John Hunter and Galileo’s Secrets

John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets: Slot Overview

Like the famous archaeologist he appears to be emulating, Pragmatic Play's intrepid explorer John Hunter sure gets about the place. Actually, to be honest, John had been a bit quiet for a while, last seen in the 2022 release John Hunter And The Mayan Gods, but lock up your priceless antiquities because the call of adventure was clearly too hard to resist. As a result, Prag's man with the hat has swung in to play the leading role in John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets, a slot which whips up a few nods to the past while throwing in a twist or two for good measure.

Dusty old trinket was the initial response after getting a first look at John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets. Dated-looking reels and dated-looking symbols didn't inspire a whole lot of enthusiasm for what might come next. But looks can be deceiving, plus archaeology is all about dusting the years off ancient objects to find the treasure residing within. Or something like that. So, with an adventurous spirit, let us press on.

A standard 5x3 matrix with 10 paylines is John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets' gaming area, paying regular wins on adjacent reels from the left-hand side and non-adjacent wins through the Mystery symbol feature. The game takes bets of 10 c to $/€250 per spin and offers two bonus buys. At the highest level, the RTP comes in at 96.5% when regular betting or when going with either bonus buy, plus the volatility is high.

Mr Hunter is the top paying symbol in the game at 100x the bet for 5 OAK, joined by ink quills, parchment, telescopes, hourglasses, and globes as the remaining high pays. They award 15 to 75 times the bet for a line of 5. Rounding out the pay symbols are J-A royals, worth 7.5 to 10 times the bet for 5-of-a-kind. Wild symbols have been kept out of John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets, so no substitution takes place.

John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets: Slot Features

John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets includes full reel Mystery symbol reveals, hold 'n win respins, free spins with a vague 'Book' element, and bonus buys.

Mystery Symbol Feature

When a Mystery symbol lands fully stacked, all rows transform into one random pay symbol or Money symbol. Symbols transformed from full Mystery symbols pay on all reels, even on non-adjacent positions, after paying for lines. If enough Money symbols are revealed by full Mystery symbols, the respin feature is awarded.

Respin Feature

Money symbols land with a value of 1x to 5,000x the bet or the chance to trigger free spins or super free spins. Hitting 6 or more Money symbols triggers the respin feature. Regular symbols fade away, so only Money symbols remain. A total of 3 respins are awarded where only blanks or Money symbols may hit. Landing a new Money symbol resets the respins count. Landed Money symbols remain on the screen till the feature ends. When there are no spaces left or respins run out, the feature ends and the total value of all in-view Money symbols is paid. If the screen is completely filled, an additional 2,000x is awarded. Any Money symbols with free spins or super free spins award the respective round at the end of the respins feature.

Free Spins

Hitting 3 scatter symbols triggers the free spins round. Before the feature starts, one pay symbol or Money symbol is randomly chosen to be the Mystery symbol for the duration of the round. Hitting 2 scatter symbols and a super scatter symbol triggers super level free spins. In the super round, the Mystery symbol is always the Money symbol, and there is no possibility of gambling before it starts.

If J-A is selected to be the mystery symbol, the free spins bonus is a Bronze level round. If a quill, parchment or telescope is selected, the round is Silver level, and if an hourglass, globe, or John is selected, the round is Gold level. When the Money symbol is chosen, the round is classed as being at Super level.

Before free spins start, players may gamble to increase the value of the Mystery symbol to the next higher-value symbol or the next level. It is possible to just collect the current Mystery symbol and start the round. Unsuccessful gambles lose the round.

During free spins, Mystery symbols nudge to become fully stacked, then reveal the selected Mystery symbol. The respin feature will immediately be triggered if enough Money symbols are revealed. Any landed scatter symbols are collected by a meter. Every 4 scatters collected upgrades the level to the next highest one, meaning a new symbol from that level becomes the Mystery symbol, and +2 free spins are awarded.

Feature Buy

The free spins round can be triggered from the base game by buying it. Regular free spins cost 80x the bet, while super free spins are triggered for 200x the bet.

John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets: Slot Verdict

There was a feeling of getting the band back together when reviewing John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets. First of all, the game looked old, well, older than its release date suggests, and since we know Pragmatic Play is a dab hand at graphic design, this must have been done on purpose. Why? To pull in old-school gamblers, to celebrate the past, to shed a wistfully nostalgic tear over the past…? Feel free to take your pick. However, what looked blah at the beginning made more sense after browsing the paytable to absorb the features and seeing them in motion. A bit more sense.

John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets' gameplay, like its visuals, bursts with nods to the past. The respins feature is about as tried and true as it gets, with no special symbols mixing up the flow or getting in the way of straight landing Money symbols to the exclusion of all else. The game does supply a brawny 2,000x prize on top of any other rewards should every position on the grid in respins end up being filled, which might cause nail-biting moments for anyone getting close. This feeds into overall winning potential capped at 5,000x the stake. Then we've got full reel Mystery symbols, revealing symbols that pay all lines from any position, regardless of adjacency, Book or Ra Deluxe manner. John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets system is not totally the same as a regular Book slot, though, plus the free spins round provides chances for upgrading the chosen symbol, adding a little variety to change the dynamic.

The respins feature triggered quite a lot from super level free spins, too, so that could be a draw. John Hunter and Galileo's Secrets wasn't one of Pragmatic Play's most excitingly forward-thinking games, but its recognisable character and celebration of the past might be ideal for a spot of reminiscent gambling.