Dead Man’s Gold Slot Review

Dead Man’s Gold Slot RTP, Details & Wager Limits

The Dead Man’s Gold slot is initially played with 6 reels, 4 rows and 4,096 ways to win. Winning combinations are formed when 3, 4, 5 or 6 matching symbols appear on consecutive reels, in any position, and starting from the leftmost reel (i.e. reel 1). The more symbols in succession, the larger the payout. As you’ll discover below, more rows can be added for up to 262,144 ways to win.

Bets wise, you can play Dead Man’s Gold from 20p to £100 per spin. As with all ELK Studios slot games, clicking/pressing the ‘Coins’ icon will allow you to adjust your bet easily as all 12 options are presented. Non UK players have 2 more gameplay options: there’s Auto Spin (with up to 100 auto spins) and Quick Play which speeds up play.

Disappointingly, the Dead Man’s Gold RTP is 94%. This is below the 96% average for an online slot game. It’s also the trend for ELK Studios slots lately with the likes of Nitropolis 4 and Rabbit Royale offering this. The only saving grace is that there is only one RTP setting which will be on offer at all slot sites in the UK.

High volatility (9/10), the Dead Man’s Gold slot comes with a 22.1% hit frequency rate which means a win every 4.52 spins on average. In terms of payout potential, you can win up to 25,000 x your total bet.

Theme – join Kane on a quest for shipwreck gold

With a pirate theme, the Dead Man’s Gold slot sees adventurer Kane on another quest, this time for shipwreck gold. Kane has managed to get his hands on his ancestor’s diary (the notorious pirate Long John Steal), which mentions the location of Tortuga (turtle in Spanish).

Tortuga is a hidden pirate colony which is home to old shipwrecks, unstable cannons and bottomless chests of treasure. Tortuga island is a Caribbean island that is part of Haiti and was a stronghold for piracy in the 17^th century.

Visually, it’s set upon a pirate ship with Tortuga island in the backdrop. With cannons either side of the reels, it reminds me a little of Pacific Gold. It has a different feel to the pirate-themed Pirots.

Symbols on the reels include A, K, Q and J royals which appear on map scrolls. Then you have stingray, octopus, anchor and skull and bones symbols. The high value symbols include a moon within a ship’s wheel, a star, an eye pyramid and adventurer Kane.

Kane is the best paying symbol with 1.5, 3, 4 or 5 x bet awarded for 3, 4, 5 or 6 in combination. Paying symbols can appear as Big Symbols up to 4×4 in size (more details below).

There is also a Wild symbol that substitutes for all paying symbols above. Other symbols include the Treasure Target, Multiplier Treasure Target, Bottomless Chest, Cannonball and the Pirate Ship Bonus Scatter.

Symbol	Payouts/Info
J	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.1, 0.15, 0.2 or 0.3 x bet
Q	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.1, 0.15, 0.2 or 0.3 x bet
K	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.1, 0.15, 0.2 or 0.3 x bet
A	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.1, 0.15, 0.2 or 0.3 x bet
Stingray	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.15, 0.25, 0.4 or 0.8 x bet
Octopus	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.15, 0.25, 0.4 or 0.8 x bet
Anchor	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 or 1 x bet
Skull and Bones	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 or 1 x bet
Moon in Ship's Wheel	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.5, 1, 1.5 or 2 x bet
Star	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 0.75, 1.5, 2 or 2.5 x bet
Eye Pyramid	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 1, 2, 2.5 or 3 x bet
Kane	3, 4, 5 or 6 = 1.5, 3, 4 or 5 x bet
Wild	Substitutes for paying symbols above
Pirate Ship Bonus Scatter	3+ triggers Bonus Game feature

Dead Man’s Gold Mobile

Released in May 2023, Dead Man’s Gold was created with HTML5 technology. Optimised for mobile, tablet and desktop devices, ELK Studios is a mobile-first provider so smartphone devices are the priority. The game, as with all ELK Studios games are compatible with iOS, Android and Windows operating systems.

