RIP City Review 2026: Where To Play?

RIP City from Hacksaw Gaming caught me off guard. Beneath its cartoon noir exterior – a cat-and-mouse rivalry rendered in slick comic-book style – sits a 12,500x max win engine that punches harder than its medium volatility rating suggests.

The expanding Cat Wilds with multipliers up to 200x make every bonus round feel like it could break wide open. Released in 2023, this is Hacksaw delivering spectacle with genuine mathematical teeth.

RIP City Overview

I have played a lot of Hacksaw slots, and RIP City stands in a unique position within the studio's catalogue. The 5x5 grid with 19 paylines hosts a Wild Cat symbol that expands to cover entire reels – and here is where things get interesting.

When the Cat Wild passes through existing wild symbols, it absorbs their multipliers, which can reach up to 200x. That absorption mechanic makes every wild placement matter.

The Ro$$ Bonus and Maxx Bonus represent two tiers of free spins with increasing wild frequency, and five bonus buy options let you choose your entry point, ranging from a conservative 3x BonusHunt all the way to the 200x Maxx Bonus. Despite carrying a listed 3/5 volatility rating, I found the actual bonus-round variance plays closer to Hacksaw's high-volatility flagships.

The 96.22% RTP is solid, and the 18.2% base game hit frequency is something to keep in mind – gaps between wins can stretch longer than you might expect from a medium label. The 12,500x ceiling is strong for this volatility bracket.

RIP City RTP Versions

Hacksaw publishes its RTP builds openly, which is more than most studios do. RIP City ships in four:

An 88.02% build is over eight points below the default – the kind of gap that turns a fair slot into a bad one without changing a single symbol on screen.

Worth noting alongside this: Hacksaw officially rates RIP City at 3 out of 5 for volatility, which is why we list it as medium. Our own sessions ran hotter than that label suggests once the bonus rounds started, but the provider's own number is the one we publish.

Most casinos never advertise which build they run. The reliable check is inside the game itself – open the info or paytable panel from the game's own menu once it has loaded and read the RTP printed there. That figure is the one your session actually pays at, whatever the casino's game page claims.

Playing RIP City on Mobile

RIP City's comic-book art style actually shines on mobile screens. The 5x5 grid scales cleanly, and the noir colour palette – dark backgrounds with neon accents – remains legible on smaller displays.

I tested it in both orientations and found landscape preferable for tracking the Wild Cat's expansion across reels. Touch responsiveness is excellent, including the bonus buy menu where you need to select between five options.

Animations run smoothly without frame drops, and the expanding wild sequences look particularly sharp on modern phone screens.

When I Played RIP City

The 5x5 grid renders in Hacksaw's signature grayscale comic style until a wild lands – and that visual restraint is exactly why the green WILD splash reads as an event rather than a cosmetic.

The first expansion of the session dropped across reel three and pulled two neighbouring lows into the line, turning a dry stretch into a tangible win.

The cat-and-mouse rivalry is subtle in the base game – Ro$$ and Maxx lurk as premium symbols without the flashy animations you get during the bonus rounds. That reserved-until-earned approach is a lot of what makes the bonus triggers feel substantial when they do land.

I played fifty base spins at Standard settings with only modest cluster wins, which is in line with the 18.2% hit frequency Hacksaw quotes.

The in-game menu is straightforward – sound, music, turbo-spin, history – but the absence of a Hacksaw-specific Hyperplay equivalent means base-game grinding relies on standard Turbo. For a session targeting the Maxx Bonus via organic triggers, that is a real friction point.

The 200x BonusHunt price feels expensive until you remember the 12,500x ceiling lives almost exclusively inside the Maxx round, which is where the variance concentrates.

RIP City Pros and Cons

RIP City delivers more punch than its volatility label implies, which makes it both exciting and occasionally deceptive for players expecting a moderate ride.

