The first choice you have to make in Pharaoh's Secrets is whether to play in XtraWin mode - this will up the price of each spin by 50% but will turn any normal wild that hits during the base game into a stacked wild. All wild wins pay doubled in both the base game and bonus feature. The minimum stake with the XtraWin mode activated is 30p whilst the maximum is £300 a spin.
The main attraction on offer is the Pharaoh's Secrets Bonus feature - to trigger it, you'll need to land 3, 4 or 5 of the pyramid scatter symbol anywhere on the reels. Once active, choose from 1 of 3 Egyptian hieroglyphs – the Eye of Horus, the Goddess Isis or the Scarab Beetle.
The number of these that land will then determine the precise number of free spins that you'll be given. You can expect a minimum of 15 free spins but if the hieroglyphs fall nicely, it can go up to a massive 100 free spins.
Keep a special eye on the Pharaoh's mask symbol which is the wild - it appears as a stacked wild during the free spins mode (even if you're not playing in XtraWin mode). All wins that include the wild are doubled.
Visually, Playtech has kept things fairly simple - symbols on the reels include playing cards from A to 9 alongside a trio of Egyptian hieroglyphs. The interior of the pyramid is the top paying symbol - land 5 of these for a 5,000-coin jackpot. You only need to land 2 of the Egyptian-themed symbols to create a winning combination.
Pharaoh's Mask is the wild - it only appears on the 3 central reels and substitutes for everything apart from the pyramid scatter. Whenever the wild forms part of a winning combination that payout will be doubled.
The chief attraction in Pharaoh's Secrets is the bonus round which offers some seriously large free spin numbers as well as stacked wilds - the overall variance isn't especially high and there are some decent base game opportunities thanks largely to the double wild wins. If you have the bankroll for it, we recommend activating the XtraWin feature as the overall returns improve.
The Egyptian-themed slot market is a crowded one - this original download game offers a new slant on an old favourite. The design is decent enough but the bonus round is the stand out. Work out Pharaoh's Secrets and there's treasure on offer in these pyramids. If you like ancient Egyptian-themed games, Cat Queen by Playtech is very good as to is Pharaoh’s Ring by Novomatic.