Sticky Bandits 3: Most Wanted Slot Demo

Sticky Bandits 3: Most Wanted

Sticky Bandits 3: Most Wanted from Quickspin is the most volatile game in the trilogy of the Sticky Bandits family. The female Bandit in the White Hat has replaced her male companions from the previous two games and brought along 4 She-Bandits to take down the golden vault in the bank.

Read on for the full review.

SLOT FEATURES	Free Games, Sticky Wilds, Multipliers
RELEASE DATE	11th May 2021
GAME PROVIDER	QUICKSPIN
SLOT TYPE	Video Slot
THEME	Western
REELS, ROWS, PAYLINES	5 reels, 3 rows, 9 Paylines
BET LEVELS	0.09- 90.00
MAXIMUM WIN	22,469x Your Stake
SCATTER SYMBOL	Yes: BONUS CHEST
WILD SYMBOL	Yes: WILD
BONUS GAME	No
FREE SPINS	Yes
RESPINS	No
MULTIPLIERS	Yes
JACKPOT	No
RETURN TO PLAYER	95.82% 96.25% (Buy Bonus) *
VOLATILITY	Very High

Features

Free Games

• 3 or more SCATTER symbols landing anywhere on the screen awards 12 Free Games.
• All wins from Free Games have a 2X multiplier.
• Free Games are played with STICKY WILDS.

Sticky Wilds

• WILD symbols become STICKY WILD symbols during the Free Games.
• Any time a STICKY WILD lands during the Free Games, it sticks in place and remains there for the rest of the Free Games.
• 5 extra Free Games are awarded if each reel has at least one STICKY WILD stuck to them.

Buy Feature*

• Buy Feature can be activated in the Base Game only.
• By paying 60x bet, you can buy entry into Free Games.
• The Free Games bought will be triggered by a base game spin awarding 3, 4, or 5 SCATTERS randomly. This Base Game spin will not award any line wins.
• The theoretical return to player (RTP) of Buy Feature is 96.25%.

Playability

The playability is excellent. The game’s production quality is as you would expect from Quickspin. Of the three games in the family, Sticky Bandits 3: Most Wanted has the least grittiness and believability. Instead, Sticky Bandits 3 is more of a happy, sugar-coated game and just lacks that edge that the previous two had. It certainly is a U-turn from the danger and peril of its predecessors.

The Glory Spin

To begin with, you’re looking for one wild per reel and on a payline, as each remaining spin will pay at least 333x your bet. More wilds per reel are of course better, but you really want to nail one per reel first. The ultimate Glory Spin is to fill the reels with wilds, and have some spins remaining, as each spin pays 3,000x your bet!

Delights and Surprises

• High production quality.
• Buy Feature option (for jurisdictions where it’s allowed).*

Shortcomings

• Being a blatant copy of NetEnt’s Dead or Alive.
• There is a mismatch between Quickspin’s theoretical RTP of 95.82% (96.25% Buy Feature*) quoted in-game, and the independent test results of eCogra who calculated the game to run at 95.39% (96.45% Buy Feature). Not a significant difference, but any RTP mismatch between game and Accredited Testing Facility reduces the integrity of the developer and game.

Conclusion

Sticky Bandits 3: Most Wanted from Quickspin completes the western themed trilogy as the third release in the Sticky Bandits series. Unlike its predecessors, though, Sticky Bandits has moved away from its iconic block symbols and higher reel layouts which made Sticky Bandits 1 and 2 so memorable. Just looking at the difference in the third game, there’s no evolution from 1 and 2 and it looks kind of dated.

With Sticky Bandits 3, Quickspin has decided to relinquish any attempts at innovation completely and just copy NetEnt’s Dead or Alive. Ironically, the original Sticky Bandits was ‘heavily inspired by’ IGT’s King of Macedonia but at least Quickspin changed a few things like some pays, the number of free games awarded, the number of lines. Quickspin’s treatment of Sticky Bandits 3 resembles many of the Starburst knockoffs from year ago.

Sure, Sticky Bandits 3: Most Wanted looks good, sounds good, and plays well. But you’re playing a NetEnt game. The paytable is identical, the feature is identical, and the theme is the same. Shame, Quickspin. Shame.

Quickspin has added a buy bonus* for jurisdictions that allow it, but that’s more of a sign of the times. Players can shortcut into the Free Games for 60x your bet which, compared to other buy bonus costs in the market, is a bargain. Of course, you must consider the buy bonus cost is an indication of the average win in the free games. And considering its epic quoted max win of 22,000x your bet, the average win of 60x is an indication of the result you should expect.

Sticky Bandits 4 is looking doubtful.

Sticky Bandits 3: Most Wanted gets 47 Spins out of 100 based on the following ratings:

PLAYABILITY	85
ORIGINALITY	0
BUILD QUALITY	85
MARRIAGE	50
IMMERSION	85
RUN FOR MONEY	25
INTEGRITY	0
TOTAL	47

_{*Buy Feature may not be available in all markets.}