Buried By Night (Hacksaw Gaming) – Slot Review
Buried By Night by Hacksaw Gaming takes inspiration from the Wild West, creating a dark, gritty setting filled with gunslingers, duels and outlaw imagery. The reels feature sheriff badges, revolvers, animal skulls and vintage wheels, alongside traditional playing card symbols, reinforcing the atmosphere of a lawless frontier town.
The game’s visual identity combines classic Western elements with a darker, slightly macabre edge. Its DuelRows mechanic also ties directly into the theme, introducing face-offs between duelists and adding a sense of shootout action to the gameplay. Overall, Buried By Night delivers a stylised Western experience that blends familiar cowboy imagery with gritty visuals and a distinctive duelling theme.
Buried By Night features a 5-reel by 4-row layout with 14 fixed pay lines. The game has high variance, an RTP of 96.32% and a maximum win of 15,000x the stake. Bets range from £0.10 to £50.
Buried By Night Symbols & Pay Table
There are 13 symbols in total, including four low-paying card suits: Clubs, Diamonds, Spades and Hearts. The five premium symbols consist of Wheels, Animal Skulls, Sheriff Hats, Revolvers and Sheriff Badges. The remaining symbols are a Wild, a VS symbol, a Scatter and a Hot 100 Scatter. The Wild and VS symbols are the highest-paying symbols, both awarding up to 15x the stake for five matching symbols across a pay line.
Buried By Night Features & Mechanics
DuelRows
VS symbols can land on reels 2, 3 and 4. When a VS symbol lands, it expands horizontally across its row and transforms into DuelRows if it forms part of a winning combination after expanding. DuelRows act as Wild rows, substituting for all symbols in the paytable.
The number of reels covered depends on where the original VS symbol lands:
- Reel 2: Expands across reels 1–3.
- Reel 3: Expands across reels 1–5.
- Reel 4: Expands across reels 3–5.
Each expanded DuelRow triggers a duel between two duelists, with a Multiplier assigned to each. The surviving duelist’s Multiplier applies across the entire DuelRow and affects all wins connected to it. If multiple DuelRows contribute to the same winning combination, their Multipliers are added together before being applied to the win.
Available additive Multipliers are 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 10x, 25x, 50x and 100x. DuelRows cannot expand into or overlap one another.
Bonus Game – Trigger Warning
Landing three Free Spins Scatter symbols simultaneously during the Base Game triggers the Trigger Warning bonus, awarding 10 Free Spins.
The bonus retains the Base Game mechanics but increases the chance of VS symbols landing. Additional Free Spins symbols can award extra spins:
- 2 Free Spins symbols: +2 Free Spins.
- 3 Free Spins symbols: +4 Free Spins.
Bonus Game – Shoot to Kill
Landing four Free Spins Scatter symbols simultaneously during the Base Game triggers the Shoot to Kill bonus, awarding 8 Free Spins.
The bonus retains the Base Game mechanics and introduces a progressive DuelSpin Bar displayed outside the grid. Each Free Spins symbol that lands fills the bar by one step. Filling three steps advances it by one Tier, with four Tiers available.
Each Tier awards a DuelSpin with the following rewards:
- Tier 1: At least 1 VS symbol, 3 Nudges and 2 Free Spins.
- Tier 2: At least 2 VS symbols, 4 Nudges and 2 Free Spins.
- Tier 3: At least 3 VS symbols, 5 Nudges and 2 Free Spins.
- Tier 4: At least 4 VS symbols, 6 Nudges and 2 Free Spins.
During a DuelSpin, each awarded Nudge moves all reels down by one row simultaneously. Any resulting wins are evaluated and awarded before the next Nudge takes place.
DuelSpins are played immediately after the Free Spin that unlocks them and do not count towards the bonus’s total Free Spins. If multiple DuelSpins are awarded on the same spin, they are played consecutively before the next Free Spin begins.
Hot 100 Bonus – Six Feet Under
Landing three Hot 100 Scatter symbols simultaneously during the Base Game triggers the Six Feet Under bonus, awarding one Free Spin.
The bonus retains the Base Game mechanics but introduces a Hot 100 Meter displayed outside the grid. During the Free Spin, Nudges are repeatedly triggered until 100 wins have been awarded. Each win is recorded on the meter, and once it reaches 100, no further Nudges are triggered.
Free Spins symbols cannot land during this bonus.
Conclusion
Overall, Buried By Night by Hacksaw Gaming delivers a high-variance Western-themed experience built around its distinctive DuelRows mechanic. The expanding Wild rows and duelling Multipliers add an interesting twist to the base game, while the Trigger Warning and Shoot to Kill bonuses provide additional opportunities through increased VS symbol activity, DuelSpins and Nudges.
With a 96.32% RTP and a maximum win of 15,000x, the game offers considerable winning potential. The Six Feet Under bonus also introduces a different approach, focusing on repeated Nudges until 100 wins have been recorded. Be sure to try out this game on launch and check out our exclusive casino offers.