Duck Hunters

Duck Hunters Review

We can start by saying that Duck Hunters is not a game for animal lovers or those who are against hunting. It portrays somewhat realistic takedowns of different birds in the win story, including a duck dressed up and walking like a human. Anyway, the 6x5 grid is placed against a wooden fence deep in redneck territory, clearly used for target practice.

You can choose bet levels between €0.2 to €100 per spin, catering to both penny punters and high rollers. The top-tier symbol is a bearded, cigar-munching redneck with an American flag bandana. You get to meet 3 other quirky characters as well, and the low-value symbols consist of ducks with shotguns, bird’s nests, crossbows, whiskey bottles, and beer cans.

You win by landing 8 to 12+ matching symbols anywhere in view, and the character symbols award between 2.5x and 5x your stake for 12+. Wild symbols substitute for any pay symbol to help complete or improve wins, and winning symbols are removed and replaced. In addition, the position multipliers double per consecutive cascading win they are involved in, boosting your wins. This feature is at the core of Duck Hunters, but you get several xMechanic modifier symbols as well.

These include xWays, Infectious xWays, and Bombs, and the big difference in the bonus rounds is that the position multipliers keep growing persistently without resetting between free spins. There are 3 bonus round tiers offering 1, 2, or 3 upgrades randomly determined upfront, and there is plenty to choose from in the Bonus Buy and Booster menu for eligible players. The 96.05 % RTP is a tad above average and the 30,000x max win has a decent hit rate of 1 in 22 million spins. Duck Hunters is highly volatile though, with a relatively low hit rate of 17.07 %.

Duck Hunters Features

While the doubling position multipliers take center stage in Duck Hunters, you’ll also benefit from familiar xMechanics and a Bomb symbol. Let’s check it all out!

Cascading Wins & Position Multipliers

Winning symbols are removed and replaced by new symbols dropping down to fill the gaps, and this process repeats indefinitely as long as you keep winning. However, before the new batch of symbols drops, an x2 multiplier is added to all involved positions. These position multipliers double for each new win they are involved in in the same cascading sequence, up to x8,192.

xWays & Infectious xWays

Landing xWays symbols increases the relevant position multipliers by +2, +4, or +8, while each xWays symbol turns into a random matching pay symbol. The Infectious xWays adds its multiplier to all matching symbols, and all xWays and Infectious xWays symbols present always turn into the same randomly chosen symbol.

Bomb Symbols

The Bomb symbol explodes after the next cascade or on non-winning spins, removing all adjacent symbols in a 3x3 area. This doubles the position multiplier of all affected positions, while scatter and wild symbols are unaffected.

Duck Hunt Free Spins

You need 3 scatter symbols in view to trigger the Duck Hunt Bonus Round, awarding 7 free spins. Position multipliers are persistent for the duration of the feature, meaning they don’t reset between spins like in the base game. You win +1 extra spin per Shot symbol that lands, and you get one of the following upgrades chosen randomly before the free spins play out:

• Upgraded xWays - turns regular xWays symbols into Infectious xWays symbols.
• Upgraded Bomb - enhances the bomb so it removes symbols in a 5x5-sized area.
• Extra +2 Shots - means you get +2 extra free spins per Shot symbol instead of +1.

Hawk Eye Free Spins

The Hawk Eye Bonus Round triggers from 4 scatters in view. It plays out exactly like the Duck Hunt Bonus except that you get 2 upgrades instead of one.

Big Game Free Spins

The Big Game Bonus Round triggers from 5 scatters in view, awarding 10 free spins. The feature plays out like the other two, but with all 3 upgrades active.

Buy Extra Free Spins Option (not UK)

When a bonus round ends, you may be presented with the option of purchasing additional free spins to continue the feature where you left off. This means that the position multipliers you have achieved are intact, and the cost is determined based on those position multipliers. You cannot win extra free spins organically if you purchase extra spins.

Duck Hunters Bonus Buy & Boosters (not UK)

Eligible players can pay 70x, 200x, or 600x the stake to trigger the Duck Hunt, Hawk Eye, or Big Games bonus round, respectively. There is also a Lucky Draw option priced at 235x your stake. Keep in mind that the organic bonus round hit frequency is 1 in 203 spins.

The Bonus Buy menu also includes Boosters, as usual, and these are as follows:

• xBet - pay 2x your stake to increase your bonus round chances by 5 times.
• Day 2 Spins - pay 2.8x your stake to get an x2 position multiplier across the grid.
• Day 64 Spins - pay 90x your stake to get x64 position multipliers across the grid.
• Day 1,024 Spins - pay 3,000x your stake to get x1,024 position multipliers across the grid.

Theme & Graphics

Seemingly inspired by an American reality show, Duck Hunters slot takes you deep into redneck territory for a duck hunt way out of the ordinary. You get to meet exactly the kind of backwoods characters you would expect from a game like this, although the Hillary Clinton lookalike feels a bit out of place. The grid is placed against a weathered wooden fence used for target practice, and you get to take down anything from eagles to flying alligators in the big win story.

Pros and Cons of Duck Hunters

Our Verdict

It's somewhat rare to see this creative studio so blatantly borrowing from another popular title. That being said, we are in no way suggesting that Duck Hunters is a copycat release or even close to that. Sure, the core concept of doubling position multipliers is obviously borrowed, but as usual, the crew puts their own highly original spin on things.

While the theme did remind us of another title, the redneck parody is not as trashy and over the top as in this predecessor release. The tip of the hat to the popular reality show is also worth noting, with some of the characters closely resembling certain members of the family. Most players can handle controversial and even grotesque themes, but sometimes hurting innocent animals “hits differently,” as they say.

Anyway, it’s all done with a healthy dose of bizarre humor in Duck Hunters slot, but you should brace yourself for plenty of dead spins and smaller wins in both the base game and in the bonus rounds. Growing those position multipliers to substantial levels is a challenge, and triggering the higher-tier bonus rounds is not all that easy either. The regular Duck Hunt round is often over in a blink, with the 70x price tag indicating what kind of returns you can expect on average.

Whispers are circulating that the Bonus Buy and Booster section has grown to become too dominant, with games supposedly being more geared toward streamers than regular players. In my view, this can be solved by implementing customizable volatility levels with different math models per setting. Overall, while a well-crafted game for those who can stomach the volatility, you rarely get to feel the true horsepower that lives in Duck Hunters, despite the relatively frequent bonus round triggers.