Clumsy Cowboys

Clumsy Cowboys Review

Wild West calls again for brave punchers to tend the cattle in Backseat Gaming's newest slot Clumsy Cowboys. The only thing is that there is no herd here but a town in the middle of nowhere with wood-made buildings and barrels, cart wheels, and other tumbleweeds scattered or rolling around.

The Clumsy Cowboys slot is another Western from Backseat Gaming powered by Hacksaw Gaming’s proprietary content distribution platform. OpenRGS was launched in 2023, just in time for the partnership agreement with Backseat, and so far, 14 titles have been released, with several others in hand for the remainder of 2024.

Moreover, Old Gun was launched in August and was fairly accepted by players according to the results shared by the provider. The new Wild West-themed slot promises a more ordinary payout system, but an exciting Symbol Removal mechanic as a core feature and wild multipliers that become sticky during the bonus.

Clumsy Cowboys is a novel for two friends and partners, Harry and Ryan, who are not the typical cowboy characters. Instead of gruff and bearded men with pistols in holsters and spurs on boots, the studio presents a hippopotamus and a rhinoceros, hence the name of the game. These are probably the clumsiest of all large animals, but luckily, this flaw won't affect your play.

The wooden grid takes a central place on the screen in both desktop and mobile views. Clumsy Cowboys is an HTML5 online slot, so it is easily compatible with Android and iOS. The artwork quality is very good, and the animations look a bit basic but also up to par. You can choose to activate sound effects, background music, or both.

Either way, you won't go wrong, as the purpose of this element is to remind of the Western theme and relax players. The grid is slightly wider than usual, with 5 reels and 4 rows. There are 20 lines, paying from the leftmost reel to the right for 3, 4, or 5 symbols of a kind. Autoplay, Turbo, Super Turbo, and various Bonus Buy options are also on the table!

Clumsy Cowboys Slot - Reels Screen

The wild symbols also have a central role in the gameplay, in both base and bonus mode. They can land on reels 2, 3, and 4 only but come with multipliers and substitute for all other figures on the board, except scatters. Harry and Ryan are the most lavish characters, paying up to a strong 50x and 20x the bet, respectively.

The medium-valued symbols are several juicy fruits: Watermelons - 0.70x to 5x, Oranges - 0.60x to 4x, and Pears - 0.50x to 3x. The low-valued figures are A, K, Q, J, and 10, and they pay various rewards in the ratio from 0.10x to 2.50x the bet. Wilds and scatters pay no direct cash!

Clumsy Cowboys game comes with a rather standard betting range - €0.10 up to €100 per spin, but players can take advantage of 29 stake levels. Fans of the studio won't be surprised, but the variety is better than that of most of the other slots online. Plenty of strategies can be applied, especially given the game's medium levels of volatility.

Then again, the very high, for a medium-variance slot, Hit Frequency rate might be an obstacle - 30.74%. Another element to keep an eye on is the ranging RTP. Two variants will be released, with rates of 96.22% and 94.22%. It's unnecessary to say that the second one will lower your potential profits! Clumsy Cowboys offers a max win of 12,500x the bet!

Clumsy Cowboys Features

Backseat Gaming has established itself as an iGaming vendor with intriguing ideas that manage to implement combinations of popular features in most of its games. Clumsy Cowboys makes no exception, and all modifiers stand exactly on the right spots, while the bonus is packed with that solid 12,500x winning potential!

Symbol Removal

As I already mentioned, this is the mechanic in focus in the game. It's active during the Free Spins bonus only, and aims to eliminate low-paying symbols from the board. Thus, the chance of landing more profitable combinations naturally increases. The symbol removal starts from 10 and continues with J, Q, K, etc., on sequential spins.

Wilds with Multipliers

Here is what may look as an overused feature, but there will be not even one player that would mind having it in stock. Wilds with multipliers may land on any symbol position on reels 2, 3, and 4. The Multiplier value can be x2, x3, or x5, and if two or more wilds are involved in the same winning combination, their values are added together.

Free Spins Bonus Modes

The Free Spins minigame starts when 3 or 4 scatters hit the reels at the same time. If you have 3 Sheriff Badges in view, the Stick Them Up bonus will start with 10 initial free spins. During that mode, all wilds are sticky and scatters on reels 1 and 5, simultaneously activate Symbol Removal and add 2 extra free spins.

If you are lucky to land 4 scatters at the same time during the base game, the Sheriff's Showdown will trigger. You will get 10 free spins once again with sticky wilds, but in addition, all low-valued symbols (A to 10) are removed in advance. If you land scatters on the 1st and 5th reels, the Symbol Removal will continue with the juicy fruits, and you will again get 2 extra free rounds.

Clumsy Cowboys Slot - Free Spins Gameplay Screen

Buy Bonus

Backseat Gaming copies Hacksaw's style and provides plenty of Bonus Buy features on the markets where this tool is allowed. In this particular case, players can benefit from a Bonus Bet and 4 purchasing options. All come with a price, and a win isn't guaranteed, so use these instruments wisely:

• BonusHunt FeatureSpins - 2x the bet - 3x the chance of bonus activation (96.35%)
• Bandit's Grab FeatureSpins - 25x the bet - 3 to 12 wilds with a random number of low-valued symbols removed (96.25%)
• Outlaw's Steal FeatureSpins - 75x the bet - 3 to 12 wilds with all low-valued symbols removed (96.29%)
• Stick Them Up Bonus - 100x the bet - get 3 scatters on the following spin (96.30%)
• Sheriff's Showdown Bonus - 200x the bet - get 4 scatters on the following spin (96.25%)

Pros And Cons Of Clumsy Cowboys Slot

Our Verdict

So, Clumsy Cowboys Backseat Gaming is actually quite a lively online slot that offers decent dynamics, especially via the Turbo tools. The high hit rate comes with the multiplier wilds, which land quite frequently, to be honest. Because of that, I was tempted to test for a longer period two Bonus Buy features - Bandit's Grab and Outlaw's Steal.

Both gave good results on average, but players must be careful with this type of feature. Keep in mind that they usually increase the RTP, but also the volatility, as is the case with this game. Other positive elements in the game are the nice visuals, sounds, and potentially lucrative bonus modes.

If I have to compare this Western with Old Gun, I can find some similarities, but the new challenge is somehow more plain. Backseat and the other Hacksaw's partnering studio, Bullshark Games, apparently inherited the parent company's interest in Wild West-themed slots. Pickle Bandits was released in July, and it's also heavily packed with awesome features.

Hacksaw Gaming has several Westerns in its library, including the mega-hit Wanted Dead Or A Wild. This magnificent Cluster Pays release came out in 2021 and is still among the hottest titles of the provider. I can also recommend 2 Wild 2 Die if you are up for more serious games and Rusty & Curly if cartoons is what you are after!

The common thing between all these titles, Pickle Bandits and Clumsy Cowboys, is the brilliant way of mixing top-rated features. In most cases, we see wild multipliers or other wild modifiers, at least 2 or 3 Free Spins modes with upgrades, and plenty of Bonus Buy tools. That variety is at the heart of OpenRGS’ content success.

When all is said and done, there is nothing but to saddle the horses and look for another challenge. Luckily, there are plenty in 2024, and although the summer is over, the best days are ahead. Clumsy Cowboys doesn't have the potential to achieve greatness, but it's above average in pretty much everything, so I vote to give this spinner a try!