Tombstone Begins Slot (Nolimit City)

The Tombstone Begins slot has 5 reels and 22 paylines. Winning combinations are formed when 3, 4 or 5 matching symbols appear from left to right, on adjacent reels and across any of the 22 paylines. Only the highest payout per payline is paid out.

With a 20p minimum bet per spin, the most you can play for is £5 a spin in the UK or £2 if you’re under 25. Clicking/pressing the Coins icon will see a menu of all bet options. Outside the UK, there are more gameplay functions including Autoplay and Turbo Mode.

The Tombstone Begins RTP rate is 96.02%: 64.15% comes in the base game with 31.87% from the bonus features. Nolimit City has also created 94.03% and 92.03% RTP versions. Taking a £20 balance and playing at the minimum 20p bet, below is the expect number of spins before running out of funds:

• 96.02%: 2,488 spins
• 94.03%: 1,659 spins
• 92.03%: 1,243 spins

In the extreme volatility bracket (10/10), the hit frequency rate is 20.45% (meaning a winning outcome every 1 in 4.89 spins on average). Triggering any of the free spins features will occur every 1 in 216 spins (again, on average).

Finally, Tombstone Begins comes with 20,000 x bet max wins (known as Vengeance). The max win probability is 1 in 217 million spins, with wins of 100 x your total bet or higher 1 in 715 spins.

With a Wild West theme, the Tombstone Begins slot is part of the ‘Tombstone’ series following Tombstone (May 2019), Tombstone RIP (January 2022), Tombstone No Mercy (April 2024) and Tombstone Slaughter (January 2025).

The game is a prequel of sorts with the origins of the town where just cowboys and cattle resided, before every outlaw was out to make a name for themselves. According to Nolimit City, this game is where the first shot rang out in the battle for the gold-rich land where the rest became history

The setting is an empty Western town that is devoid of any people and life. Equally, the soundtrack is suspenseful and insinuates that drama is about to unfold.

On the reels, you’ll see Western-style A, K, Q, J and 10 royals as well as knives, pistols, dynamite, bags of cash and gold bars. The gold bars symbol is the best paying, awarding 10 x your total bet for 5 in combination.

With a Wild symbol that substitutes for all paying symbols and pays up to 10 x bet for 5 in combination, Tombstone Begins comes with plenty of special symbols including a Revolver, Bonus Scatter, Refill, Unleash and xNudge Wild: their functions are described below.

Tombstone Begins Mobile

Created using HTML5 technology, Tombstone Begins is available to play on mobile, desktop and tablet devices. Playable on iOS and Android smartphones, in Portrait Mode, I recommend a larger screen for the full experience.

Tombstone Begins benefits from lots of bonus features, including Revolver symbols that activate plenty of extras and 3 free spins modes where the action heats up considerably.

Win Respins

Every winning combination will trigger the Win Respins feature, a respin with sticky symbols. All instances of winning symbols remain sticky during the respin, with a new instance of the symbol also becoming sticky with an extra respin awarded. Wilds, Bonus Scatters and Revolvers also become sticky.

Revolvers

With Revolver symbols landing on all 5 reels, each Revolver contains 3 to 6 bullets with 1 bullet fired by each Revolver per spin. Bullets target paying symbols or Wilds if it has the xSplit feature. Several Revolvers see them fire 1 by 1 from left to right and top to bottom. Each bullet can activate 1 of the following extras:

• Wild: The target turns into a Wild.
• xSplit: Hitting paying symbols or Wilds, it doubles the multiplier value of the target symbol.
• Upgrade: Hitting any paying symbol except the gold bars, the target symbol and all instances upgrade into a random high-value symbol.
• xNudge Wild: Activated when a bullet hits above the top row of reels 2 to 4, the xNudge Wild nudges to appear fully visible on the target reel when no respins are left. Every nudge increases the win multiplier by 1.
• xNudge Multiplier: It hits above the top row of reels 2 to 4 randomly. If the xNudge Wild activates on the target reel, its xNudge multiplier value increases by 2x, 3x, 10x or 100x with xNudge multipliers additive.
• Random: Changing into a random bullet once fired, the bullet fires without any affect if they are no valid targets available.

Unleash & Refill Symbols

Tombstone Begins also comes with 2 other symbols:

• Unleash: when it lands, all Revolvers instantly fire all remaining bullets one after another. One 1 Unleash symbol can land on each spin.
• Refill: when landing, all Revolvers refill to contain 6 bullets. Only 1 Refill symbol can land per spin.

