Dead Man's Chest Slot
Dead Man’s Chest is a pirate-themed instant-play video slot developed by OpenBet. Similar in many ways to the gaming company’s identically-titled single-line slot, this adventurous casino game has 19 more and 2 extra reels. There are also a few bonus features which the 1-line equivalent sorely lacked, as well as a few additional symbols. The return-to-player percentage is freely available, too: it’s 94.88%.
Dead Man’s Chest was released in 2006, and though the graphics have aged a little, it’s still a pretty decent video slot if you’re a fan of 5-reelers. Eager to crack open the dead man’s chest? Then read on for a full rundown of this seafaring multi-line slot.
All Aboard
Like the 1-line version, the 5-reel incarnation of Dead Man’s Chest is as easy as pie to play. Before you hit that big yellow Spin button though, you’d better decide on a bet. You’ll be happy to know that the minimum bet for a single line is just 0.5, making the overall minimum for 20 lines a single credit. Players whose bank balance is in slightly better shape can lay down a line bet of 25, making their maximum bet-per-spin equivalent to 500 if they’re playing on all 20 lines. Oh, to be rich…
When you’ve determined your bets using the Stake and Lines buttons at the bottom of the screen, you can take a moment to contemplate the game. The gold-plated 5x3 reel grid appears flanked by darkened palm trees, and just like in the original game, there are messages printed above the reels – things like ‘Feeling lucky shipmate?’ and messages of congratulation when you hit a win. Other buttons on the dashboard, incidentally, let you size up the pay-table and activate Bet Max, as outlined above.
Shipmates Ahoy
If you’ve played the 1-line Dead Man’s Chest slot, you’ll recognise many of the symbols. The skull and crossbones is back, as is the parrot, the pirate ship, the gold doubloons, the rotgun rum and the bearded captain of the ship. Now, though, some playing card icons have joined the party in the form of golden Jacks, Queens and Kings. There’s even a shiny new silver coin.
The pay-table is an improvement. The low-value playing cards might grant trifling amounts – just one credit for three Jacks and, at the top end, 16 for five Kings – but the sums jump quite a bit with the character symbols. Land three pirates, for instance, and you’ll win 25; hit four to win 50 and five to claim 100. The silver doubloon pays even better: 50 for three, 100 for four and 300 for five, while the golden coin pays 100 for three, 200 for four and 400 for five. The best-paying symbol, once again, is the pirate ship. This one furnishes you with 200 for three, 500 for four and the 2,000 jackpot for all five in a line.
Wild Skulls and Squawking Parrots
There were no wild or scatter symbols before, but in this game, the parrot performs scatter duties. It can pay anywhere, not just left to right like the others, and grants free spins when found in combinations of three or more. Find three anywhere on the reels and you’ll win 15 free spins plus a cash value equal to 2x your stake. For four parrots you’ll win 20 free spins plus 3x your stake, and for five you’ll be gifted 25 free spins plus a whopping 10x your line-stake.
The wild, on the other hand, is the skull and crossbones. This one substitutes for other icons – except scatters – to help the player make up wins. It also pays x2 on all combinations it helps to form.
There are no further bonuses to watch out for, but given the generosity of the free spins, that’s hardly surprising.
Raiding the Chest
Dead Man’s Chest is a ‘what you see is what you get’ type of slot. While there aren’t a load of bonus features, there’s certainly more than in the 1-line game, with the inclusion of both wild and scatters. There’s also a wide betting range, and the pay-table has vastly improved, with more combinations to hit and better prizes to be won when you do so. And while the game has aged somewhat, the graphics aren’t too shoddy – think of it as a vintage slot and the 2D graphics can actually seem quite charming!
