Sticky Bandits Wild Return Slot Review

Sticky Bandits Wild Return is a video slot from Quickspin with 5 reels and 40 paylines. Released in August 2019, this game can be played at online casinos such as Mr Green, Rizk or Guts.

Theme and basic information

With Sticky Bandits Wild Return we find ourselves once again in the Wild West. Lately, this has been a very popular theme, considering that we got titles such as Dead or Alive II, The Greatest Train Robbery or The One Armed Bandit all within about two months’ time.

This is Quickspin’s follow up to their popular slot Sticky Bandits. As with all sequels, features should be improved, and the gameplay should have matured to attract fans of the first iteration as well as new players. And that’s certainly what happened here.

The bandits are more mature, tougher and more dangerous. The scene is set in a saloon with various shady characters lounging around in the background. The theme is well done and goes well with the features. The background noises of the bar as well as country music add to the overall feeling of the atmosphere.

The female bandit is the most valuable one, paying out 10x our stake for 5 on a payline. Wilds are also worth 10x our stake for 5 on a payline. The bandit with the black hat pays out 5x our stake for such a win and the oldest of the three pays out 3x our stake. We also get a whiskey glass and tumbler, a box of cigars as well playing card royals from J to A.

Mega symbols and a classic slot

In the base game, all bandits can land as mega symbols of 2×2 or 3×3 size. If they land right in combination with a wild, wins may be handsome even in the base game.

There is a classic slot symbol in the base game that lands on reel 5 and can trigger a game within a game. We’re taken to the Quick Slot Symbol where we are awarded 1 to 3 spins. We get a really classic looking slot machine with just 1 payline and wins of up to 500x our stake. Needless to say, we will probably only get 1 win if we manage to get 3 spins, but it’s a nice distraction and might even offer a little something to keep us going.

Sticky wild bandits in the free spins

Three skull scatters on the reels will activate 7 free spins. Whenever a bandit lands on the reels, they will shoot on the reels. If they hit a regular symbol, it will be transformed into a regular wild.

But if you hit another bandit, that symbol will become a sticky wild and remain on the reels for the remaining spins. The Mega bandits are also spinning on the reels and they can also be turned into sticky wilds.

Big wins are possible in the free spins, especially if you have more of those sticky wilds hanging around.

Conclusion: An entertaining sequel with good wins

The theoretical RTP (Return to Player) of Sticky Bandits Wild Return is 96.28%, which is above average and pretty good. Whilst the slot is definitely on the volatile side of things, it isn’t overly volatile, allowing for regular wins, though rarely huge ones. Those wait in the free spins.

Depending on your luck, you may even hit the free spins early on and if you manage to get four to six sticky wilds on the reels, you may look at some really good wins. We managed 60 to 120x our stake in winnings and were quite happy with that. The few times we played the slot, we also didn’t have to wait very long for the free spins to show up. Though perhaps we were just lucky.

Sticky Bandits Wild Return is a worthy follow-up to the original and may even outshine it.