John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets Slot Review

The John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets Slot Game

Pragmatic Play has set John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets in the astronomer’s observatory. A rounded window at the top lets light into the room. A scroll and telescope act as evidence of his works. Surprisingly, the empty room made me wonder what treasures players are to find here.

Anyway, your focus should be on the glossy reels at the screen's centre. As if the simplistic user interface and shimmery visuals aren’t enough, the design also includes a subtle melody, which cements the adventurous aura.

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Symbols and Payouts

This video slot has ten standard symbols, most of which are thematic. But one thing you’ll appreciate about the symbols is that they’re all crisp and glossy, providing a shiny touch.

The game has 10 paylines, but some symbols pay for 3 or more, while others pay for 2 or more of the same. So, as indicated in the paytable, you should aim for identical symbols to appear on adjacent reels from the outermost left column.

For clarity in evaluating wins, the paytable prizes are multiplied by the currently selected bet. Also, symbols in John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets are ranked as low, medium, or high-paying symbols.

The low-ranking ones are Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, and they pay 0.5x to 10x the stake for 3+ OAK. Then, the medium symbols include the Ink Quill, Parchment, and Telescope. These are worth 0.8-15x, 1-20x, and 1.5-25x the bet, respectively, for 3+ of the same.

Finally, the premium symbols pay for 2+ OAK, and they include:

• Hourglass - 0.3x, 2x, 10x, and 50x the bet.

• Globe - 0.5x, 3x, 12.5x, and 75x the stake.

• John Hunter - 1x, 4x, 15x, and 100x the bet.

This game does not have a wild. Instead, watch out for the Purple (scatter), Pink Books (super scatter), Full Mystery, and Money symbols, which participate in the feature section.

John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets Slot Bonus Features

Apart from the Mystery Symbol feature, this video slot also serves a Re-spin feature, free spins, and a bonus buy.

Mystery Symbol Feature

Whenever the Full Mystery symbol hits and covers a whole reel from top to bottom, all the positions it covers transform into a random paying symbol or Money symbol.

After paying for lines, the transformed symbols pay according to the John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets paytable on all reels, even on non-adjacent positions. Full Mystery symbol revealing enough Money symbols will trigger the Respin feature!

Respin Feature

Whenever the Money symbol hits, it takes a random value between 1x and 5,000x bet or the chance to hit free spins or super free spins. Hitting 6 or more Money symbols anywhere on the screen triggers the re-spin feature.

When the feature starts, regular symbols disappear, leaving only Money symbols on the reels. The game re-spins with Money symbols and blanks, and every Money symbol that hits stays on the screen until the feature ends.

This John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets feature has 3 re-spins that reset whenever a new Money symbol appears. The round ends when no more re-spins remain, or the screen is fully filled with Money symbols.

If the Money symbols have entirely filled the grid at the end of the round, you’ll get an additional prize of 2,000x bet. The Money values with the free spins or super free spins award the respective feature at the end.

Free Spins

Landing 3 scatters activates the free spins. Before the round starts, one of the paying symbols or the Money symbol is randomly selected as the Mystery symbol for the Free Spins round.

Hitting 2 scatters and a super scatter in the base game triggers the Super Level free spins. In it, the Mystery symbol is always the Money symbol without the possibility of gambling before it starts.

If the low, mid, or high-ranking symbols are selected as Mystery symbols, the subsequent John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets rounds will be Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels, respectively. Finally, if the Money symbol is the Mystery symbol, the subsequent round is Super level.

Before the round begins, you can gamble separately and increase the Mystery symbol value to the next higher value or the round’s level to the next. Otherwise, collect the current Mystery symbols and start the round with them. Losing a gamble ends the round.

Full mystery symbols will nudge during the free spins round, completing their respective reels. Then, they reveal the mystery symbol selected for the round. The re-spin feature is activated if the round is super level with enough money symbols.

All scatters that hit during the round accumulate into a meter. Every 4 scatters collected increases the level to the next one, awards a new random Mystery symbol, and awards +2 additional free spins.

Bonus Buy

John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets lets you instantly trigger the free spins from the base game in two ways. First, pay 80x bet for the regular free spins, and second, pay 200x stake for the super free spins feature.

How to Win at John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets Slot

Nothing about this game is like cracking a code to a safe. Instead, its conventional 5-reel, 3 rows, 10 payline configuration is evidence of its simplicity.

A winning combination happens when you align 2 or 3-plus matching symbols on adjacent reels from the furthest left side to the right, as indicated in the paytable. Then, multiply the combination’s paytable value with the selected stake.

The maximum amount you can win in any John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets game round is 5,000 times the stake!

Luckily, the €0.10 to €250 bet range should be ideal for all player budgets. Once selected, start each round manually with the Spin button or Spacebar. Alternatively, you can use the Autoplay function to preselect and play several auto-spins!

John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets Slot RTP & Volatility  

This video slot is one of the Pragmatic Play slots, with the same RTP for all game modes (base game or bonus buy): 96.50%. However, it has high volatility, leading to infrequent wins.

The Concluding Thoughts

Prospecting for treasures in historical sites and lost cities is undoubtedly one of the most adventurous activities. So, it makes sense that Pragmatic Play is heavily investing in the John Hunter series, which has reached five editions so far.

The latest John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets has somewhat dated graphics. However, it’s understandable since the game’s theme revolves around a renowned Italian scientist from the 16th century. So, what better way to bring out the olden vibe than to have an uninspiring design? In my opinion, it was pretty thoughtful.

What about the gameplay?

None of the mystery symbols, re-spins, or free spins was original features, as they’ve all graced the iGaming scene for a long time. However, the design team mashed them up interestingly to keep you entertained throughout your gameplay. Furthermore, you can instantly buy the free spins from the base game!

In summary, it should be worth taking a risk with the broad bets and decent win cap. However, you should look out for the high volatility, as it could drain your bankroll mercilessly if you’re not careful.