5 Wild Buffalo

5 Wild Buffalo: Slot Overview

Few big land animals dominate the online gambling space like buffalo do, and developer 4ThePlayer has mustered up a few of the beasts to appear in its game 5 Wild Buffalo. The studio has tangled with another big furry beast in the past in 1K, 9K, and 90K Yeti, but 5 Wild Buffalo deals in real animals, or at least, an animal the majority of science can agree is real. Although, American buffalo were almost consigned to legend themselves in some ways, since their numbers dropped from 60 million pre-1800 to 300 in the year 1900, teetering on extinction. Their numbers have bounced back and are almost as numerous as the number of buffalo slots grazing in the gambling marketplace.

If you've ever wanted to drive the scenic 17-mile loop through Monument Valley on the border of Utah and Arizona but haven't had the time or moolah to do so, then gazing at 5 Wild Buffalo's background might go some way to scratching the itch. We're deep in the United States for this one; well, most, if not all, buffalo slots are set in these here parts, and 4ThePlayer has done a great job of painting an attractive scene. The Western film soundtrack makes an ideal accompaniment and theme-wise, 5 Wild Buffalo might stampede on the generic side of things, but at least it's looking good while doing so.

A 5-reel game board framed by wood and Native American carvings is 5 Wild Buffalo's active area, which has 4 rows of symbols and 1,024 ways to win. Players may click the plus and minus to choose a wager of 20 cents to $/€20 per spin or hit the Buy Feature sign to access two feature buys. Regardless of how 5 Wild Buffalo is played, the RTP is 96.01%, while the volatility is listed as high.

On their own, the pay symbols in 5 Wild Buffalo are worth peanuts. For example, the lower value pay symbols, the 10-A card ranks, are worth up to 0.15x the bet for a 5 OAK hit, while landing 5 horses, eagles, cougars, wolves, bears, or buffalo pays 0.2 to 0.25 times the bet. The wild can appear on any reel to substitute for any symbol except for scatters.

5 Wild Buffalo: Slot Features

When taking a quick glance at 5 Wild Buffalo's screen, you'll notice Fortune Prizes sitting above each reel and a rotating wheel which awards them. Other features are Buffalo Thunder, free spins, and feature buys.

Boosting Fortunes

A Fortune Prize is displayed above each reel. Landing a diamond symbol on any reel increases the Fortune Prize on that reel. Also, landing at least 1 diamond symbol may spin the Fortune Wheel, awarding any of the Fortune Prizes: Mini: 8x-100x, Midi: 12x-200x, Super: 100x-500x, Mega: 300x-1,500x, Ultra: 1,000x-5,000x (starting values). Once won, the Fortune Prize resets to its starting value. The size of the Fortune Prize has no effect on the RTP. However, the probability of triggering the Fortune Wheel changes as the Fortune Prize values change.

Buffalo Thunder

If a full reel stack of buffalo symbols lands, the reel changes to a single symbol with a random multiplier of x5 to x10. The multiplier is used to calculate how many symbols are on the reel during a win calculation.

Free Spins

When 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols land in the base game, 8, 15, or 25 free spins are respectively awarded. Wild symbols expand to fill their reel and are given a multiplier value of x6 to x12. The multiplier is used to calculate how many symbols are on the reel during a win calculation. Wilds that land also boost the Fortune Prize above the reel. Any diamonds that land spin the Fortune Wheel, and getting 2, 3, 4, or 5 scatters awards an extra 4, 8, 15, or 25 free spins, respectively.

Feature Buy

Players can choose to trigger free spins for 50x the bet or buy Buffalo Thunder for 100x. Buffalo Thunder is guaranteed to produce a win with at least 1 full stack of buffalo symbols.

5 Wild Buffalo: Slot Verdict

Wrapping up a buffalo slot review is like watching the final credits in a Marvel movie; you just know there is going to be another one sooner or later. They don't even have to put those 'Spiderman will return' type messages at the bottom. This cash cow is far too generous to swap at the market when it can be squeezed a few more times at least. 4ThePlayer has made a fairly good squeeze for 5 Wild Buffalo. For one, players who are head over heels for these animal-led American outdoor slots should feel cosy if they take the game on. At the same time, if you're over bison or buffalo, 5 Wild Buffalo probably won't win you back the way punchier slots like Buffalo Toro by ELK Studios or Bison Battle from Push Gaming might have done.

What held back the enthusiasm were the pitiful symbol values and the way multipliers on symbols didn't multiply the win but multiplied the number of symbols on the respective reel instead. However, there is a twist. For example, if you have a full buffalo symbol on one reel showing an x10 and another full buffalo symbol next to it showing an x8, the two reels combine, and the multipliers multiply each other, giving an x80. At least, this is what happened during bought Buffalo Thunders. This effect wasn't really mentioned in the rules and made for a happy surprise. It also meant that the most exciting moments produced while reviewing 5 Wild Buffalo were when hammering away at the Buffalo Thunder bonus buy. Results could be decent, or poor, they were quite swingy.

When 5 Wild Buffalo hits full charge, it can generate wins of up to 7,500x the bet, though it feels heavily reliant on maxing out the Ultra Fortune Prize. All in all, 5 Wild Buffalo was something of a mid buffalo game. It's not the alpha, but it ain't the runt, either.