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Duel at Dawn is an online slot game made by Hacksaw Gaming in 2024. Set in the Wild West, the game's theme centres on pistol duels that are used to calculate the game's biggest prizes. Beyond that, it's a highly volatile slot machine with a lot of intricate features, which is something Hacksaw excels at. Duel at Dawn's gripping bonus features and excellent sense of style make it a solid release with a lot to offer, though not everyone will be a fan of the low base payouts and complicated gameplay. For more information about the game and how it works, check out the rest of our Duel at Dawn slot review.
Guitar twangs, dust-blown deserts, and the smell of gunpowder in the air – yup, we’re back in the Wild West with Hacksaw Gaming. This provider has a special history with this theme and setting, considering some of their most successful releases are Western-themed shootouts. Thrown in their famous thematic features and intertwined gameplay elements, and you just know you’re in for a good time.
The Duel at Dawn slot game immediately sets the tone it’s going for. The visuals show a setting sun and an outlaw gunman pointing their iron right in your face, complete with a tense soundtrack and the sounds of whistling winds. We’re in for a duel, and it’s not in High Noon either – it seems we’ll have to get up bright and early for this one.
Jokes aside, Duel at Dawn is quite committed to its theme, and we enjoyed the whole presentation. Sure, it’s not the most original theme ever, but the hand-crafted backgrounds and fun symbols add a lot to the experience. It’s dark, menacing, and absolutely oozing that Old West charm that every Spaghetti Western fan will appreciate.
However, the features are the real meat of this game, so let’s get into the rules and gameplay.
For the most part, Duel at Dawn plays like most online slot machines out there. It’s a classic setup with 5 reels, 5 rows, and 19 fixed paylines. If you hit 3 or more matching symbols along one or more of these paylines, you get a prize based on the number and value of the winning symbols.
You can use the fairly basic interface to set the size of your stake, increase spin speeds, set up autoplay – all the usual stuff. Be careful, though – it’s a highly volatile game and can quickly drain your bankroll if you’re not paying attention.
With that out of the way, let’s look at what really sets this game apart – the special features.
Special VS symbols can expand and cover their entire reel. However, this only happens if this expansion results in a win. If this happens, the all-important Duel takes place, and the entire reel is essentially filled with Wilds.
The duel is represented by two gunslingers, but it’s actually a random choice between two multipliers. Both of these can be anywhere from 2x to 200x. One is connected to the Outlaw while the other applies to the Sherrif. Essentially, you’re cheering that the guy with the higher multiplier will win, but it’s always a 50/50 chance.
The Outlaw and the Sherrif shoot it out. Whoever wins applies their assigned multiplier across the whole reel, affecting any wins that feature symbols appearing on that specific reel.
Multiple dues can take place in a single spin and even affect the same winning line. In this case, the multipliers are added together.
The Outlaw symbol is also an expanding Wild. Unlike DuelReels, this type of Wild always expands to cover the entire reel. Additionally, it displays a revolver and loads it with 1-6 bullets. This represents the number of Wilds that will appear on random positions around the game grid.
Up to 2 Outlaw symbols can appear per spin. They can’t shoot in the same position twice, and they can’t shoot each other. Also, Outlaw reels have a multiplier of 2-200x, which applies to any wins passing through that reel.
If you land 3 FS Scatter symbols anywhere on the grid you get 10 free spins. This game mode works much like the base game, except that it also increases the chances of landing any additional symbols. Also, multipliers from Outlaw and DuelReel features have a better chance of being higher.
Hitting another 2 Scatters grants you +2 free spins while landing 3 Scatters gives you +3.
Landing four FS scatter symbols during the base game grants players 10 Dusk ‘Til Dawn free spins. Within this feature, players have the opportunity to earn up to four DuelSpins, each of which comes with guaranteed VS symbols.