Free Spins

Tombstone Begins comes with 3 free spins features. Triggered by landing 3, 4 or 5 Bonus Scatters (respectively), here is what they entail:

• Gunslinger Spins (3 Bonus Scatters): Beginning with 6 free spins, the xNudge multiplier doesn’t reset between free spins. Landing 1 Bonus Scatter will give you 1 extra free spin.
• Outlaw Spins (4 Bonus Scatters): Starting with 8 free spins, you benefit from a non-resetting xNudge multiplier and fully loaded Revolvers. Landing 1 Bonus Scatter will give you 1 extra free spin.
• Widowmaker Spins (5 Bonus Scatters): With 10 free spins, you benefit from all the above as well as all Revolvers firing all their remaining bullets before xNudge activation or when no respins are left (after respin is awarded). Once all Revolvers have fired their bullets, wins formed by a bullet will not give you extra respins.

Extra Spin

The Extra Spin feature gives you the chance to purchase an extra spin when a bonus feature ends. Keeping the xNudge multipliers of the previous spin, you are guaranteed to land a Revolver with xNudge bullet. The cost of the spin is calculated based on the xNudge multipliers and only available if the cost is less than or equal to the total win.

Nolimit Booster

The Nolimit Booster feature has 4 options:

• Bonus Booster: Costing 2 x bet, you are guaranteed a Bonus Scatter on reel 2. The RTP is 96.04%.
• xNudge Showdown: Costing 30 x bet, you are guaranteed a Revolver loaded with 2 xNudge bullets + 2 xNudge multiplier bullets. The RTP is 96.05%.
• xNudge Fully Loaded: Costing 190 x bet, you are guaranteed a Revolver with 3 xNudge bullets + 3 xNudge multiplier bullets. The RTP is 96.05%.
• Revolver Mayhem: Costing 999 x bet, you are guaranteed 6 Revolvers with random number of bullets on top and bottom positions of reel 2, 3 and 3, with 3 of them containing xNudge multiplier bullets plus 1 xNudge bullet. The RTP is 96.05%.

Nolimit Bonus

Non-UK players may opt for the Nolimit Bonus feature. You can buy your way into the free spins features:

If you opt for the Lucky Draw option, you have a 50% chance of triggering the Gunslinger Spins feature with a 25% chance for each of the other 2.

Tombstone Begins Slot

Rating: 3.7/5

Tombstone Begins combines various mechanics and features superbly but the max win potential is significantly less than in previous Tombstone slots.

Chris Taylor

When I fired up the Tombstone Begins slot, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. With the exception of Tombstone No Mercy, every Tombstone title has got bigger and badder with the max win potential increasing each time. In this instance, it feels like Nolimit City has gone in a different direction.

The gameplay is not as dull as the max win potential: wins lead to respins with sticky symbols. Key to maximising wins are Revolver symbols which turn targets wild, double multiplier values, upgrade symbols, award xNudge Wilds and increase xNudge multipliers by up to 100x. The Unleash and Refill symbols play their part and can lead to a barrage of bullets fired for more rewards.

With 3 free spins modes, you benefit from xNudge multiplier values that don’t reset, fully loaded Revolvers and all bullets being fired by the Revolvers.

With 20,000 x bet max wins, Tombstone Begins offers a fraction of what Tombstone RIP (300,000 x bet) and Tombstone Slaughter (500,000 x bet) offer. To that end, die-hard Nolimit City fans will always want a game in a series to go bigger every time. The max win probability baffles me as it’s 1 in 217 million spins: its 1 in 130 million spins in Tombstone RIP and its 1 in 189 million spins in Tombstone Slaughter.

In summary, Tombstone Begins is a decent game in its own right but its predecessors have set such high standards that it can only feel like a disappointment. NLC should have changed the game’s name and theme for it to be judged on its own merits rather than piggyback on an iconic series that is known for offering the highest max win potential in the industry.

If you like the theme, my guide to the best Wild West-themed slots is worth checking out. Unfortunately, Tombstone Begins hasn’t made the top 10 list.

The Tombstone Begins slot review was written by Chris Taylor from our OLBG Expert team who has written over 10,000 slot game reviews in an iGaming career spanning over 2 decades.

Chris Taylor

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Chris Taylor is an industry veteran originally from Gibraltar. Having worked in the online gambling industry since 2004, Chris loves slots and has reviewed over 10,000 online slot games. Running a slots-focused website for 13 years, Chris is the go-to guy for everything slots-related.