cash to your growing payout. But even before then in the base game there are some interesting mini-features to look out for. The following is an explanation of the gameplay:

CASCADING WINS DRIVE MULTIPLE WINS FROM ONE SPIN!!

This is a super-charged Cascading Wins feature.

We all know the drill – winning symbols drop off the grid after a winning spin to be replaced by new ones. But that’s not all …

In Dead Rider’s Trail any stone block ADJACENT to a winning symbol – above, below, left, right- is also removed. This creates a lot more movement than in a standard Cascade and more new symbols on the grid and a greater potential for another payout.

The process repeats until no more wins are formed. 

BASE GAME FEATURE WHEEL

Removing ALL stone blocks from the grid automatically triggers the bonus wheel, a giant outlaw Wheel of Fortune if you like, with segments in black, gun metal grey and faded yellow. Note the gun that acts as the pointer which will decide which segment you land on!

Potential wins are:

• 4 Free Spins + the chance to gamble for the bonus trail
• 7 Free Spins + the chance to gamble for the bonus trail
• Bonus Trail
• Super Bonus Trail

Should you gamble on free spins? The odds of landing the bonus trail are 33% at 4 spins and 52% at 7 spins. I would bank your spins and hope to unleash the wheel again for another chance at landing on the Bonus Trail or Super Bonus trail segment.

UNLIMITED FREE SPINS AND BOMBS!!

For once, free spins are not the main event. But they are still an interesting feature with the potential to cause dramatic changes on the grid.

During free spins, bombs are placed on some of the stone blocks. If a symbol in a winning line appears adjacent to a bomb, then the bomb explodes. ALL symbols on the bombs reel now transform to identical ones chosen as the highest payer on the reel before the bomb was detonated.

And … if you can clear ALL stone blocks during the free spins round, 3 more are added. There are no limits to how many times this can happen.

BONUS TRAIL WITH SUPER HIGH MULTIPLIERS!!

No question where we all want to get with this game though … the Bonus Trail and enhanced Super Bonus Trail are the headline acts. And far from being a complimentary game to the original Dead Man’s Trail, Relax Gaming have given the Trail feature some worthwhile enhancements this time around.

The trail itself is a winding path made up of positions with multipliers and special modifiers that can be collected along the way. The view is birds-eye, looking down over a dusty landscape as the path winds between the Rider encampment, crashed planes, trucks and cases of money.

The basics are as follows:

• Each move takes you between 1 and 6 positions further along the trail.
• The Fuel Meter is key – it tells you how many more moves you have. It starts at 3 and drops 1 with each move.
• Collecting Fuel Cans on the trail RE-SETS the meter to 3. Fuel Cans can only be collected ONCE and then they disappear.
• The round will end when you run out of moves OR hit the top payout.
• Each position on the trail triggers either a MULTIPLIER UP TO 1,000x or a BONUS TRAIL FEATURE.
• Bonus Trail Features are triggered by SILVER or GOLDEN TRUCKS of which there are SIX dotted along the trail.
• IF you make it around the full trail ALL multiplier positions increase by 3x AND an EXTRA FUEL CAN is added to your meter.

Bonus Trail Features are as follows:

CASH – 25x to 50x prize

SNIPER – Between 3 and 6 standard positions on the trail have their values doubled

PAYER – A value of between 3x and 10x is added to standard positions on the trail

TWO-KNIFE – Value of 50x to 200x is added to between 2 and 4 standard positions on the trail

RE-FUEL – 2, 3 or 4 Fuel Cans are added to the trail

SHOOT BACK – Total current win value is added to 1, 2 or 3 standard positions on the trail

COLLECT – Current values of the FOUR nearest positions on the trail are collected

COLLECT ALL – Current values of ALL positions on the trail are collected

PERSISTENT SNIPER – Same as the Sniper, but triggered on EVERY turn

PERSISTENT PAYER – Same as Payer, but triggered on EVERY turn

PERSISTENT TWO-KNIFE – Same as Two-Knife, but triggered on EVERY turn

NOTE: Silver Trucks will award ANY modifier. Gold Trucks will ONLY award Persistent modifiers or Collect All modifiers.

And … in the Super Bonus Trail feature the first truck on the trail has been changed from Silver to Gold to increase your chances of triggering the highest paying features.