The Explosive Bandit

How to play The Explosive Bandit

The new title steps outside the series’ usual framework, though. Where the earlier Oktoberfest entries leaned on the studio’s Hold and Win engine, this slot brings together ice-cold Märzen, sizzling bratwurst, salted pretzels, Tyrolean hats, and friendly locals ready to say “Prost!” Winning combinations can reach up to x2000 of the bet.

The mechanical shift is the clearest editorial detail here. The Bonus Spins game begins when three or more Coins land on the grid, awarding five Bonus Spins. A Plus Coin mechanic can extend that round, positioning the title around bonus-spin play rather than the coin-collection format of its predecessors.

That distinction is worth flagging because the prior Oktoberfest titles were explicitly Hold and Win games chasing Mini and Mega prize tiers. Lucky Fest Hold and Win is set on a 3×3 reel with 27 pay lines that offer plenty of opportunities to win. It runs an RTP of 97.1% and high volatility.

How to play The Explosive Bandit

NetEnt also attaches its Elevate suite of paid bonus-entry and feature-boost options. That reflects the wider industry move toward giving players direct routes into bonus play rather than waiting for natural triggers.

For NetEnt, now part of Evolution’s game-supply operation, Demon Beats fits a pattern. The studio tends to iterate on proven mechanical families rather than pivot into adjacent categories such as crash or instant-win formats. The Avalanche engine is a durable part of the studio’s identity, and returning to it positions Demon Beats as a portfolio continuation rather than an experiment.

The staggered rollout matters too. With early access preceding general availability, operators get a short exclusivity window before the game reaches the wider market. For an established supplier, that structure shows how NetEnt keeps leaning on brand-recognizable mechanics to stay competitive against a crowded field of content providers.

What is The Explosive Bandit?

Entain has issued a stark warning in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Andy Burnham about the potential impact of a proposed increase to the Machine Games Duty (MGD). 

Ahead of the government’s Autumn Budget in October, Entain CEO Stella David cautioned that doubling the current MGD rate to 40% could result in widespread closures of betting shops and significant job losses, while potentially reducing tax revenues for the government.

A potential MGD rise was first reported in the The Financial Times, as Chancellor John Healey is allegedly looking to raise the tax, on the recommendation of the Social Market Foundation, which proposed the increase in a recent report.