Cowboys Slot
Wild Western themed slot games are a popular choice among casino players and they don’t get more wild or western than Cowboys, from KA Gaming. These rootin-tootin reels are filled with classic images of the untamed wilderness, such as buffalo, horses, covered wagons and a buxom cowgirl who whips up some extra winning lines for you. Her cowboy friend is a darn nice fella as well, as he treats punters to free spins with a special expanding symbol when landing in the right places. Rather than being from the West, KA Gaming is actually a Far Eastern company, which is based in Taiwan. Their range of 65 or so slot games is causing quite a stir at online and mobile casinos across Asia, where their enticing features and high returns are attracting a virtual stampede of players.
The Western style extends beyond the symbols on the reels and into the surroundings of this game, where the famous mountains of Monument Valley can be seen. To each side, we can see a wood-effect frame, where old posters reveal that there’s 40 paylines running across the five reels. Horseshoes, wooden spindles dividing the reels, and a twanging guitar soundtrack all help to complete the Western theme.
Like all KA Gaming slot machines, Cowboys is fully licensed and has been audited by Gaming Labs International for an independent certification of fair play. The Old West is famous for being lawless, but time have changed, and you can be sure that these Cowboys can be trusted. Test it out via the free Cowboys video slots that KA Gaming have provided, or simply mosey right on in and start playing for real cash.
Quick on the Draw
Those cash awards vary from a low limit of just 1x, 6x, or 11x the amount staked per line when the number 10 symbol lands on three, four, or five reels across a payline from the left side. The J symbol, which like all playing card icons here, is designed to look like it’s made from wood, pays you 2x, 7x, or 12x. The Q returns up to 13x your line bet, the K is valued at up to 14x and the top card symbol is the A. This pays back 5x, 10x, or 15x the line bet when it stops on three, four, or all five reels aross any of the 40 paylines.
A covered wagon pays up to 20x and the cowboy hat is worth up to 30x your line stake. The top two standard symbols will only need to land on reels one and two from the left, with a horse worth 3x, 8x, 17x, or 40x, depending on how many reels it’s seen on. The buffalo pays from 4x to 50x, but our lovely cowgirl is worth far more.
This whip-carrying lady pays 10x the line stake when she’s seen on reels one and two, right up to a huge 1,000x when she crosses an entire payline. Yee-Haw! As she is also the wild symbol, she can substitute for others, completing winning lines if she lands in the right places. Symbols will often be stacked several high, which has the effect of making it a little easier to land lines of them.
Saddle up for Free Spins
The muscle-bound cowboy, his face hidden as he tips his hat towards players, is a special symbol who launches a free spins round. You’ll need to see him filling reels two, three and four at once to be awarded seven free games, but before they start, he invites you to pick one of four other symbols at random. This will become Super-Stacked, filling whole reels throughout the round. You could choose a high-value symbol and hope that it completes a winning combination during the round, or go for a lower-paying one, which is more likely to do the job, but for a smaller reward.
If the cowboy lands on all nine spots of the middle reels during the free games, another seven spins are added on to the end of the current round.
No Need to rob the Bank
All 40 paylines are in play at all times, which gives you a minimum wager of 0.40 per spin. It’s easy to adjust upwards from here and with a high limit of 80.00 each time you spin the reels, there’s some great bounties to claim when the right symbols line up for you.
KA Gaming slots give you the option to spin the reels automatically, for as many times as you want. There’s no separate Auto button though, so you have to click and hold the main Spin icon to activate this feature. It’s not immediately obvious that you need to do this, and we would have preferred to see another button below the reels, but once you know where it is and how it works, it becomes easy to use.
Cowboys can be played across desktop and mobile platforms. It’s fully compatible with Android tablet computers and smartphones, as well as iPhones, iPads and Windows powered devices.
The Best of the West
Wild Western themed online slot machines vary from those set in gold mines through to games themed around the bank robberies that seemed to be such a classic feature of the times. There are slots that take a realistic approach to the subject and those that feature cartoon cacti and chillies as the main characters, so you’re bound to find a few that suit your tastes and personal preferences.
A couple of games that have proved to be particularly popular with the online gambling fraternity include High Noon, from Nucleus Gaming and Playtechs’ Buffalo Blitz.
Buffalo Blitz puts the focus on the wildlife of North America, with racoons, bobcats, moose and of course, buffalo all making appearances. It has an unusual format, with the six reels and four rows of symbols giving players 4,096 ways to land wins across them. The angry-looking buffalo pays out the best wins and he’s stacked on the reels, while a diamond symbol is wild. During the free games feature, the diamond multiplies any wins that it’s part of by up to five times over. These bonus spins can be retriggered over and over if more free spins symbols appear during them.
High Noon is based on the famous tale of a sheriff waiting for the midday train to bring an outlaw to town for a final shootout. No blood is spilt in this 3D effect slot though, with a fun heads or tails round and free spins with a bonus prize at the end being some of the main features. The best part of this game however, is the Wild Guns round, where the Sheriff fires at the reels, turning up to six symbols into extra wilds and helping you to collect a big bounty.
Y’all Gonna Love Cowboys
This is a great-looking game, which has clearly been developed with lots of care and attention to even the smallest of details. For example, nice animations play out whenever picture symbols become part of a winning combination. The buffalo snorts at you, and the cowgirl does a little wiggle, when she completes a line and even the soundtrack takes on a more upbeat tempo when you get a win.
Gameplay is fairly average though. There’s nothing wrong with wild substitutions and free spins however, as these have proved popular in numerous games before. Apart from Super Stacked symbols in the bonus spins, the Cowboys video slot doesn’t really offer up anything new, which will suit many punters just fine.
