Dead Man's Gold - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Dead Man’s Gold Slot Review

The Dead Mans Gold slot is another title in the “Gold” online slot series by ELK Studios, most of which follow the lead character Kane to various exotic destinations in the pursuit of riches. This time Kane finds himself on a pirate ship facing a long-forgotten pirate village with a huge cascading waterfall.

Much like Tahiti Gold and Pacific Gold from ELK Studios, the audio-visuals in this slot are superb.

Players have access to 262,114 ways when aiming for the top prize worth 25,000x the bet, avalanching symbols, and bonus games (free drops). The slot also offers a rich set of modifiers such as Treasure Targets, Multiplier Treasure Targets, Fire The Cannons!, Bottomless Chest, and you also have the X-iter buy bonus feature.

There is a lot of swashbuckling action to discuss in this slot review, so let's get to it.

Theme and Graphics

Fans of Kane the treasure-craving explorer and the gold slot series from ELK Studios will once again be captivated by the visuals in the Dead Man’s Gold slot. During the base game, this pirate-themed slot is set on a pirate ship looking toward the pirate village on an exotic island.

Players can easily catch a glimpse of a massive cascading waterfall from behind the symbols, but the scene changes when the bonus games or free drops rounds are triggered. The waterfall gives way to reveal a hidden tunnel leading to a cave where a massive chest of gold can be seen.

Adding to the overall intensity of the gaming session is a stunning soundtrack which has dramatic upturns, jungle sounds, and lighter almost mystical sounds.

Dead Man's Gold Slot RTP and Variance

The overall feel of the Dead Man’s Gold slot is dramatic and intense, so it only makes sense that the volatility is high too. The RTP is 94%, which is lower than we like to see for online slots of this calibre, and this does not change when the X-iter buy bonus feature is in play. That said though, the top prize is a whopping 25,000x the bet which makes the risk justifiable.

How to Play

Set sail to adventure and treasure with easy-to-use controls which are the same in both the demo slot and real money versions.

• Get the reels spinning with the big spin button at the bottom right.
• Use these options to make gameplay easier:
• Set the auto-play to 10, 25, 50 or 100 spins for hands-free gameplay.
• Select the coin stack symbol in the bottom left to change your bet amount.
• Open the menu from the top left and get access to:
  • The paytable
  • Rules
  • Settings
• If available select the X-iter button to buy a bonus feature.

How to Win

Hunt for treasure on a desert island with 6 reels and expanding win ways, starting at 4,096 ways reaching as high as 262,144 win ways. Getting a win in this pirate game requires that you land at least three of the same symbol on consecutive reels, starting from the leftmost reel.

The highest-paying symbol is Kane who is the main character in many of the ELK Studios games and will get you 5x your bet amount for six symbols. You also get the Big Symbols that can take up spaces of 2x2, 3x3 and 4x4 which increases your odds of winning, but more on those shortly.

• The betting range for Dead Man’s Gold starts from £0.10 to as high as £100 per spin.

Free Spins and Bonuses

The Dead Man’s Chest slot has a treasure chest of bonus features that will have every pirate out there searching for it. The reels are filled with Treasure Targets, Big Symbols, and Scatter symbols that can trigger the free spins bonus round.

Multiplier Free Drops

The Multiplier Free Drops round is triggered by landing three or more scatter symbols anywhere in view. The number of scatter symbols that land will determine the number of free spins you get:

• 3 scatters award - 10 free spins
• 4 scatters award - 15 free spins
• 5 scatters award - 20 free spins
• 6 scatters award - 25 free spins

During the bonus round the Treasure Targets, Multiplier Treasure Targets and Bottomless Chest become sticky.

To add some extra excitement, the win multiplier does not reset between drops, creating the chance for wins any pirate would be glad to come across.

Treasure Targets

When the Treasure Target symbol lands on the reels it is destroyed by the ships’ cannons. However, you must first collect cannon balls as ammunition. The Target Treasure reveals a wild symbol and blows up all the non-winning symbols around it. A Multiplier Target can also land, which is used to increase the current spins’ multiplier.

Bottomless Chest

The Bottomless Chest functions as a blocking symbol. It can fill empty spaces below it with high-value symbols, wilds and cannonball symbols up to the current row height.

Avalanche Feature

The cascading reels feature, or in this case, the Avalanche is triggered whenever there is a winning combination. The winning symbols disappear in an explosion leaving behind gaps in the reels, which are then filled by symbols dropping down to take their place.

After each Avalanche, the reels will expand by one row up to a maximum of eight rows, and the cascading symbols continue as long as the wins keep on happening.

Big Symbols

In addition to the standard-size symbols in the Dead Man’s Gold slot, Super, Mega and Epic symbols can also land on the reels. These symbols come in sizes of 2x2, 3x3 and 4x4 and can create some amazing winning combinations. Each big symbol counts as the number of 1x1 tiles it covers.

Dead Man's Gold Review – Our Verdict

The Dead Man’s Gold slot is another excellent addition to ELK Studios' portfolio. While other “Gold” series games such as Zulu Gold and Ecuador Gold all boast stunning graphics, this one just hits differently.

Players are spoilt when it comes to the bonus features. Besides the wilds and free spins (free drops), there are increasing multipliers, sticky symbols, and big symbols that range from 2x2, 3x3 and 4x4 in size.

As if that were not enough, ELK throws in modifiers such as Treasure Targets, Multiplier Treasure Targets, Fire The Cannons!, and the Bottomless Chest to increase winning opportunities.

Is it worth going on the hunt for the Dead Man’s Gold?

In a word. Yes. Sure, the RTP of 94% is somewhat disappointing, but there are many other aspects that make up for it. Every one of the many modifiers is geared toward creating big wins. The design of Dead Man’s Gold is fantastic, and tied to the high volatility is a max win amount of 25,000x the bet. There is also the 262,144 ways to win to keep you in the mix.

With that being said, ELK Studios looks like as though it has yet another slot release that is set to be on many a player’s must-spin list.

If the swashbuckling theme of Dead Man’s Gold is not entirely your scene but still want similar gameplay from the same developer, check out Voodoo Gold. It's a mystical-themed slot with an RTP of 96.1% and 262,144 ways of winning.

Disclaimer: Dead Man's Gold trademark / license is owned by ELK Studios. This site is not endorsed by ELK Studios.