King of the West

Theme and Design

A Simple Design and Dead-Eyed Atmosphere

King of the West is a very generic, simplistic production. The visuals do not break any new ground. As with many Wild West slots, when you open the game up you find yourself in front of a reel set that stands in the middle of a typical Western town, complete with trademark tumbleweed and all the other standard outlaw iconography you would expect.

For my taste it’s a bit simple and lacks none of the atmosphere of modern classics like Tombstone RIP or Sticky Bandits Trail of Blood. Nor is there any particular narrative to hook the scene to, just a random Bounty Hunter character who drops onto the reels to unlock prizes. Perhaps the one redeeming feature of the production is the soundtrack which is sparse and ominous, matching the brutal volatility that I experience whilst testing this slot.

RTP and Variance

King of the West has one RTP setting – 95.49%. That is a little under the average for a UK slot, but still acceptable. It is also a high volatility game as I discovered when playing 200 test spins, so it can be a rough ride and unlocking the free spins round where the bigger payouts are available may take a long time.

Maximum Win

The good news is, King of the West has a huge top payout of 50,000x which makes it one of Blueprint Gaming’s slots with the highest max win. And if you like chasing big prizes I recommend reading this article.

Symbols and Paytable

King of the West has a simple reel set up with 5 reels, 3 rows and 20 paylines. Wins are triggered by landing 3 or more identical symbols across a payline from left to right. You’ll also notice a special 5x1 reel above the main one that displays prizes that can be unlocked by landing special symbols below. More on that in a moment.

There are 9 pay symbols and the values in the paytable look impressive. Low payers are the cards, 10 through to Ace. These are valued at from 4x for 3 10s up to 40x for 5 Aces. The premiums are the poker cards with cigars and a pistol, whiskey bottle, stagecoach, and a saddlebag of gold coins. These are valued at from 10x for 3 of the poker cards up to 400x for 5 of the saddlebags.

There is also a Wild, represented by a bullet hole. This is substitutes in for any other symbol, except special ones, to complete a payline.

The other symbol you will see is the Bounty Hunter. This guy is the scatter which launches free spins, but also plays a part in unlocking a special prize reel which I will explain below.

Features and Gameplay

All Eyes On The Bounty Hunter Symbol!

King of the West is not typical of a Blueprint Gaming slot. It doesn’t run with lots of interacting features but instead keeps the gameplay simple. To put it simply, you want Wilds and Bounty Hunters to appear as frequently as possible.

Wanted Wilds Add Random Wilds To The Reels

The Wild can be a powerful tool in completing win lines and this useful feature adds a random number to the reels on any spin. There is also the chance of a Reload, which will add even more Wilds to the screen and boost your winning chances for the next spin. When this triggered in testing it looked impressive, with a gun barrel appearing on the screen before the feature starts. It then spins to decide how many Wilds are added.

Special Prize Reel Wins Triggered By Bounty Hunter

The main event is a special horizontal prize reel that runs above the main reels from right to left with each bet. Prizes are instant wins, collectors or free spins. To win one, you need to land a Bounty Hunter scatter on the main reels. Then, the prize directly above the corresponding reel is awarded.

Get Up To 20 Free Games With Enhanced Prize Reel

To trigger the free spins you need to land a combination of a Bounty Hunter and a Free Spins symbol on the same reel. This will trigger an animation of a gun barrel spinning round with a number of Free Games in each chamber. This awards anything from 6 to 20 Free Games.

I suspect any chance of anything close to a 50,000x would only happen in this phase of the game. Blueprint have added more Scatters to the reels for the bonus round. And during this feature, the prizes on the horizontal reel are boosted and include the chance to win extra Free Games or the jackpot prize of 50,000x stake.

Finally, there is also a special ‘Collect All’ symbol available in the free spins game. If it lands on the same reel as the Bounty Hunter on a spin then ALL visible prizes on the Prize Reel are paid out at once.