Pros:

• 12,500x max win with a medium volatility rating offers a strong ceiling for the risk level
• Expanding Cat Wilds absorb multipliers up to 200x for explosive reel coverage
• Two distinct bonus rounds with different risk-reward profiles
• Five bonus buy tiers from 3x to 200x give genuine control over session strategy

Cons:

• Actual variance plays more aggressively than the listed 3/5 volatility rating suggests
• Base game hit frequency of 18.2% creates longer gaps between wins than expected

Where Is RIP City Restricted?

Hacksaw Gaming limits RIP City in several jurisdictions. Check the list below before searching for it at your preferred casino.

• United States
• Australia
• France
• Belgium

Best RIP City Alternatives

If RIP City's streamer-friendly design appeals to you, these alternatives from the same high-action category deserve your attention.

Wanted Dead or a Wild

Hacksaw's breakout western slot delivers 12,500x through DuelReels multiplier stacking. Three distinct bonus rounds with escalating risk give it more variety than RIP City, though the 400x top bonus buy price is steep.

The gunslinger duels create a dramatic reveal mechanic I find more satisfying than RIP City's wild absorption.

Why pick over RIP City: more bonus variety with equally strong max win potential.

Chaos Crew 2

The sequel doubled the original's ceiling to 20,000x and introduced the Best of Bonus mechanic – three full bonus rounds with only the highest result paying out. Six bonus buy options and evolved character designs make this a natural step up from RIP City's multiplier-stacking approach.

Why pick over RIP City: higher max win ceiling with the safety net of best-of-three bonus rounds.

Fire in the Hole xBomb

Nolimit City's mining-themed slot introduced the xBomb mechanic, where explosive wilds destroy surrounding symbols and add multipliers. The expanding grid grows from 3 to 6 rows during cascades.

At 60,000x max win, the ceiling dwarfs RIP City's.

Why pick over RIP City: substantially higher max win with a unique expanding-grid progression.

Misery Mining

Another Nolimit City title that takes the expanding grid concept to extremes – starting at 3x3 and potentially blasting open to 7x7 with 823,543 ways. The 70,000x max win and mine-clearing visual progression make it one of the most rewarding streamer-favourite slots available.

Why pick over RIP City: far higher max win with a satisfying visual destruction mechanic.

Starburst

Starburst is NetEnt's classic low-volatility slot with expanding wilds and both-ways pays – about as far from RIP City's streamer-bait volatility as it is possible to get in a 5-reel format.

It is the palate cleanser between Hacksaw bonus hunts, and the low-variance session rhythm of Starburst is exactly what my bankroll needs when a 3/5 rating secretly plays like 5/5.

Why pick over RIP City: low variance and simple expanding-wild wins for sessions where you do not want the volatility to punch above its weight.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is RIP City's RTP?

RIP City carries an RTP of 96.22%, which is above the industry average. This rate applies to regular play – bonus buy options may have slightly different return profiles depending on which tier you select.

It is a fair rate for a 2023 Hacksaw release.

Is RIP City available in the United Kingdom?

Yes. RIP City is fully accessible at UK-licensed online casinos.

Hacksaw Gaming holds the necessary UK Gambling Commission approvals to distribute the game in that market. It is restricted in the US, Australia, France, and Belgium.

How do the two bonus rounds in RIP City differ?

The Ro$$ Bonus is the lower-tier free spins round with moderate wild frequency, while the Maxx Bonus offers significantly more wilds and higher multiplier potential. You can access each through organic scatter triggers or via their respective bonus buy options.

The Maxx Bonus costs 200x your bet – a steep entry, but it puts you closer to the 12,500x ceiling.

Does every casino run the same RTP on RIP City?

No. Hacksaw publishes four builds openly – 96.22%, 94.27%, 92.32% and 88.02% – and the casino picks one. The lowest is more than eight percentage points below the default, which changes the game materially without changing anything you can see. Check the in-game info panel to confirm which build you are on.