Tombstone Begins

Tombstone Begins Review

Wild West is a term describing an era of several decades, starting after the end of the US Civil War in 1865. It was a time characterized by rapid expansion, lawlessness, and rugged individualism. If you put all that through the iGaming prism, you get an endless source of themes and slot scripts. Every top-tiered developing studio, including Nolimit City, has a Western series and the game under the spotlights here, Tombstone Begins, is also part of one.

Nolimit City might not be the biggest and most distinguished slot brand in the Evolution Gaming network, but it’s definitely the most creative one. Or, at least it has been such in the last several years. In 2019, NoLimit City released Tombstone, which is still one of the most impressive Wild West slots out there. In 2022, the provider sequeled it with Tombstone RIP and offered a groundbreaking win cap of 300,000x the bet!

RIP’s success was severe, but it took another 2 years for part 3 - Tombstone No Mercy, which was another huge hit. And then, out of the blue, Nolimit City decided to throw the hard-to-compare Tombstone Slaughter El Gordo's Revenge. The enhanced personality and brilliant features were the least that players found in it, and still found it on a daily basis. Slaughter El Gordo's Revenge pays up to an unmatchable 500,000x the bet!

The Tombstone series is so hot that it deserves a full introduction! Moreover, the last sequel came in just under a year after No Mercy, so it is understandable why fans were expecting a new one in 2026. And they will get it, since the provider is ready to release Tombstone Begins. The early exclusive launch was on the 5th of May, while the wide release is scheduled for the 12th. Packed with the xSplit, xNudge, and xTra mechanics, several bonus modes, and a bag of surprises, the title is definitely worth a try. You can do that via the Tombstone Begins demo, but don't fail to benefit from the rest of my dedicated review!

Tombstone Begins Slot - Reels Screen

Tombstone Begins immediately shows that it doesn’t follow the lead of the prequels of the series. The original layout was 2-3-3-3-2, slightly changed to 2-3-3-3-1 in RIP, and stretched with an extra reel in Slaughter El Gordo’s Revenge - 2-3-3-3-3-2. All slots so far offered 108 ways to win, except for the last one - 324. Well, Nolimit City changed the setting entirely for the number 5!

Tombstone Begins has a 5-reel grid with a 4-5-5-5-4 row configuration and 22 paylines. They are quite ordinary and pay for 3 or more symbols of a kind and combinations starting from the leftmost reel and continuing to the right. The usual technical stuff is easy to spot: Autoplay, Turbo, Boosters, and Bonus Buy. Nolimit also provides extra menus, like Winners, Promotions, and Action Spins.

Unlike previous Tombstone slots, there are no characters in the paytable. Gold Bars pay from 1x to 10x the bet, just like the wild symbol when lined up. Wilds can land everywhere on the board and substitute for the regular figures, as usual. Money Bags award 0.80x to 7x, Dynamite - 0.70x to 5x, while Pistols and Knives pay 0.60x to 4x and 0.50x to 3x, respectively. The low-valued symbols are A, K, Q, J, and 10, and they deliver varied payouts between 0.15x and 1.80x the bet.

The Tombstone Begins RTP ranges, but the highest rate remains around the usual for the series - 96.02%. It’s a highly volatile slot, or even extremely volatile as Nolimit City presents it. The alternative RTPs are 94.03% and 92.03%, while the Hit Frequency is 20.45%. The Tombstone Begins max win is 20,000x the bet, and the stake limits are the studio’s usual - €0.20 to €100 per spin.

Tombstone Begins Features

Tombstone Begins comes with an original set of bonus features: Revolver modifiers, Unleash and Refill enhancers, and Free Spins with Extra Spins. As I already mentioned, Boosters and Bonus Buys are also part of the script as usual, although some of them might be restricted in certain regions. You can find all the details about the slot’s special mechanics and features in the following paragraphs:

Win Respins

Win Respins are a bonus feature, but it’s part of the game’s core payout mechanic. It activates when at least one winning combination is at hand. If so, the symbols part of the combo, as well as all their instances on the grid are held and become sticky. A respin is awarded and repeated if new symbols are held:

• Symbols of the locked combos
• New winning combinations
• Wilds
• Scatters (in base mode only)
• Revolver Symbols

Revolver Symbol

Revolver Symbol may appear on every grid position with 3 to 6 bullets. They execute random modifiers, but only one bullet per revolver per spin. Bullets target regular symbols and wilds if the feature is xSplit. Revolvers shoot one after another, from left to right. Here are all the Revolver modifiers in Tombstone Begins:

• Wild - the target symbol transforms into Wild.
• xSplit - feature splits symbols and doubles their multiplier values.
• Upgrade - bullet can hit any regular symbol on the grid instead of Gold Bars. The target symbol and all its instances in view will transform into another, higher-paying symbol.
• xNudge Wild - xNudge Wild comes into play when a bullet hits above the reels 2, 3, or 4. When there are no respins left, it will nudge downwards until it’s fully in view, and each nudge position will increase the win multiplier by 1.
• xNudge Multiplier - xNudge Multipliers increase the xNudge Wild multipliers by x2, x3, x10, or x100. They are additive in case more than one is active and part of a winning combination.
• Random - changes to any of the aforementioned bullets randomly.

