Bison Wilds DoubleMax: Slot Overview

Bison fans, they’re back again—though it often feels like they never really went away. Much like a mysterious fridge smell you can’t quite locate, bison-themed slots keep hanging around the online gambling scene. This time, Yggdrasil Gaming partner Reflex Gaming is offering another chance to head out into the wilderness and cross paths with these huge prairie animals. And we’re doing it with Yggdrasil’s DoubleMax mechanic in tow: a multiplier that doubles on every winning cascade, previously capable of some serious damage—now paired with the thunder of a charging herd?

To be honest, there aren’t any major upgrades going on in Bison Wilds DoubleMax, and, in classic Reflex Gaming fashion, it looks like something that would’ve landed better a few years ago. “Gah” is a common first impression with Reflex Gaming slots, as the studio continues to produce visuals that are very much an acquired taste. The reels flare up with explosions when winning symbols disappear, with grass and sunlight sitting behind the action, but if you’re hoping for a bison slot that truly whisks you away into peaceful natural grandeur, Bison Wilds DoubleMax may not be the easiest place to park your imagination. The soundtrack does bring a fair bit of energy, though.

If you can handle the look of it, Bison Wilds DoubleMax places 15 symbols on a 5×3 gaming grid, forming wins across 20 paylines. The RTP isn’t particularly impressive, with the highest return option topping out at 94%, and a lower 90.5% version also on offer. Reflex Gaming labels the volatility as ‘super-high’, which may pair nicely with how DoubleMax ramps up, while staking runs from 20 c to $/€100 – and activating the Golden Bet lifts the wager by 25%, doubling the chance to trigger free spins.

On the symbol front, Bison Wilds DoubleMax deals out clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds, plus eagles, wolves, cougars, and horses. A line of 5 matching card suits returns 1x the bet, while 5-of-a-kind animal combinations pay between 2x-5x. Wilds assist by substituting for any standard paying symbol to help complete wins.

Bison Wilds DoubleMax: Slot Features

Every win in Bison Wilds DoubleMax activates the Pop and Drop cascade feature. To begin with, all winning symbols pop off the reels. Next, one or more wild symbols are inserted into the newly opened spaces, and then the remaining gaps are filled as new symbols drop in. During this process, four different wild symbols can show up:

• Standard Wilds.
• Super Wilds, which fill all empty spaces on a reel.
• Boost Wilds, which increases the multiplier trail by a random amount.
• EachWay Wilds, which pays from both right to left and left to right when involved in a win.

DoubleMax

With each cascade, the win multiplier doubles in value up to a maximum of x65,536. The first win starts at x1, and any following cascades use the increased multiplier values. In the base game, the multiplier resets back to x1 on the next spin.

Free Spins

In the base game, landing 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols awards 7, 10, or 13 free spins, respectively. During free spins, the win multiplier benefits from not resetting until the feature finishes. Free spins can’t be retriggered, though players can purchase 7 free spins from the base game for 100 times the bet.

Free Spins Gamble

When the free spins feature is triggered by 3 or 4 scatters, players can either take the spins or gamble to try to increase them. A failed gamble wipes out all free spins. A successful gamble advances the feature by one tier, moving from 7 to 10 or from 10 to 13 free spins. With a 4-scatter trigger, players may gamble once, while a 3-scatter trigger allows up to two gambles.

Bison Wilds DoubleMax: Slot Verdict

Reflex Gaming has long been known for producing old-school visual clunkers, and Bison Wilds DoubleMax is another entry in that tradition. Clearly, someone out there is playing these games—otherwise, why would a company like Yggdrasil support them? The real question is what would make a player put their money into Bison Wilds DoubleMax when there are so many better-made slots available. Still, perhaps it’s not worth being too harsh. If you genuinely enjoy a dated, old-fashioned style, Reflex has delivered another one to scratch that particular itch.

To its credit, Bison Wilds DoubleMax does include fairly contemporary mechanics, even if most of what’s here is standard DoubleMax seasoning. Reflex Gaming also seems to be following the industry slide in RTP, with the 94% option matching what some other studios are doing—ELK Studios being one example. ELK can sometimes get away with it (to a point) thanks to gorgeous presentation and outrageously strong gameplay that really grabs attention. Reflex Gaming slots generally don’t achieve that same pull. Bison Wilds DoubleMax doesn’t either, sitting firmly in the middle for both visuals and features—because, mechanically, it largely plays like a typical DoubleMax title. One possible standout is the variety of wilds that can appear during cascades. Fair enough, if that’s your thing, and the 19,997x the bet max win is also relatively high.

So yes, the wild variety might spark a little curiosity, but beyond that there’s not much reason to pick Bison Wilds DoubleMax over other DoubleMax slots—or even the roughly 327 other bison slots out there. It looks merely okay, feels behind the times, offers a weak RTP compared to many peers, and there’s very little here to lift Bison Wilds DoubleMax above “gah” territory.