Mystery Express

Mystery Express Slot Review

Fog on the platform, a clock tower lit against the night, a woman in a red coat waiting for a train that runs from London to Istanbul. Mystery Express commits fully to its murder-mystery rail setting, and it’s rarer than it looks beneath the Art Deco trim: a slot that remembers your progress between sessions and permanently pays better the further along its line you get. Almost nothing else on IGT’s shelf works this way.

It’s a 5×3 grid with 30 fixed paylines and a 96% RTP. IGT built it, and their catalogue runs from Cleopatra to Da Vinci Diamonds; this one sits at the story-driven end of that shelf. Christopher and Isabella are already aboard, and the journey they’re taking is a long one.

The Base Game

Betting is fixed at 30 paylines, and the total bet moves up and down with the plus and minus buttons. The line bet underneath it is what every line win is multiplied by, so the price per spin and the price per line stay in step automatically.

All line wins need matching symbols on a played payline, on consecutive reels starting from the far left. Only the highest combination pays on each line, and coinciding wins on different paylines are added together. The Wild substitutes for every symbol except the Bonus scatter, which makes full-reel wild coverage the base game’s clearest route to a big line win.

Bonus scatters appear only on reels 1, 3 and 5 in the base game. That matters twice over, because the scatter isn’t just a trigger for the map bonus – it’s also the fuel for the progression system that sets this game apart.

Wins are shown in currency, and each outcome is completely independent. The odds don’t vary with bet size, balance or time of day, and a top award on one spin leaves the next spin’s chances exactly where they were. In some jurisdictions there’s also a single-transaction award cap, whatever the bet size, and a bonus that reaches the cap ends immediately even if rolls remain.

Mystery Wild

A golden locomotive is the tell. The Mystery Wild can fire after any base game outcome that contains no Wild on the first reel and no Bonus symbol anywhere.

When it triggers, trains roll across the screen and turn between one and five reels entirely wild. Nothing pays until the transformation finishes. Wins are then evaluated and paid on that final reel state alone, so a full five-reel conversion is the ceiling moment of ordinary play.

One or two wild reels is a modest boost; four or five turns a dead spin into something else entirely. The mechanic keeps every result open in a way a straight 5×3 grid usually isn’t.

Bon Voyage Bonus

Three Bonus scatters anywhere on reels 1, 3 and 5 trigger the Bon Voyage Bonus. There’s a mercy rule built in: with scatters on reels 1 and 3 and no win, a second chance exists for reel 5 to deliver the third.

It opens with a pick from three Bonus symbols, revealing the starting dice roll count: two, three or four rolls. Then the train sets off around a map of Europe, starting from whichever capital the current level allows – London, Paris, Venice or Istanbul. Each press of ROLL moves the train, and each spot it lands on pays out:

• Extra Ticket – one or two additional rolls
• Multiplier – 2 to 10 times the total bet
• Mini Slot Bonus – triggered from Paris, Belgrade, Budapest or Brussels; machines carry 2xWild, 3xWild and 4xWild symbols, richer as levels climb
• Wheel Bonus – triggered from London, Venice, Istanbul or Vienna, with awards that also scale by level
• Mystery Box – the Diamond spot, dormant until Explorer level, then one box pays up to 200 times the total bet

The four capitals that host mini slots and wheels are spread around the map, so the route the dice build matters: two rolls could land on a bare stretch, six could chain a mini slot into a wheel into an Extra Ticket that keeps the train moving. The whole journey is capped at 50 dice rolls, and the Extra Ticket spots are the only way to extend it.

Bonus wins sit outside the paylines entirely and are added to whatever line wins paid on the triggering spin. The mini slots and wheels deepen with level – Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold – so the same spot pays differently depending on how far the journey has come.

Level Up Plus

This is the system that ties everything together. Every Bonus symbol on the reels earns Travel Experience points, and points come from four places:

• Triggering the Bon Voyage Bonus
• Landing on an Extra Ticket spot
• Landing on a Mini Slot Bonus spot
• Landing on a Wheel Bonus spot

Points persist across play sessions and carry over from game to game, and the meter in the top-left corner tracks progress to the next threshold. Each level brings a new title and immediately unlocks new bonus content:

• Level 1, Traveler – train departs London; Copper Mini Slots and Wheels
• Level 2, Voyager – Paris start; Bronze games and richer awards; first attire set
• Level 3, Adventurer – Venice start; Silver games; second attire set
• Level 4, Explorer – the Mystery Box Bonus unlocks on the spot before Venice
• Level 5, Globetrotter – Istanbul start; Gold games; third attire set

Levelling up permanently boosts payback, so the later levels aren’t cosmetic; the reward ladder runs to a 2X Wild upgrade, and the mini slots’ wild symbols step up from 2xWild through 3xWild to 4xWild along the way. The best content simply sits several bonuses deep, and the early levels play plainer as a result.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7.7/10

Most of a session on Mystery Express is spent waiting on the platform: the base game is plain line-play with the occasional wild-reel rescue, and the foggy murder-mystery mood does the entertaining between trains. The reason to board at all is that the journey changes – the map bonus you play on a fifth visit isn’t the one you played on your first.

Level Up Plus is the strength. Because the points carry over, the mini slots and wheels keep improving, and a Globetrotter’s round pays differently to a Traveler’s. The weakness is the same system seen from the platform side: the Mystery Box and the Gold tiers sit several bonuses deep, so the opening sessions run noticeably thinner than the game it eventually becomes.

This one suits players who enjoy a long build and a reason to come back to the same title; it isn’t for anyone after immediate fireworks. For travellers who like the destination to grow with the miles, the ticket is worth it.

Mystery Express FAQs

• What is the RTP of Mystery Express?

  Mystery Express runs at 96% RTP.
• How many paylines does Mystery Express have?

  Mystery Express has 30 paylines, and betting is fixed across all 30 on every spin.
• What is the grid size of Mystery Express?

  Mystery Express uses a 5×3 grid: five reels and three rows.
• Who makes Mystery Express?

  Mystery Express is made by IGT.
• When is Mystery Express released?

  Mystery Express’s release date is 23 April 2020.
• How does the Mystery Wild feature work?

  Whenever a base game result shows no Wild on the first reel and no Bonus symbol anywhere, trains can appear and turn between one and five reels entirely wild. Wins are paid based only on that final reel state, and nothing is awarded before the transformation completes.
• How is the Bon Voyage Bonus triggered?

  Landing Bonus scatters on reels 1, 3 and 5 at once starts the round. If scatters land on reels 1 and 3 but the spin pays nothing, there is a second chance for reel 5 to produce the third scatter and start the bonus.
• What is the Level Up Plus feature?

  Level Up Plus awards Travel Experience points whenever Bonus symbols appear, and for landing on Extra Ticket, Mini Slot or Wheel spots in the Bon Voyage Bonus. Points persist between sessions, and each level reached unlocks a new starting city and richer bonus content, up to the Mystery Box Bonus at Explorer level.