Hidden Slot

Go hunting for desert treasure in Hidden, a superbly designed, ancient Egyptian-themed slot game from ELK Studios. Played using a 5 reel game engine that offers up to 178 ways to win, it comes with respins with stacked wilds as well as a free spins round with expanding symbols. Start the quest, across all devices, from 20p to £100 per spin.



The backstory here is that a historian called Professor Taylor and his nephew Benjamin have headed to Cairo on a quest to unlock the mysteries of the pyramids. Design wise, it’s just what we’ve come to expect from an ELK Studios title. With pyramids and palm trees in the background, the reels are made up of blocks covered in hieroglyphs that drop into place. You’ll see lower value A to 10 playing cards alongside a camel, the Sphinx, eager young Benjamin and Professor Taylor - there’s also a wild that replaces everything bar the scatter.

The wild is central to the first extra we’ll look at, the Flashback Respins feature - these can hit at random on any spin. You’ll be sent back in time to the land of ancient Egypt and awarded 3 respins with 1, 2 or 3 of the middle reels covered in sticky wilds.

The main feature offering is the Treasure Room Free Spins feature which is triggered by landing 3 or more of the magnifying glass scatter on the same spin. To start, you’ll be awarded 5 free spins. First though, 1 symbol is randomly chosen to be the special expanding symbol.

This symbol expands in a 2x2 block when it hits to create big blocks of matching symbols. Other symbols are removed from the reels and a respin follows. If more of the matching symbol land, they continue. Every time a magnifying glass scatter lands, 1 free spin is added to your total.

There are already hundreds of Egyptian-themed slot games on the shelves but Hidden offers something a little different. The 3D visuals here are superbly done - as is the haunting Arabian-style soundtrack that accompanies the action.

It’s the features that make this game stand out though, especially the Treasure Room Free Spins feature - land a higher value symbol as a special expander and the coins can quickly flow. Expect spells as dry as the Sahara though as this is a volatile, high variance game. Saying that, it can pay out 2,150 times your stake on each spin!

We were impressed with what ELK Studios has done with Hidden - it looks and sounds terrific and offers some very playable action. Egyptologists should find plenty to like in this enjoyable desert adventure. If you like ELK Studios offerings, Sam on the Beach is excellent but if you can’t get enough of ancient Egypt, Lady of Egypt by WMS is recommended – and unique.