The Bandit and the Baron

The Bandit and the Baron Slot Review 2024

The Bandit and the Baron from Microgaming partner Just For the Win takes us to a place we’ve visited one-hundred, if not one-thousand times before – the Wild West Frontier.

Wild West Slots has been around for as long as we can remember. It’s hard to pinpoint a place in time where it all started, but it’s safe to say that there’s a fair few floating around, but is it getting….dare we say…old?

Opinions will be divided on this one. Some may hold certain titles under the Wild West umbrella as timeless classics, and in some senses we do too. Who after all could forget Dead or Alive, Deadwood, Sticky Bandits and more? Earlier adopters of the popular genre evidentally enjoyed ample success, and many after it has thrown their hat in the ring, hoping to make a similar impression.

Is there room for another? The Bandit and the Baron may not wow you with its generic theme, but surprising potential may.

The Bandit and the Baron is certainly more than meets the eye with plenty of features to experience. Let’s see if it can make its mark amidst a swathe of others set in the same era.

The Bandit and the Baron Betting and Symbols

There is a variety of betting options for players to choose from in The Bandit and the Baron. For those who prefer a lower stake, the minimum bet available is £/€0.20 per spin. For those who prefer a higher stake, the maximum bet available is £/€20 per spin, with plenty of other options in between the two.

The highest paying regular symbol in The Bandit and the Baron is the Safe, followed by Gold Bars, the Coin Bag, the Pile of Cash and Silver Coins. Lower paying symbols fall to Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds.

Wild symbols substitute for all symbols except Bandit Scatters.

The Bandit and the Baron Base Game and Features

The Bandit and the Baron is a 5 reel slot with 25 fixed paylines. In order to form a win you will need to connect 3 or more of the same symbols from left to right, starting from the left-most reel.

The base game in The Bandit and the Baron may not look like anything special, but Just For The Win has graced us with not one but two exciting features to keep the game interesting.

Baron Wilds

All Wild symbols that land in the base game will transform into Baron Wilds.

When a Wild symbol lands in view, it will expand into a Baron Wild, expanding to fill the entire reel.

Less is more in some cases, but definitely not in the slot world. You’ll want as many of these as possible!

Bandit Respin

If 2 Bandit Scatters land on reels 1, 3 and 5, a Bandit Respin is awarded.

During the Bandit Respin, the reel without a Bandit Scatter will respin in hopes of landing the additional Bandit Scatter needed to trigger the Bonus round.

The Bandit ad the Baron Respins

Landing 3 full or partial Bandit Scatters on reels 1, 3 and 5, triggers the Bandit Bonus, which awards 3 Respins.

In the Respins round, only 12 locked spaces and 13 empty spaces appear on the reels.

All base game symbols are removed from play, leaving only 3 special symbols.

• Cash symbol – Each Cash symbol has its own Cash Prize value of 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 8x, 10x and 25x.
• Key symbol – Each Key symbol that lands, unlocks one of the locked spaces on the grid, activating any Cash symbol that may be behind it.
• Upgrade symbol – Each Upgrade symbol that lands, will upgrade one of the rows adjacent to it by either x2, x3, x5 or x10.

Each time any of the 3 symbols land on the grid, the Respins will reset back to 3.

Coin symbols that land, will lock into position and remain there for the duration of Respins.

Unlocking a space that is locked with a Cash Prize value behind it, will be added to your total win automatically.

The Respins round will end when there are no respins remaining, all positions are filled on the grid or the maximum win capacity of 25,000x is reached.

The Bandit and the Baron Bonus Buy

For those outside the UK, you may benefit from a Bonus Buy option.

This can be purchased for 100x your current bet.

The Bandit and the Baron Our Verdict

We’ll be the first to admit that we’re standoffish, aloof and indifferent to Wild West Slots of late. It’s hard to appreciate something at a glance when there’s so many other slots with the same veneer, but it wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t look past that, and we’re glad we did with The Bandit and the Baron.

There’s some obvious inspiration here, with some subtle similarities to Money Train 2, but overall The Bandit and the Baron does well in making a positive impression with an interesting bonus game, and perhaps even more importantly, some great features in the Base Game. Bonus Features are all well and good, but unfortunately it’s a fact of life that those of us without a Bonus Buy spends 99% of their time in the Base Game, and features like the ones here really help in amplifying the experience.

In terms of potential, The Bandit and the Baron boasts of high maximum win capabilities with 25,000x potential, but we’ll believe it when we see it. Technically possible and realistically possible are two different things, and sadly only a few providers put their money where their mouths are.

Overall, The Bandit and the Baron is a decent showing, but it’s not quite good enough to knock titans off of their perch.