Hoot Shot The Sheriff

Hoot Shot The Sheriff Review

It's only the middle of May, but we are already looking at the end of June, where a bunch of hot slots are about to be released. Hoot Shot The Sheriff is one of them pictured in the hot desert, but luckily at dawn or sunset. The game adds to the Backseat Gaming portfolio and offers proven mechanics, a payout system, and features. It comes with a massive win potential, so let's check what is on the reels!

Backseat Gaming is one of the partner studios of the leading provider Hacksaw Gaming, operating on the OpenRGS platform. It was established in 2023, but it already has nearly 30 online slots launched. Moreover, some of them have similar mechanics and two titles even share the same theme - Clumsy Cowboys and Old Gun. The second one has a similar look and vibe, but it's still miles away.

Hoot Shot The Sheriff has a 6x5 grid and is powered by Pay Anywhere mechanics and cascading reels. Tumbles are linked to the Global Multiplier displayed on the right, but more in a while. Symbols pay for 8 or more of a kind from any position on the grid, and the mechanic is also known as scatter-pays. The game features advanced tools - Turbo, Super Turbo, Autoplay, Buy Bonus, and more.

Hoot Shot The Sheriff Slot - Game Screen

Hoot Shot The Sheriff is a Western slot, but the lawmaker here is not a guy or a pretty woman, but an owl with a Cowboy's hat, pistol, and a fixed gaze. It will be lucky to have it in numbers, because it has the potential to pay from 2x to 400x the bet. Money Bags pay from 1.50x to 300x, Cowboy Boots award from 1x to 200x, while Cactus pays between 0.50x to 150x the bet.

The low-valued symbols land in the form of card suits plus a triangle, and each one awards prizes from 0.20x to 50x the stake. Hoot Shot The Sheriff lacks wild symbols, which is not too surprising for a Pay Anywhere slot. The betting range is standard - €0.10 to €100 per spin, and there is a bet booster for those more eager to start the bonus.

The Hoot Shot The Sheriff RTP ranges and can be 96.32% or 94.26%. For obvious reasons and because of the featured high levels of volatility, I recommend playing the first variant only. The Hit Frequency rate is decent - 22%, although I prefer slightly more generous spinners. The max win is capped at 25,000x the bet, which ranks it first by this indicator in Backseat Gaming's library. Furthermore, the second, Lord Venom, has significantly less potential (15,000x).

Hoot Shot The Sheriff Features

Hoot Shot The Sheriff features simple mechanics, yet quite effective and proven on the market. Slots with advanced mechanics like Pay Anywhere and Cluster Pays become more and more popular, especially those enhanced with tumbles or cascades. In addition, Hacksaw's partner has added a bonus minigame in a normal and enhanced mode.

Global Multiplier

Total Win Bar is a display placed exactly above the reels, where you can see all payouts collected throughout cascades. Moreover, each tumble will add x1 to the Global Multiplier to the right. It starts from x1, but the first payout is always doubled, so you can't actually collect only the sums shown in the paytable. It will be at least x2 or more. Once the last cascade is over, the Total Win Bar value will be increased with the Global Multiplier and all Sheriff's Badge symbols, if any.

Sheriff’s Badge Symbol

Sheriff's Badge may land on any grid position during the spin and tumbles. When the round is over, each Sheriff's Badge will reveal a multiplier of x2, x3, x4, x5, or x10. These values will be added to the Global Multiplier value, and the total will multiply the total win from the respective spin.

Midnight Gun Fight

As usual, the scatter symbols have the power to activate the bonus minigame, and you'll need 3 at the same time. Midnight Gun Fight starts with 10 free spins and a persistent Global Multiplier. Yes, its value will not reset at the end of each free spin, and thus, it can reach pretty awesome values. Landing 3 scatters in the bonus will award 5 extra free spins, with no limits.

Sheriff’s Hooutout

Sheriff's Hooutout is the enhanced Free Spins version, and you'll need 4 scatters on the grid simultaneously. Similar to Midnight Gun Fight, the bonus starts with 10 free spins, and landing 3 scatter symbols will add another 5. The big difference is that the Sheriff's Badge symbols will multiply the Global Multiplier, which is once again persistent for the duration of the bonus.

Buy Bonus

The Bonus Buy features in Hoot Shot The Sheriff allow you not just to purchase the minigames, but to boost your bet as well. They might not be available in all casino sites or countries due to regulatory restrictions. Keep in mind that each feature slightly changes the overall RTP rate. Here is more information about what's in the panel:

• BonusHunt FeatureSpins - 2x the bet - 3x the chance of triggering a bonus minigame (96.30%)
• QuickDraw FeatureSpins - 50x the bet - at least 1 Sheriff's Badge symbol is guaranteed to land (96.29%)
• Midnight Gun Fight - 100x the bet - get 3 guaranteed scatter symbols (96.30%)
• Sheriff's Hooutout - 200x the bet - get 4 guaranteed scatter symbols (96.29%)

Theme & Graphics

Hoot Shot The Sheriff is a nice conceptual slot by Backseat Gaming with light-hearted motifs wrapped in a Western theme. Given the fact that the studio uses Hacksaw's resources, the fine visual quality is hardly a surprise. Indeed, there are no brilliant animation effects here, but the premium graphics and the nice desert setting are thumbs up.

Hoot seems to be the Owl in the storyline, who doesn't seem to be the sheriff, given the name of the game. It's the only character, and you can only spot it on the reels. That's normal for Backseat Gaming and totally differs from the parent studio concepts. Hoot Shot The Sheriff is an HTML5 slot and it’s fully compatible with Android and iOS mobiles.

Pros And Cons Of Hoot Shot The Sheriff Slot

Our Verdict

Hoot Shot The Sheriff is fun, and my test session showed impressive results. In short, it is a must-try for all fans of Pay Anywhere slots. If we look at the game in more detail, we can highlight the Global Multiplier and Sheriff's Badges, as well as their enhancements during the Free Spins bonus. The lack of originality may be a pity, but overall, the slot stands well.

This is not the first game of this type for Backseat Gaming, as I mentioned earlier. Despite the limited catalog, the provider can offer Pirate Bonanza 2 and Old Gun, as well as several other titles with scatter-pays mechanics. But Hoot Shot The Sheriff has a more impressive win potential that levels the studio to new heights.

The slot market offers many other Western slots with advanced payout mechanics and I picked 2 of them to offer as alternatives. Bounty County is also a June-scheduled release by the renowned provider Relax Gaming. It offers medium volatility, but also a lower win cap (5,000x). The gameplay requires shooting out all the bandits to unlock the bonus minigame and get your hands on the loot.

Most Wanted by TrueLab Games is also a 2025 slot and deserves close attention. It pays up to 15,000x and is packed with random Bounty Multipliers of up to x1,000. The Manhunt Spins bonus has solid potential, although the mechanics are not innovative. As you can see, many providers put their money on proven features, so the Backseat decision seems justified and Hoot Shot The Sheriff definitely deserves more than a spin!