Bullets will be shot with no effect if there are no valid targets according to the said rules. Tombstone Begins is also packed with 2 special symbols - Unleash and Refill. Unleash Symbol can land only once per spin, and when it does, all remaining bullets in all Revolvers will be shot instantly. Refill Symbol can also land just once per round, and it refills all Revolvers to the maximum of 6 bullets.

Free Spins Bonuses

BONUS is a scatter symbol, and it can land on any reel during the base game and free spins. If you have 3, 4, or 5 scatters in view after the last respin, you will trigger the listed bonus modes, respectively. xTra is a special mechanic that may activate at the end of a Free Spins minigame. It will offer an Extra Spin at a price calculated according to the current grid’s payout potential. If you purchase such a spin, it’ll keep the xNudge Multipliers as they are, and it’s guaranteed to receive a Revolver with an xNudge bullet.

• Gunslinger Spins - get 6 spins with each scatter bringing +1. The Nudge Multipliers don’t reset between Gunslinger Spins.
• Outlaw Spins - get 8 spins with the Gunslinger Spins mechanic and all Revolvers land fully loaded.
• Widowmaker Spins - get 10 spins with the Outlaw Spins mechanic. Revolvers will shoot all their remaining bullets before an xNudge Wild activation, or when there are no respins left.

Tombstone Begins Slot – Bonus Game Win Screen

Nolimit Boosters & Nolimit Bonus

Nolimit City is one of those slot studios that love adding bonus bets and bonus buys. Free Spins activates in 216 spins on average, so these tools are not to be neglected. There are 4 boosters in Tombstone Begins and 4 Bonus Buy options. The slot’s overall RTP changes slightly and varies from 95.97% to 96.12% between all the following features:

• Bonus Booster - 2x the bet - a scatter is guaranteed to land on the second reel.
• xNudge Showdown - 30x the bet - get a Revolver loaded with 2 xNudge Wild and 2 xNudge Multiplier bullets.
• xNudge Fully Loaded - 190x the bet - get a Revolver loaded with 3 xNudge Wild and 3 xNudge Multiplier bullets.
• Revolver Mayhem - 999x the bet - get 6 Revolvers on the top and bottom positions of reels 2, 3, and 4. They will have random bullets, but 3 Revolvers will have xNudge Multiplier, and 1 Revolver will have xNudge Wild.

• Gunslinger Spins - 70x the bet
• Outlaw Spins - 200x the bet
• Widowmaker Spins - 600x the bet
• Lucky Draw 50%:20%:30% - 255x the bet

Theme & Graphics

Tombstone Begins is another sequel to the Wild West theme, powered up by Nolimit City in 2019. The first game was a wonderful way for the provider to showcase its potential and it really went away with it. Now, it’s time to reverse the tape and see where it all began. Tombstone was presented as “the land of the quickest gunslingers in the entire Wild West”. And here is the part that they don’t tell!

The town was once a place for cowboys and cattle, and all the outlaws out there, including El Gordo, were looking to make a name. Tombstone Begins offers a sad sight of a town in ruin where more than one shot has rang. The graphics and animation effects are awesome, and you can still shoot at the interface by clicking or tapping directly on the screen. The audio is fascinating, but the slot lacks the personality we were all used to in the previous titles of the series.

Tombstone Begins Free Play

We are working hard to add a Tombstone Begins free play link to my review, and you’ll soon be able to test the title with no risk. Make sure to spend enough time with the demo, as the game has a massive potential, but also carries a risk. Play your favorite features via the Nolimit Boosters and Nolimit Bonus Buys, and mark your targets. Learn new betting techniques or test your favorite ones and load your “guns” for the real-money showdown.

Pros And Cons Of Tombstone Begins Slot

Our Verdict

Tombstone Begins offers a Vengeance max win of a solid 20,000x, and this would be more than enough for any other Western slot. Well, any other besides those crafted by Nolimit City! The RIP and Slaughter editions have just lifted the bar too high. Another flaw I can highlight is the lack of personality in the game and the somewhat more generic vibes when executing features and activating bonus modes.

There is no tension, and it looks like Begins is a spin-off and not an actual sequel to the Tombstone series. Perhaps it is even fairer to look at the title that way! After all, it precedes the events in the other 4 games, so it is normal for the outlaws presented there to be yet outside of the picture. Make no mistake, Tombstone Begins is no bad or disappointing online slot whatsoever!

On the contrary, the game offers simply breathtaking audio-visuals and fast-spinning reels. The actual payout pace is not bad despite the 20.45% and just 22 paylines in action. The Revolver modifiers, Unleash, and Refill are quite effective, especially when respins start coming one after another. Last but not least, the slot builds potential in the bonus minigames and offers the thrill you seek when choosing a premier game developer. So, in conclusion, Tombstone Begins is hard to compare with the rest of the series, but it’s definitely worth the shot, even if you don’t feel passionate about the Wild West theme!