Little Bighorn

Little Bighorn: Slot Overview

Little Bighorn, an online slot from developer Nolimit City, refers to the Battle of Little Bighorn, a historic event also known as The Battle of Greasy Grass or Custer's Last Stand. The battle was a dust-up between the Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne, and Lakota Sioux tribes, plus the 7th Cavalry Regiment, which saw the United States Army receive a bloody nose in defeat. The rumble took place on June 25-26, 1876, at the Little Bighorn River in the Crow Indian Reservation in the state of Montana, and has been represented or studied in paintings, movies, novels, video games, documentaries, podcasts, and now – an online slot.

The slot in question is Little Bighorn, and it takes place in one of Nolimit City's favoured places and eras – The Wild West, circa the late nineteenth century. Incidentally, the state of Montana is apparently one of the best places to get a taste of The Wild West with its roaming buffalo and tumbleweed-infested ghost towns. We don't get towns in Little Bighorn; Nolimit City has instead set the action out on the prairies under a heavy amber sky next to a barrier-like rock wall formation. It's a little underwhelming and plain looking knowing what NLC are capable of, but it does the job. In the middle sits a game grid arranged in an unusual 3-4-5-3-2 formation, with 360 ways to win, covered in icons and characters from the time. Completing the picture is a soundtrack that plods moodily in the base game before tuning up the Dick Dale dial in the bonus rounds.

Time for some stats, and leading us off is RTP which comes in three settings, the highest being 96.06% when betting regularly from 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin - rising to 96.1% when the Scalp Bet is active which increases the stake by 50%. With the Scalp Bet switched on, a Totem Scatter lands on the second reel on every base game spin. As for volatility, that has been rated as 'Extreme' or 10 out of 10, while the game is playable on any device.

Winning ways can be from three to five symbols in length, and there are 10 regular pays in the game. These are five weapons as the five low pays and five people as the highs – including Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Two Moon. Five-of-a-kind winning ways award players 1-1.25x the bet for the weapons or 1.5 to 3.75 times the stake for the people. Regular 1x1 wilds land on all reels, substituting for any normal pay symbols and paying 3.75 the bet for five of a kind.

Little Bighorn: Slot Features

Grab some snacks and settle in for this section since Little Bighorn is stacked with features. However, they're not as head-scratching as they might have been. Here we wade through xMount Scalp Wilds, Totem Wilds, No Mercy Scatters, Spirit Call Respins, Scalp Freespins, Spirit Call Freespins, and Nolimit Bonus.

xMount – Scalp Wild

Scalp Wilds can only land on the 5-symbol high reel. When one hits, all American soldiers are transformed into wild symbols. The Scalp Wild then nudges to cover the entire reel. For each nudge, the American soldier symbols are scalped, giving a +1 multiplier to these transformed wilds. The multiplier value represents the symbol count on the respective reel.

Totem Wild

Totem Scatters appear on reels 2, 3, or 4 in the base game or in Scalp Freespins. During Spirit Call Freespins, Totem Scatters may only land on reels 3, 4, or 5. Landing 1 or 2 Totem Scatters in the base game converts them into expanding full reel wilds. Any Totem Scatter that lands in free spins becomes an expanding wild and awards +1 extra free spin. Landing 3 Totem Scatters in the base triggers Scalp Freespins.

No Mercy Scatter – Spirit Call Respin

Appearing on the fifth reel only is the No Mercy Scatter. When it lands in the base game, a Spirit Call Respin is triggered. The No Mercy Scatter moves to the first reel, and a respin occurs. The scatter then transforms into a wild version of one of these symbols:

• Sitting Bull – turns all instances of this pay symbol types in view into expanding wilds.
• Crazy Horse – turns the Crazy Horse pay symbols into regular wilds. For each Crazy Horse symbol on the reels, a +1 multiplier is added to all of the corresponding symbols.
• Two Moon – turn Two Moons symbols into wilds.

Scalp Freespins

Landing 3 Totem Scatters awards 8 Scalp Freespins. In free spins, each Scalp Wild increases the round's win multiplier by +1 for each scalped symbol. The win multiplier is persistent until the feature ends. When Totem Scatters hit, they become expanded wilds and award +1 extra free spin. Also, landing a No Mercy Scatter activates Spirit Call Free Spins and awards +2 free spins.

Spirit Call Freespins

Landing 3 Totem Scatters and 1 No Mercy Scatter in the base game awards 10 Spirit Call Freespins. The same rules as Scalp Freespins apply, except a No Mercy Scatter sticks to the first reel for the full duration, and the grid switches to a 2-3-4-5-3 formation. On each free spin, the No Mercy Scatter transforms into a wild Sitting Horse, Crazy Horse, or Two Moon symbol, the effects of which are the same as in the Spirit Call Respin.

Nolimit Bonus

Clicking the star icon opens the Nolimit Bonus menu, where you can buy Scalp Freespins for 77x the bet (96.19% RTP) or Spirit Call Freespins for 490x the bet (96.02% RTP). The third option costs 159.5x the bet and provides an 80% chance to trigger Scalp Freespins or a 20% chance to trigger Spirit Call Freespins (96.29% RTP).

Little Bighorn: Slot Verdict

Trust Nolimit City to step up and have a crack at making a slot about the Battle of Little Bighorn. Once again, it's the sort of material a lot of other studios would rather avoid, lest turning it into a quagmire of controversy. Nolimit City has walked a fine line, ensuring Little Bighorn possesses the sort of brass-balled edginess that a significant segment of the gambling market is on board with, without being completely over the top. Some may disagree, and it'll be interesting to see if the subject matter touches any sort of nerve or not. Either way, Little Bighorn is more thought-provoking than a lot of Native American-themed slots end up being.

Gaming-wise, Little Bighorn did not, for us at least during testing, come across as one of those Nolimit City monsters, ready and willing to savage, or in this case, scalp the unlucky. The first bonus round triggered in like 16 spins, with either that one or the next one (if memory serves) being upgraded to Spirit Call Freespins. The uphill both-ways battle, which can sometimes commence when taking on a Nolimit City game, was strangely absent. In part, at least. Let's be clear, luck might have swung our way on the day, though, as this is an 'extremely volatile' slot, so don't expect a jaunty old walk through the canyons. One other thing which felt almost munificent was that paying extra for the xBet, not only parked a scatter symbol on the second reel but gets you an expanding full reel wild to boot. Consider games like Remember Gulag or Tombstone RIP, where the xBet, in the studio's words, is described as a 'Sacrifice for a more brutal, but less awarding base game'. Little Bighorn's xBet expanding Totem Scatter feels almost benevolent by comparison, which is not a word which often comes to mind when reviewing a Nolimit City release.

Little Bighorn is also a more straightforward game than they can be from Nolimit City, too. Each special symbol has its job, and when they're functioning, it's easy to follow what's going on. There were no spins with knives flying all over the place, shredding stuff up, splitting symbols, tossing in the kitchen sink and awarding something ridiculous before being able to tell what is going on. Not saying Little Bighorn is a simple game or anything like that, but there is little to no need to play mental catch-up for a change. This leads us to potential, which is also a bit more modest than usual, though still sitting pretty at 25,676x the bet.

To wrap up, Little Bighorn didn't have the same trailblazing feel to it as others, like, say, Tombstone RIP, San Quentin xWays, or The Border. However, Little Bighorn has a different focus, and for players looking for a somewhat more straightforward version of the Nolimit City experience or a solid Western/Native American slot alternative, Little Bighorn is worth trundling out for a spin or two.