To unlock each DuelSpin, players must land Outlaw symbols and successfully shoot six wild symbols onto the grid. This doesn’t need to happen in one spin – two Outlaws with 3 bullets each will also do the trick.
Each DuelSpin is awarded immediately following the spin that unlocked it and does not count against the total number of free spins granted. It is possible to unlock as many as two DuelSpins in a single spin.
Additionally, multiplier DuelSpins are awarded in succession prior to advancing to the next free spin. Each subsequent DuelSpin provides an increasing number of guaranteed VS symbols, with the first guaranteeing a minimum of two, the second at least three, the third a minimum of four, and the fourth guaranteeing five. Furthermore, each unlocked DuelSpin also grants an additional three free spins.
The J, Q, K, and A playing cards are Duel At Dawn’s low-pay symbols. They only pay up to 1x the bet for 5 symbols on a line, meaning you’re not likely to make back your stake with only low pays.
The remaining symbols can be described as medium-paying, with rewards ranging from 3x to 10x for 5-symbol lines. This is a bit better, but it’s worth noting that hitting 5 such symbols on a line is not very likely in this game. Like we said, it’s a highly volatile game. Most of your profits will come from special symbols and their resulting multipliers, which can indeed be huge. Duel at Dawn’s maximum payout is a very respectable 15,000x, which makes the volatility worth it.
The game’s RTP rate is fairly strong at 96.30%. Note that the various BonusHunt and Bonus Buy options have a minor impact on RTP, but it’s not really noteworthy.
Hacksaw gaming never ceases to amaze us with its ability to make dense yet playable games that make sense even when they’re not supposed to.
That warrants some explanation. Look at it this way – if you just read through the rules and features of Duel at Dawn, it’s very hard to wrap your head around what it means and how the features actually work. They’re complicated, and there’s a lot going on “under the hood” that we don’t even know about.
However, actually playing the game is a straightforward experience. There is never any confusion about how much you stand to win and why. There’s shootin’, tootin’, and Wilds going off all over the screen, but it’s not that hard to keep up.
That said, the game is sizzlingly, brutally, unapologetically volatile. That won’t suit many players, which is fine. Those who dare show up at Dawn, however, can have a great time.
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| Reels: | 5 |
|---|---|
| Paylines: | 14 |
| RTP: | 96.31% |
| Bonus game: | NO |
| Free spins: | YES |
| Multipliers: | NO |
| Progressive: | NO |
| Rating: | 88% |
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| Reels: | 5 |
|---|---|
| Paylines: | 3,125 |
| RTP: | 96.23% |
| Bonus game: | NO |
| Free spins: | YES |
| Multipliers: | NO |
| Progressive: | NO |
| Rating: | 75% |
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| Reels: | 5 |
|---|---|
| Paylines: | 19 |
| RTP: | 96.3% |
| Bonus game: | NO |
| Free spins: | YES |
| Multipliers: | NO |
| Progressive: | NO |
| Rating: | 92% |
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| Reels: | 5 |
|---|---|
| Paylines: | 27 |
| RTP: | 96.20% |
| Bonus game: | NO |
| Free spins: | YES |
| Multipliers: | NO |
| Progressive: | NO |
| Rating: | 72% |
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| Reels: | 5 |
|---|---|
| Paylines: | 1024 |
| RTP: | 96.24% |
| Bonus game: | NO |
| Free spins: | YES |
| Multipliers: | NO |
| Progressive: | NO |
| Rating: | 84% |
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| Reels: | 5 |
|---|---|
| Paylines: | 16 |
| RTP: | 96.12% |
| Bonus game: | NO |
| Free spins: | YES |
| Multipliers: | NO |
| Progressive: | NO |
| Rating: | 91% |
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| Reels: | 5 |
|---|---|
| Paylines: | 20 |
| RTP: | 96.13% |
| Bonus game: | NO |
| Free spins: | YES |
| Multipliers: | NO |
| Progressive: | NO |
| Rating: | 94% |
