Secrets of the Sand Slots
The mysteries of Ancient Egypt have been a source of fascination for many generations. Countless people are drawn to its rich history and culture, and it is only fair that online gamblers get their fair share of fun as well.
This is the premise of Secrets of the Sand, an online slot machine game by Novomatic taking place in the Egyptian desert, rich in not only sand but sacred amulets, ancient spell books and of course incommensurable treasures.
Put on a hat and don’t forget your sunscreen as we take a closer look at the game’s graphic qualities.
Twice As Fun
The graphics are an important element when describing Secrets of the Sand, as the developers made the unusual choice to give players the opportunity to play on two sets of 5 reels. Yes, that is a total of 10 reels spinning simultaneously with 10 x 2 paylines available. This poses a challenge in terms of design, as more reels means a potentially cluttered display, which would ruin the fun.
But this is fortunately not the case at all here. The 10 reels are neatly stashed in the bottom half of the screen, and the upper half is devoted to a rather sexy-looking, Nefertiti-like figure looking straight into the eyes of the player, and surrounded by ancient Egyptian paraphernalia.
Aesthetically speaking, this video slot is beautiful and the challenge of the ten reels is a success in terms of playability. Now let’s look at what is expecting us gameplay-wise.
Back To Basics
Secrets of the Sand is not as innovative in its gameplay or Ancient Egyptian theme as it is with its design and many reels. The players will recognize the (+) and (-) buttons there to allow them to select the number of paylines to activate (20 in total thanks to our double reels) and the amount of their bet itself. They can also adjust their style of play by either opting for a one-spin-at-a-time approach with the Start button, or uninterrupted play with the Autostart feature.
Remember that, as per usual, any new wins can be doubled through the Gamble feature: simply click the button and correctly guess the colour of a hidden, virtual card. Each correct guess doubles your coin stash, but one mistake and it is a one-way trip into the quicksand. So choose wisely!
Ancient Magic At Work
You will find 9 different symbols on the (many) reels of Secrets of the Sand, most of them closely aligned with the theme of the game itself but also some classics.
Five come directly from the card game universe. We start from a 10 and make our way up until the Ace, with a rather simple and pure design. These first symbols form the low end of the paytable, but a much more valuable group of icons quickly follows them – and you will only need two of them on an active payline to start winning!
Here we will find two golden Vases, a set of jackal-headed canopic Jars (which were used to store the organs of the deceased during the mummification process), a blue beetle Amulet and the Egyptian Queen herself, the only key to the jackpot should you gather five of them!
Free Spins Rising From The Dead
The last symbol is an ancient Spell Book decorated with a snake-shaped metal ornament on its cover. This Book is a powerful, magical item in the game and so for many reasons.
First of all, it is one of the most valuable icons you can find of the reels. Secondly, it is also a Scatter symbol which means that you won’t have to worry about alignment: gather 3, 4 or 5 of them anywhere on the many reels and you will be a winner! Moreover, any Scatter combo will award you five extra Free Spins each time. At the start of this Bonus mode, a symbol will be randomly selected and will be given extra powers, namely to fill up the reels it appears in during the Free Spins at each winning combo, triggering all paylines at once. This is clearly a lot of fun to play with, and your potential gains are as big as the desert itself!
If that is not enough for you, fear not because the Book also acts as a Wild card to substitute any other symbol and complete a winning combo.
An Original Take On A Classic Theme
Secrets of the Sand brings some fresh air to the Ancient Egypt theme with which some players may be familiar thanks to classic Novomatic games like Book of Ra, to name only one.
The extra reels are the promise of extended fun and gains, which should satisfy the majority of players.
