Great American Wilds Slot Review

Bonus Features in Great American Wilds

A Novomatic slot used to mean basic design and stripped back gameplay. Many of the developer’s more recent releases have been much livelier. That is certainly the case with Great American Wilds which comes with plenty under the bonnet as far as gameplay is concerned.

Epic Xtra Stax feature

This is a stacked symbol feature. Once activated, all the positions on a reel, or better still, multiple reels, will reveal the same matching symbol. This can be any of the standard symbols, the wild or even the bonus scatter symbol. A high value symbol in the Xtra Stax can quickly deliver some big awards.

Respin feature

In the base game, the Respin feature triggers if you land 4 bonus symbols on the same spin. Those bonus symbols are held and the reels spin again, giving you another chance to land at least one more bonus symbol and trigger the Free Games feature. The respins continue if a new bonus symbol lands. The free spins then play out if you did manage to get a trigger.

Free Games feature

Appearing on the middle 3 reels only is the silhouette of the howling wolf which is the bonus symbol. Land between 5 and 12 of these on the same spin and you’ll activate the Free Games feature.

Depending on the number of bonus symbols, you can look forward to playing between 7 and 20 free spins. You can also retrigger to win up to 40 free spins in total.

The Xtra Stax are in play during the free spins, just like in the base game. There’s also a chance to land a streak respin extra. We’ll come to that shortly.

The respins play our rather differently in the free spins round. Here, they become active if you fill the whole of reel 1 with matching animal symbols. Those symbols are held. As are any matching animal symbols and wilds elsewhere on the reels. A respin follows. If a new matching animal or wild symbol lands, they too are held and the process is repeated.

The respins continue until no new matching symbol lands or you’ve managed to fill all the reels positions with matching symbols.

Jackpots feature

Great American Wilds is a jackpot slot. There are 5 potential progressive prizes up for grabs. Each one is won by filling all 5 reels with the corresponding animal:

• Eagle Jackpot starting at: 1500x total stake
• Grizzly Jackpot starting at: 500x total stake
• Bison Jackpot starting at: 200x total stake
• Mustang Jackpot starting at: 75x total stake
• Cougar Jackpot starting at: 75x total stake

Look to the panel at the side of the reels to find out how much each jackpot is currently offering.

Great American Wilds Slot RTP, Details & Wager Limits

As usual for a Novomatic release, the set up in Great American Wilds is very simple and easy to play.  The 5 reel, 4 row game mechanic offers 50 paylines. You can play from between 50p and £100 per spin. A win is created when you get matching symbols on successive reels – starting from the leftmost reel.

Click on the autoplay button below the reels and you spin indefinitely. Don’t nod off or walk away as they’ll keep on going. You can set up loss limits, single win limits or stop Autoplay when you enter the Free Games feature.

Sky high variance was a staple of many an older Novomatic slot. The Great American Wilds volatility isn’t quite as high as some slots but it’s feisty enough to keep things interesting. It’s 4/5 on the variance front. You will get a win from over 40% of spins with the top payout being 500 x your stake per spin/free spin.

You can win a minimum of 1,500 x your stake from 1 of the progressive jackpots though. The Return To Player (RTP) rate is 95.17% – this is average for a progressive jackpot slot.

Great American Wilds Theme – Audio and Design Features – head to a misty woodland

Classy visuals and Novomatic are words that weren’t often found in the same sentence. The imagery in Great American Wilds isn’t quite from the top drawer but it’s still a big step up from many of the developer’s tired looking older releases.

The setting is a misty woodland filled with mighty trees. On the reels you’ll find Novomatic’s standard lower value playing card symbols plus 5 higher paying wild animals. You’ll see cougar, mustang, bison and grizzly bear symbols as well as a golden eagle which is the payer. Land 5 of these on a payline for a payout of 10 times your stake. The American flag symbol is the wild and substitutes for all symbols bar the scatter.

The game interface is simply done. Click the – and + buttons to adjust stake size. The menu tab will take you to the paytable and other settings. It’s all easy enough to navigate. The Great American Wilds mobile version is perfectly playable. The colourful visuals are clear and easy to process. The features stack up well too.

Great American Wilds Review Summary – entertaining outdoors adventure

I enjoyed the virtual trip to the American wilderness. The visuals don’t quite dazzle but they’re more than functional.
It’s the gameplay that really impresses. The Xtra Stax can deliver some top action. As can the streak respins in the free spins round.

The variance isn’t as high as some Novomatic slots but it’s high enough to keep things lively. The bigger wins will come from the progressive jackpots but there’s scope to win decent amounts throughout the base game and various bonus features.

The nature theme is a popular one with slots players. If you fancy sampling the great outdoors without the rotten weather, then Great American Wilderness is an entertaining way to do so. Alternatively, Grizzly Gold from Blueprint Gaming has a similar theme and offers 10,000 x stake wins on each spin.

Great American Wilds FAQs

❓ What is the Great American Wilds variance?

Great American Wilds is quite a volatile slot. It’s in the high range. On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s an 8. Most wins will come in the base game with the bigger wins coming from the 5 jackpots.

🥇 Is there a Great American Wilds free spins feature?

Yes. Trigger the feature and you’ll receive between 7 and 20 free spins. You can also land streak re-spins within those free spins for even more winning potential. You can also win more free spins with up to 40 possible.

🎰 What are Xtra Stax?

These are stacks of matching symbols that can fill 1 or multiple reels. The stacks can include wilds and scatters as well as standard symbols.

⚡ What are the Great American Wilds progressive jackpots?

There are 5 potential progressive prizes on offer in Great American Wilds. The Eagle Jackpot guarantees you a minimum of 1,500 x your stake.