Buffalo Spirit vs Double Buffalo Spirit: Which WMS Slot to Play

Where the action sits

Buffalo Spirit puts its best moment in the base game. Double Buffalo Spirit moves it to the free spins. That is the most useful way to choose between them.

In Buffalo Spirit, a buffalo wild on the centre reel triggers the Replicating Wild feature, which copies wilds onto reels one, two, four and five. It can happen on any spin, and it is the reason to play the game. Double Buffalo Spirit has no equivalent in the base game; its wild substitutes and waits for the bonus.

The grids

Buffalo Spirit pays on 30 lines across five reels of three rows, a layout this site treats as the most consistent reading of conflicting sources. Double Buffalo Spirit adds a row and drops the lines: five reels of four symbols with 1,024 ways, the format Aristocrat’s Buffalo made standard.

The change matters for how wins arrive. On 30 lines, symbols must sit on set paths. On 1,024 ways, any matching symbols on adjacent reels from the left count, so wins come more often and in clusters.

The free spins

Buffalo Spirit awards 10, 20 or 40 free spins for three, four or five scatters. The reels switch to an alternate set, every win pays double, and the round can retrigger. The 2x applies to every win, so the round is easy to follow and steady in what it pays.

Double Buffalo Spirit awards 8, 15 or 20 free spins for three, four or five scatters, and more scatters during the round add 5, 8, 15 or 20 spins. Every wild becomes a 2x or 3x multiplier, and when several sit in one winning combination their values combine. On a 1,024-ways grid one wild can be part of many wins at once, so the round can pay far more on a good spin than Buffalo Spirit’s flat 2x allows.

Claims that the sequel’s wilds go “up to 10x” circulate online without a source. Each wild is 2x or 3x; the combined total of several can go higher, but no ceiling is published.

Which suits which player

Choose Buffalo Spirit for a busier base game, lines in place of ways, and a free spins round that pays a reliable double. It also offers the longer opening round, 40 spins from five scatters.

Choose Double Buffalo Spirit for a bigger free spins round with more variation, and a game that exists on casino floors as well as online. Aboutslots rates it medium volatility; no label is published for the original.

Neither game has a published maximum win. The numbers in circulation (135,000x for Buffalo Spirit, 2,500x for the sequel) are either credit amounts or reviewer-only figures, and this site leaves both blank.

History and availability

The release year of Buffalo Spirit is not settled: slotcatalog lists January 2014, VegasSlotsOnline 2015. Double Buffalo Spirit is clearer. WMS showed it at G2E in September 2014 as a for-sale game on its Blade cabinet, and trade press reported a real-money online launch in January 2015. No source confirms a land cabinet for the original, though one is often assumed.

WMS joined Scientific Games in 2013, and Scientific Games became Light & Wonder in 2022. Both games are listed on the Light & Wonder provider page.

Neither is confirmed at a regulated US online casino. FanDuel carries neither, and no page at BetMGM, DraftKings or Caesars was found. Adults 21 and over in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and West Virginia will find the confirmed buffalo titles on the real-money pages.