John Hunter and the Secrets of Da Vinci’s Treasure Slot
How do you design a slot that does justice to the immense legacy of Leonardo da Vinci, the all-time genius from the middle ages? Well, there is only one answer. It must be spectacular in many ways. Graphics, animations, bonus features, and – last but not least – win potential must all come together for a dramatic climax that will blow any avid slot player away. Rest assured, this slot from Pragmatic Play does not disappoint. How? Read on to find out.
Crescendo to the Top
The maximum win on a single spin peaks at a more-than-staggering 48,000x your stake. No, that is not a joke. To our knowledge, it is the highest non-progressive win potential we have ever seen on an online video slot. Needless to say, it takes the game straight to the top of the volatility scale. A mere 0.25 coins bet can lead to a payout of 12,000 coins. This is a dream come true for high-volatility fans, involving a bigger risk but also potentially massive rewards.
Reels, Symbols and Numbers
The creative team at Pragmatic Play went to great lengths to match the suspense on the reels with fitting graphics, animations and sounds. Intricately designed pay symbols in vibrant colors are held on an ornamented game window with an old map of the Mediterranean region in the background. A classical piece played by an orchestra changes from an adagio into a dramatic crescendo once the reels are spinning, interrupted only by the typical reel sounds and reaching an all-out climax on big wins.
Pay symbols 9 through to A are at the low-value end, while a crossbow, a perpetuum mobile, a backpack and an ancient book indicate the medium level. The top-paying symbol is John Hunter, appearing stacked at all times. The wild symbols are represented by an artistic painting of Leonardo himself. The scatters are what seem to be some sort of rotary scrolls, three of which are needed on the middle reels to trigger the bonus feature. Pays for a single five of a kind range from 4x to 32x the stake. John Hunter and the Secrets of Da Vinci’s Treasure is a video slot that’s playable on desktop only. It has five reels, three rows, and 25 fixed paylines with bet sizes ranging from 0.25 to 125 coins. The RTP of this highly volatile game is set at 96.53%.
The Treasure Bonus Game
Hitting scatter symbols anywhere on reels two, three and four in one spin will trigger the bonus game. A large rotary wheel appears with three types of bonus games – Map Quest, Prize Picker and Progressive Multiplier Free Spins. Players get to spin the wheel once to determine which of the three bonus games will be awarded.
When Map Quest is selected, a track through a royal garden appears. John Hunter stands ready to the right, and your aim will be to get him from the starting line to the castle. Players spin a wheel, containing numbers one to five and a collect sign, to determine how far he will progress on the track for every spin. They continue turning the wheel until it stops on the end sign or John Hunter reaches the castle. Each of the 23 steps on the track is worth a coin win between 1x and 5x the stake. Expect to score average wins around 20x to 40x your bet. At the end of the round, the game will offer to gamble your winnings, earning you 2x, 3x, 4x or 5x the amounts won or nothing.
Prize Picker is a pick-and-click game where the slot leads to a room inside which are three of Leonardo’s paintings. Players can take one pick to reveal coin wins between 10x and 50x their initial stake. The game then once again offers to increase winnings by up to x5 by using the gamble feature.
The Dramatic Climax
The big money moment on John Hunter and the Secrets of Da Vinci’s Treasure arrives when the bonus selector lands on the Progressive Multiplier Free Spins. Initially, 12 free spins are awarded, which can be retriggered up to four times for a maximum of 60 free spins. On every free spin, the win multiplier is increased by x1. Without retriggers, the maximum in free spins will peak at x12, while with retriggers it can progress to x60.
This is the exact time to hold your breath and touch your lucky charm. Hitting a full screen of John Hunter symbols will award 25 times the standard line win of 32x your bet, equaling 800x the initial stake. Any active multipliers will see that double to 1,600 the stake with a x2 multiplier – and ultimately to that monster win of 48,000x your bet with a x60 multiplier.
Treasures on Other Reels
Do you like to play the risky explorer on high-volatility reels? Then give Book of Dead from Play’n GO or the equally exhilarating Book of Ra Deluxe from Novomatic, each with a potential maximum win in a single spin of 5,000x.
The Final Words
How to find the right words for the finale of John Hunter and the Secrets of Da Vinci’s Treasure? Exclamations in any form wouldn’t be sufficient to describe the thrill after hitting such a hyper mega win on a non-progressive slot. Yes, it is highly volatile, but our experience has shown that the base game produces enough small-to-medium wins to provide plenty of play time plus chances to hit that monster win. Ready to hunt for your treasure?
