John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets Slot Review
Pragmatic Play’s beloved treasure hunter is back for another adventure in John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets!
It’s been a while since the heart-throb that is John Hunter showed his face in a slot after John Hunter and the Book of Tut, but he’s back, and he’s wasting no time unearthing the secrets of Galileo di Vincenzo in his latest endeavour.
Unlike its predecessors, John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets offers a different theme from John Hunter and the Tomb of the Scarab Queen and John Hunter and the Mayan Gods, yet it’s a welcome change from the dry Egyptian desert and tropical jungle.
Which of Galileo’s secrets will we unearth? Let’s play on and find out!
Base Game & Features
John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets is a 5-reel, 3-row Video Slot with 10 fixed pay lines and varying bet sizes between £.€.10 and £.€250 per spin. This highly volatile slot includes an overall RTP of 96.50% and a max win cap of 5,000x your bet.
Winning combinations occur when 2-5 matching symbols land from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel. Of the 10 paytable symbols, the highest-paying (John Hunter) symbol awards payouts between 1x and 100x your bet. Low-paying symbols consist of card suits (A-J).
Mystery Symbols
During gameplay, special Mystery symbols can land on all reels in the base game and Free Spins round. When a fully expanded Mystery symbol hits, it transforms into a random High-paying, Low-paying, or Money symbol.
If a paytable symbol is revealed, it will award a payout with other instances in view regardless of their positions on the reels. Alternatively, if Money symbols are revealed, depending on how many are present, the Respin Feature can trigger.
Respin Feature
Blue Orbs represent Money symbols, appearing with a Cash Value between 1x and 5,000x your bet. In addition, Money symbols may also display Free Spins or Super Free Spins.
Landing 6 or more Money symbols in a spin triggers the Respin Feature, awarding 3 Respins. In this round, regular symbols fade away, leaving only Blank positions and Money symbols present on the reels. Each Money symbol to hit will remain in its position, resetting the Respins meter to 3.
At the end of the round, all cash values from Money symbols are added together and applied to the overall win. Filling the entire reel set with Money symbols automatically awards a 2,000x your bet Cash Prize.
Bonus Buy
- Free Spins: 80x your bet
- Super Free Spins: 200x your bet
Free Spins
Landing 3 Scatters in the base game triggers the Free Spins round, awarding a payout of 3x your bet.
Before the round begins, either a High or Low-paying symbol or a Money symbol is selected at random to become your Mystery symbol. This game allows players to Gamble their current Mystery symbol for a Higher-paying symbol.
If you choose to gamble, a book will spin through blank positions and symbols until it stops. If it stops on a symbol, the gamble has been successful. However, landing on a blank position will result in a ‘no win’, meaning you return to the base game empty-handed.
Lastly, landing 2 Scatters and 1 Super Scatter triggers the Super Free Spins mode, where the Money symbol is always selected as the Mystery symbol.
During Free Spins, Mystery symbols will nudge up or down until fully in view. After this, they will reveal the rewarded symbol type. If you’re playing the Super Free Spins round, so long as there are enough Money symbols in view, the Respin Feature will trigger.
All Scatter symbols that hit are collected in a special Upgrade Meter next to the main reel set. Every 4th Scatter collected upgrades the Mystery symbol to the next highest-paying, awarding a further +2 Free Spins. The highest symbol that can be achieved is the Money symbol.
Our Verdict
Slots that feature memorable characters always tend to do well in the iGaming industry, even if you get one game a year from them. Such is the case with John Hunter, who makes an appearance far less than other characters from multiple software providers.
On the rare occasion that we get to see John Hunter in action, we’re always delighted by each element of gameplay within the new release. John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets offers a variety of Respins, Cash Prizes, and Mystery symbols, as well as a Free Spins and Super Free Spins round.
Despite having all this available, the game can sometimes feel a little bland in comparison to its predecessors. If you look at John Hunter and the Book of Tut as an example, you’ll find similar game features, but it performs better statistically.
What John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets does have that its predecessors do not is a Super Free Spins round, but even with this, you only benefit from the Respins Feature, which is already available in the base game. Non-UK players can purchase this round through the Bonus Buy option, but we’re not entirely sure it’s worth the hefty price tag.
