Lone Rider XtraWays

Lone Rider XtraWays Review

A new challenger appears to the popular Megaways engine, with the XtraWays mechanic in the Wild West-themed Lone Rider slot. This reel engine aims to produce more paylines, and players can win via the Free Spins bonus round.

Lone Rider XtraWays - Slot Outlook

The game takes you to the American frontier, where a small town of Old West is the setting. The theme is executed well. The backdrop showcases the town's main street where saloons, bars, and banks are located, and a soundtrack adds a final touch to the Wild West atmosphere whilst you spin the reels.

Now to the XtraWays engine that works differently in comparison to other grid mechanics. By default, the 6-reel grid holds 3 symbols in each row and produces 729 win ways, but expands up to 6x8 with 262,144 ways to play. The grid doesn't change at random, and there's a counter above each reel displaying the number of symbols appearing on corresponding reels. On any spin, bonus symbols displaying random numbers from 1 to 5 can appear on each reel, and then those numbers will be added to the meter on top. If a bonus symbol doesn't land on the reel, its counter will decrease by 1 with each spin.

Playtable on any device, the Lone Rider XtraWays slot comes with a betting range. The volatility is high, and the default RTP is decent, yet the values can vary. Thus, it can be lowered, so pay attention to the game's rules and check the paytables before making a deposit. Unfortunately, it has a potential, which is far lower than you expect from a machine.

The paytable includes 10 regular pay symbols that are split into highs and lows. The lower section is made up of neckerchiefs, bota bags, cowboy boots, horseshoes, gunbelts, and sacks. The premiums, in turn, include in ascending order barrels, Stetson hats, and female and male cowboys. You'll need to land at least 3 instances of the same symbol adjacently starting from the leftmost reel to achieve a win, and 5-of-a-kind wins are worth up to 6x your bet. The sheriff badge symbol is Wild, which appears on reels 2-6 and substitutes for any other regular symbol.

Lone Rider XtraWays - Bonus Features

Aside from the dynamic reel mechanic, the Lone Rider XtraWays slot is light on features, and central to the gameplay is the Free Spins bonus game. Landing 3, 4, 5, or 6 horse Scatter symbols anywhere in view during the base game activates the feature with 10, 15, 20, or 25 free spins, and players proceed to the bonus with the same layout that triggered the feature.

The Free Spins feature works similarly to the base game, and there are no extra features included to bump up the entertainment. The major change is that, unlike the base game, the reel counters don't decrease between the spins and stay for the remainder of the bonus. Retriggers are not possible, and upon finishing the Free Spins, all reel counters will reset back to 3.

Lone Rider XtraWays - Slot Verdict

Lone Rider XtraWays is worth trying for those who chase innovation. However, there's little to do aside from checking the mechanics since no features are included in the base game, and Free Spins feature plays identically to it. Moreover, the balancing is poor. Anyway, its main function is to act as a vehicle for the XtraWays system, so we're looking forward to seeing what next will come powered by the engine.