Da Vinci’s Treasure Slots
This may be one of the longest-titled and most blatantly ripped-off slot games there ever was, but that doesn’t mean it's not an amazing time. John Hunter and the Secrets of Da Vinci’s Treasure is clearly an ode to Indiana Jones and similar adventurers, but the real question is: does that matter? What does an adventure-themed slot bring to the table, and does the theme affect how the game is played at all? These questions and more will be answered in this death-defying game review.
Artifacts Abound
Whether it is Indiana Jones or John Hunter, they are still looking for ancient artifacts, and John Hunter knows exactly where to find them. The board is set against a paper map with various items strewn about it. This background gives the perfect ambiance for a game all about adventure.
This game is a feast for the eyes with colorful and detailed symbols. The one set of symbols the designers didn’t put much effort into is the card symbols, which are set apart from other games by a font with some cursive elements. You will also see several symbols that were Da Vinci’s creations, like the first helicopter, a scroll, a tome, a satchel, and John Hunter himself. Da Vinci also appears as the wild symbol in this game.
This is the perfect game for an adventurous theme, and they take full advantage of it. The music makes you feel like you are being chased through a jungle on the hunt for artifacts. The sound effects are pretty standard for a slot game, but they are also pretty drowned out by the music, so if you keep the music on, you probably won’t notice them.
An Adventurer Deserves Adventure
It would be pretty lame if a game with such an exciting theme didn’t match that with some exciting bonus featured. Luckily, John Hunter rose to the challenge with exciting features on an already gorgeous game. After all, what would an action-adventure slot game be without a little action and adventure?
Of course, the first bonus feature is the wild symbol, which is represented by a portrait of Da Vinci and can replace any symbol on the screen. The scroll represents the scatter symbol, and if you hit them on the second, third, and fourth wheel in a single spin, it triggers the bonus feature. A spinning wheel appears that has three types of games on it, Map Quest, Prize Picker, and Progressive Multiplier Free Spins. Spinning the wheel determines which of the bonus games you’ll play.
If you are lucky enough to land on Map Quest, you get an animation where a path leads through a garden. Your goal is to get John Hunter through the path to the castle. You’ll spin a wheel just like rolling dice on a board game and advance the number of spots on the wheel. You keep spinning until the wheel stops on “end” or John Hunter makes it to the castle. Along the way, you’ll pick up coins worth up to five times your bet. When he reaches the castle, you are given the option to gamble your winnings, ,which means you can multiply your current winnings by up to five times again, or you could walk away with nothing.
The Prize Picker game is a little more straightforward. When you land on this option you are taken to a room displaying three of Da Vinci’s paintings. Pick a painting and you will reveal between ten and fifty times your initial bet. Like with Map Quest, you can choose to gamble those winnings for up to five times more, but you lose everything if you lose.
The feature that everyone wants to land on is the Progressive Multiplier Free Spins bonus. When you land on this game you automatically get twelve free spins, but they can be re-triggered up to four times for a total of sixty free spins in a single round. With each spin the multiplier increase by one time, so you have the potential to get twelve times your winning off the intial free spins. If you are lucky enough to retrigger the free spins it can go up to sixty times so hitting a winning line on that last spin can produce some significant numbers.
Like Being In a Movie
Just the experience of playing this game is enough reason to give it a try. This is about as close as you can get to a cinemtatic experience while playing a slot game. The symbols look amazing and there is so much animation it feels like you’re watching a movie at times. What really makes this game a keeper are the bonus features that make this game feel as exciting as it looks. John Hunter and the Secrets of Da Vinci’s Treasure is a nearly perfect slot game that can easily become a whole series just like the movies it was likely based off of.