The Great Herd: Building a Multiplier, Tumble by Tumble

The Great Herd is a Backseat Gaming slot on a 6x5 grid, with a release date of 30 June 2026 listed by the studio. It pays anywhere: a win needs 8 or more of the same symbol landing anywhere on the grid, with no paylines and no need for the symbols to touch.

Its one published feature is the tumble multiplier. Every winning connection feeds it, but it only pays out if a special trigger symbol is on the grid when the tumbling stops. That split between building the multiplier and switching it on is what the whole game turns on.

One note on sources: Backseat Gaming's page for The Great Herd no longer loads on its website, and the game is not in its current games list. The figures below are the ones the studio published for the game.

Backseat Gaming lists the RTP as 96.01 % / 94.01 % / 92.01 % / 90.01 %, which means four versions of the game exist. The highest returns 96.01% over the long run and the lowest 90.01%, so the RTP shown in the game's own rules is worth checking before a session.

Volatility is rated High. The hit frequency is published as 22.45%, which works out at a little more than one winning spin in five on average.

The max win is listed as 15,000x. The studio did not publish a bet range, a paytable or a cap on the tumble multiplier, so this review leaves those out rather than guess.

With 30 positions on the grid, a win needs at least 8 matching symbols, so just over a quarter of the screen has to show the same symbol. Where those symbols sit does not matter, which is the main difference from line slots and cluster slots.

Winning symbols are removed and new ones tumble in. A tumble can bring in enough matches for another win, so a single paid spin can run as a chain of wins until no symbol reaches 8.

That chain is where the multiplier is built. The more wins the tumble sequence produces, and the more symbols each win contains, the higher the tumble multiplier climbs.

Every winning connection adds the number of its symbols to the tumble multiplier. A win made of 8 symbols adds 8, and a win made of 12 symbols adds 12. Big wins with lots of matching symbols therefore count for more than small ones.

As an illustration of the stated rule only: a spin whose tumbles produce one win of 8 symbols and then one of 10 symbols adds 18 to the tumble multiplier across that sequence.

The multiplier is inactive at the beginning of every spin, so each spin opens with it switched off, whatever happened on the spin before.

Building the multiplier and using it are two separate steps. The tumble multiplier only becomes active if the special trigger symbol is present on the grid at the end of the tumble.

When that happens, the multiplier is applied to the total tumble win, meaning the combined win from the whole chain, not just the last cluster. The published rule gives no other way to activate it.

This is the tension in every spin of The Great Herd. A long tumble chain can build a large multiplier, but the rule as published ties its use to the trigger symbol being on screen when the tumbling stops. Backseat Gaming did not publish how often the trigger symbol appears.

The Great Herd's hit frequency of 22.45% is higher than the 18.04% Backseat Gaming lists for The 3 Dudes, which suggests small wins arrive a little more often. High volatility means most of the game's range still sits in the rarer spins where a long tumble chain and the trigger symbol line up.

The 15,000x max win is the ceiling over all of it. Since the multiplier grows with the number of winning symbols, the biggest results need both many symbols in the chain and the trigger symbol present at the end.

Nothing in a short session tells you how a version will perform over time. The published RTP describes a very long run of spins, not any one session.

The free demo of The Great Herd on this page runs the game with play credits. Use it to watch the tumble multiplier count up as each win adds its symbols, then see whether the trigger symbol is on the grid when the tumbling ends.

Keep a simple tally over a few dozen spins: how many spins had a win, how many had a tumble chain longer than one win, and how many ended with the trigger symbol present. That gives a feel for the rhythm of the game far better than the win meter alone.

Backseat Gaming's published material does not mention a bonus buy or a free spins round for The Great Herd, so the demo's rules screen is the place to check for anything further. The game is intended for players aged 18 and over.

Other Backseat Gaming titles covered on Slotscritic: Dead Mans Broadside, Kamo Insect Hunter, Moon Dynasty, Hades Domain, Strawberry Land and De Rat Heist.

What is the RTP of The Great Herd?

Backseat Gaming lists The Great Herd's RTP as 96.01 % / 94.01 % / 92.01 % / 90.01 %, so the game comes in four versions. The best returns 96.01% over the long run and the lowest 90.01%. The RTP shown in the game's rules or information screen tells you which version is loaded.

What is the max win on The Great Herd?

The max win published by Backseat Gaming is 15,000x. The biggest results depend on the tumble multiplier, which grows by the number of symbols in each winning connection and is applied to the total tumble win only when the trigger symbol is on the grid as the tumbling ends. No bet range was published.

How does the tumble multiplier work in The Great Herd?

Each winning connection adds its number of symbols to the tumble multiplier, which starts every spin inactive. If the special trigger symbol is on the grid at the end of the tumble, the multiplier is activated and applied to the total tumble win. The published rule names no other way to activate it.

Is The Great Herd a high volatility slot?

Yes. Backseat Gaming rates The Great Herd's volatility as High, with a hit frequency of 22.45%, so a little more than one spin in five wins on average. The larger results come from long tumble chains that build the multiplier and end with the trigger symbol on the grid, up to the 15,000x max win.

Can you play The Great Herd demo for free?

Yes. The Great Herd demo on this page uses play credits, so you can watch the 6x5 pay-anywhere grid, the tumbles and the multiplier count without staking money. It is the easiest way to see how often the trigger symbol is present at the end of a tumble, which the studio does not publish.