Dead Man’s Gold Slot Demo Gameplay

Dead Man’s Gold Slot Review 2024

ELK Studio’s intrepid adventurer Kane is off on another quest in their latest addition to the Gold Series, Dead Man’s Gold!

You’d have thought that Kane might have given himself a break after his previous daring expedition in Avalon Gold, but a diary from his ancestor Long John Steal has piqued his interest once more. Long John Steal wrote about the legendary Tortuga, a haven for Caribbean piracy and all of the treasure it holds, and as we know, the mere mention of ‘treasure’ is enough to send Kane around the world yet again.

The Gold Series has always been a fan-favourite, but it reached even greater heights with Pacific Gold and Avalon Gold.

Can Dead Man’s Gold proudly carry the torch? It has big shoes to fill, but we’ve got a feeling that ELK are up to the challenge.

Dead Man’s Gold Slot – The Base Game and Features

Dead Man’s Gold is a 6 reel slot with 4 rows and dropping symbols, but the rows can expand up to a maximum of 8 rows.

• 4 Rows: 4,096 Ways to Win
• 5 Rows: 15,625 Ways to Win
• 6 Rows: 46,656 Ways to Win
• 7 Rows: 117,649 Ways to Win
• 8 Rows: 262,144 Ways to Win

To form a winning combination, you’ll need at least 3 symbols to connect from left to right on adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost reel. Winning combinations will explode, leaving space for new symbols to fill the empty spots via an Avalanche. An extra row is added on every Avalanche, but it’ll reset back to 4 rows on the next spin.

Treasure Targets

Treasure Targets shot by the Pirate’s Cannons reveal hidden Wild symbols and blow up non-winning symbols around themselves.

Multiplier Treasure Targets also reveal hidden Wild Symbols and blow up non-winning symbols around themselves. When Multiplier Treasure Targets are hit, the persistent global multiplier increases.

Cannonballs drop in to activate the Pirate’s Cannons. Cannons fire when they can target a Treasure Target. Cannonball Symbols exist in different sizes and can shoot more times depending on their size.

One shot per 1×1 symbol is awarded, so a 1×2 Cannonball would award 2 shots, for example.

Bottomless Chest

The Bottomless Chest is a blocking symbol that generates and fills empty spaces in the same column with high-value symbols, Wild Symbols and Cannonballs all the way up to the achieved row.

Big Symbols

Super, Mega and Epic Symbols exist as 2×2, 3×3 and 4×4 sizes. Big symbols are counted as the number of 1×1 symbols that would fit within them.

For example, a 2×2 Big Symbol counts as 4 regular 1×1 symbols.

Low, mid and high symbols exist in 4 sizes, but Wild Symbols can be 1×1, 2z2 or 3×3 only.

If there are empty spaces below a big symbol, then the spaces are filled with 1×1 symbols of the same type. If there is a Bottomless Chest under a big symbol, the Bottomless Chest will fill the empty spaces instead and potentially Push the Big Symbol upwards.

Dead Man’s Gold – Free Spins

Free Drops are initiated when at least 3 Bonus Symbols land in view.

• 3 Bonus Symbols: 10 Free Drops
• 4 Bonus Symbols: 15 Free Drops
• 5 Bonus Symbols: 20 Free Drops
• 6 Bonus Symbols: 25 Free Drops

During the bonus game, Treasure Targets, Multiplier Treasure Targets and Bottomless Chests become sticky, which means they persist between Free Spins.

Dead Man’s Gold – X-iter

Those within Bonus Buy jurisdiction may make use of ELK’s X-iter Bonus Buy Feature.

• Big Block: One spin with a guaranteed Big Symbol at the cost of 5x the bet
• Chest Plunderer: One spin with a guaranteed Bottomless Chest at the cost of 10x the bet
• Super Cannon Spin: One spin where the Pirate’s Cannons have unlimited amounts of cannonball shots. Bonus triggers award Super Bonus at the cost of 25x the bet
• Bonus: Guarantees entry to the Bonus Game at the cost of 100x the bet
• Super Bonus: Guarantees a Super Bonus Game with a minimum of 10 Free Drops and unlimited ammunition for the Pirate’s Cannons. Treasures Targets are sticky until part of a win, and the Bottomless Chest is sticky throughout the entire bonus. Costs 500x the bet.

Dead Man’s Gold Slot – Our Verdict

ELK has a well-deserved reputation for their Gold Series, and every time they make a new one, fans are expecting big things. Each of the Gold Slots is both very similar and completely different, which is why we love them.

The theme is different, and the features are different, so the adventure is different, new, exciting and interesting. I’m quite surprised ELK hasn’t touched on Pirates until now (Pirotes not considered), but we’re glad they did because Dead Man’s Gold can be an unforgettable buccaneer adventure.

As per usual, the features seem to meld together quite nicely with the solid foundation that ELK build for these slots. Each of them is stripped down to the core mechanics that they share, before being rebuilt as something else.

Is Dead Man’s Gold as good or better than Avalon Gold or Pacific Gold? We’re not sure. They’re tough to beat, and we’d probably say we’re fonder of the older ones at the moment.

Still, Dead Man’s Gold is good in many ways. 25,000x win potential makes it quite attractive before you’ve even considered features, but a 94% RTP might put you off a little. Gone are the days when 95% was the standard for ELK, and we thought that was fairly low back then.

Overall, Dead Man’s Gold is as excellent as we expected it would be, but it might not quite be the best yet.