Dead Man’s Gold Bonus Features

The Dead Man’s Gold slot has 6 bonus features. Avalanches gives you more rows and ways to win. With Big Symbols up to 4×4 in size, Cannonball symbols fire up the cannons which target Treasure Target symbols that reveal wilds and blow-up adjacent symbols. Multiplier Treasure Target symbols increase the global multiplier. Bottomless Chest symbols fill empty spaces on the same symbol with high value, Wild and Cannonball symbols. All these extras apply during the free spins but the special symbols are sticky.

Avalanche feature

When a winning combination occurs (every 4.52 spins on average), the Avalanche feature comes into play. Winning symbols are removed which leaves space for new symbols to drop in. Which each Avalanche, an additional row of symbols is added up to a maximum of 8 rows. This increases the number of ways to win, up to 262,144:

Big Symbols feature

The Dead Man’s Gold slot benefits from a Big Symbols feature. Paying symbols can appear in 2×2 (Super), 3×3 (Mega) and 4×4 (Epic) size which drop down randomly on any symbol drop. They dramatically increase your chances of forming winning combinations basically.

Treasure Target feature

Look out for Cannonball symbols which in turn activate the cannons appearing either side of the reels. Cannons fire when they can target a Treasure Target symbol. Known as the Treasure Target feature, Treasure Target symbols shot by cannons reveal hidden Wild symbols and blow up non-winning symbols adjacent to them. If Multiplier Treasure Target symbols are hit, they also increase the global multiplier each time.

Bottomless Chest feature

The Bottomless Chest symbol has no value per say but generates and fills empty/vacated spaces in the same column with high value, Wild and Cannonball symbols. This is called the Bottomless Chest feature.

Bonus Game feature

The Dead Man’s Gold slot comes with a Bonus Game feature which is triggered by landing 3 or more Pirate Ship Bonus Scatter symbols. 3, 4, 5 or 6 scatters will result in 10, 15, 20 or 25 free spins respectively.

Unlike the base game, Treasure Target, Bottomless Chest and Multiplier Treasure Target symbols are sticky. This basically brings the above bonus features into action more often. 3 or more scatters will result in extra free spins, with no limits.

X-iter feature

Non UK players can enable the X-iter feature. With 5 options available, they cost between 5 and 500 x your total bet. Here’s what you can purchase:

Dead Man’s Gold Review Summary – another ‘Gold’ series slot with a couple of new additions

Following a long line of adventure style slots featuring Kane, the Dead Man’s Gold slot follows the same formula as other ‘Gold’ series slots, more or less. The bonus features are quite similar with most of them seen before. Aesthetically, this game is pretty decent too.

In terms of the gameplay, Avalanches with an increasing number of rows/ways to win is nothing new. However, a new addition is the Treasure Target feature. Cannonball symbols see cannons fire Treasure Target symbols which in turn award Wilds and blow up non-winning adjacent symbols to give you further Avalanches and wins. If you’re lucky to target Multiplier Treasure Target symbols, the win multiplier increases for even bigger win potential.

I also quite like the Bottomless Chest feature which sees columns filled with high value, Wilds and Cannonball symbols. The Bonus Game feature, or free spins, offers free spins with sticky versions of important symbols for more feature triggers. What I love is the soundtrack in the free spins which will sure get your heart racing.

With 25,000 x bet max wins available, the Dead Man’s Gold slot offers bigger top payouts than most of it’s predecessors. If you’re a fan of ‘Gold’ series slots, it’s definitely worth joining Kane on another adventure. I must mention the below par 94% RTP rate is something you need to weigh up too.

If the RTP rate is a deal-breaker, Katmandu Gold comes with a 96.2% rate and up to 531,441 ways to win. Max wins can reach 10,000 x bet. Another option is Avalon Gold which offers 50,000 x bet payouts but with the same 94% RTP rate. Pick your poison.