Le Bandit

Le Bandit: Slot Overview

You might have heard of the action comedy film Smokey and the Bandit starring Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, now get ready to meet cartoon bad guy Smokey Le Bandit. Well, we say guy, but Smokey is a raccoon, and he's the star of Le Bandit, an online slot from busy developer Hacksaw Gaming. He sounds like a bit of a rogue; as the game info puts it, Smokey 'won't hesitate to fleece you for all you're worth by using every trick in the book and then some!' It's not all bad news, though, because Smokey can be 'persuaded to share some of his ill-gotten gains' if you can get on his good side. This may occur through features like Super Cascades, Golden Squares, plus three bonus rounds – Luck Of The Bandit, All That Glitters Is Gold, and Treasure At The End Of The Rainbow.

A sepia-lit backstreet location is the setting for Le Bandit, where a 6x5 gaming panel sits next to Smokey himself, who might not come across as a super friendly chap at first. With a crowbar in hand, twirly moustache, and clenched fists, he looks like he's just about to get up to nefarious activities, though he does cheer up from time to time. Based on the visual cues and the game's title, it would seem we have gone back in time to an earlier part of France's past. The Polaroid camera FS symbol (despite being first released in 1948) throws a spanner in the works, but wherever we are is amusingly presented, with an edge.

The math model isn't as edgy as it can be from Hacksaw Gaming, as the volatility has been classed as medium (3 out of 5) whilst generating an RTP of 96.34%. At the default RTP level, Le Bandit has a hit frequency of 32.47% and creates wins when 5 or more matching symbols are connected to each other anywhere on the gaming grid. Le Bandit uses what it calls a Super Cascade wins system, so when a winning cluster hits, all regular paying symbols of the same type as the winning symbols are removed from the reels, and new symbols drop down to fill the gaps. When picking a stake, the options are 10 p/c to $/€100, and four options are available from the feature buy menu.

Ten regular paying symbols may land on Le Bandit's grid. These are 10 to A card ranks as the low pays, then a trap, cheese, a mug of beer, a bag of baguettes, and a top hat are the highs. Hitting a 5 OAK winning cluster pays 0.1 to 1 times the bet, rising to 15 to 100 times the bet for a 13+ cluster. The wild reward poster is able to substitute for any regular pay symbol.

Le Bandit: Slot Features

As well as Super Cascades, Le Bandit serves up features such as Golden Squares, special symbols, three bonus rounds and bonus buys.

Golden Squares

After a winning combination occurs, the squares behind the winning symbols are highlighted and known as Golden Squares. If a Rainbow symbol is on the grid, it activates any Golden Squares after all winning combinations have been awarded. Activated Golden Squares reveal either Bronze, Silver, or Gold Coins and have the chance to show Pot of Gold or Four-Leaf Clover symbols. All Coins have values as multipliers of the bet. Bronze Coins have values of 0.2x, 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x, or 4x. Silver Coins have values of 5x, 10x, 15x, or 20x, and Gold Coins have values of 25x, 50x, 100x, 250x, or 500x. Once all of the Coins and special symbols are revealed, any Four-Leaf Clover symbols activate, multiplying all Coins and Pot of Gold symbols on adjacent squares with values of x2, x3, x4, x5, or x10.

Pot of Gold symbols, when in view, activate after Four-Leaf Clovers by collecting all Coin values and other Pot of Gold symbols, storing the total value. When the last Pot of Gold has activated, all other Golden Squares activate again, revealing new symbols and the process above repeats until no new Pot of Gold appears. Then, all Coins and Pot of Gold symbols award their values. Golden Squares are then removed.

Luck of the Bandit

Landing 3 FS scatters in the base game triggers this feature with 8 free spins. In this bonus, all Golden Squares remain highlighted between spins until they are activated by Rainbow symbols. Landing 2 FS scatters awards +2 free spins, landing 3 FS scatters awards an extra 4 free spins. Hitting 4 FS scatter upgrades the bonus to All That Glitters Is Gold, plus 4 extra free spins are awarded.

All That Glitters Is Gold

Or, you can activate this feature by landing 4 FS scatters in the base game to win 12 free spins. In this round, all Golden Squares remain highlighted till the end, even after being activated. Landing 2 FS scatters awards +2 free spins, landing 3 FS scatters awards an extra 4 free spins.

Treasure At The End Of The Rainbow

This round is triggered by landing 5 FS symbols in the base game to win 12 free spins. In this bonus, all Golden Squares remain highlighted till the end, even after being activated, and a Rainbow symbol is guaranteed to hit on each spin. Also, Bronze Coins do not appear in this feature.

Bonus Buy

The bonus buy lets players activate these modes/features. The first is highly volatile; the rest are medium volatile.

• BonusHunt FeatureSpins – 3x the bet where each spin is 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game. RTP 96.28%.
• Rainbow FeatureSpins – 50x the bet where each spin is guaranteed to land a Rainbow symbol. RTP 96.36%.
• Luck Of The Bandit – 100x the bet to buy 8 free spins. RTP 96.3%.
• All That Glitters Is Gold – 250x the bet to buy 12 free spins. RTP 96.4%.

Le Bandit: Slot Verdict

Chalk up another playable slot from Hacksaw Gaming that delivers new ways for players to potentially collect a few coins. Thanks to studios like Push Gaming, Slotmill, or Pragmatic Play, coin win features are hot, and Le Bandit's unique way of loading them on the board, then augmenting their values with various special symbols, is worth a look for coin fans. The amusing urban animal RIP City/retro Disney style of presentation is fun, and the feisty racoon with his speech bubble quips help make Le Bandit as personable as it is playable.

Speaking of playable, Le Bandit is one of those cluster-paying slots which works best when it gets on a major roll. You could say that about pretty much all of them, but still. Instead of how it often is in some cluster games, this doesn't mean collecting winning symbols in a meter, then injecting features on the grid at set collection points. Instead, the goal is to plaster as many Golden Squares onto the reels as possible, with a Rainbow symbol in view to start activating them. Then you want to get locked in a Pot of Gold collection loop, with a few multipliers thrown in for good measure. At full capacity, Le Bandit can generate wins up to 10,000x the bet, and while it might be medium volatile, the game did seem to have quite a swingy temperament at times.

Due to some of Smokey's disguises and several of the symbols, Le Bandit arguably leans towards being an Irish-themed slot as well, sort of. If so, then it's hard to think of any other Irish/leprechaun slot that looks like this. Or plays like this, for that matter. So, for something unique in the thematic as well as gameplay departments, Le Bandit could be just the rascally racoon-populated slot you never knew you wanted.