If you’ve ever been to Stonehenge, then you will be reminded of the iconic landmark when you enter the reels of Secret of the Stones, created by Net Entertainment. This pokie is based on the druids – a philosopher or a teacher, and sometimes even considered to be a magician – and we are greeted to them nestled among an array of standing stones.
Secret of the Stones features 5 reels and 3 rows, and up to 25 paylines eligible to be activated. There’s no introductory video, but we are told how to amplify our winnings as we enter the reels – we can win up to 350,000 coins.
With a coin size ranging from 0.01 to 0.0, plus the minimum bet available of $0.01 and the maximum bet of $125, both low and high limit players will be satisfied. Additionally, the theoretical RTP is 96.7%.
There’s a mystical soundtrack, which has a fantasy vibe to it adding ambience to the game and on every spin stones sound as if they’re moving and falling into place. There’s just one special gameplay feature to Secret of the Stones, and we’re here to find out if it offers quality over quantity.
Secret of the Stones symbols
While NetEnt have gone with the 10, J, Q, K, and A symbols to represent the lower payouts, they’ve crafted them to tie in with the theme – each symbol has been made to look like a carved out stone.
You will get a five-coin payout for spinning three of the same symbols for all of the lower paying symbols, but you can get up to 150 coins for spinning five A symbols.
The middle value symbols are represented by Celtic animals, including a snake, wolf, bull, owl, and deer, with the top payout of 1250 coins scored by spinning five deer symbols.
There are two more important symbols – the Wild and the Scatter.
The Wild symbol is represented by the druid, featuring the text ‘Wild’. Wild symbols will substitute for all other symbols except the Scatter to complete the highest win per active line. There’s also extra Wilds added during the Free Spins feature, which appear as the owl and the bull symbols (we will explain more below).
The Scatter symbol is the gold tree with the text ‘Scatter’ and at least three trigger the Free Spins feature.
Secret of the Stones bonus games
We unfortunately aren’t inundated with a large amount of features on this pokie, meaning it does lose some brownie points in this respect. However, the one feature is a decent feature.
The Free Spins bonus round is activated by spinning at least three Scatter symbols. You will then be transported to a grassy field of standing stones – we unfortunately can’t help but be reminded of tombstones however – and here you will be awarded with the 10 free spins, plus the chance to win extra free spins, multipliers, extra Wilds, and Expanding Wild reels.
You get to pick three stones and then the free spins – 10 or more depending if you’ve scored extra – will commence with their added features applied.
Theme and layout
The theme is a somewhat unusual concept to go with – there’s nothing else like it so an original theme is always a plus.
The graphics are two dimensional, so if you are after 3D graphics you may want to look elsewhere, but this is kinder to your Internet connection. The reels are set on a backdrop of what looks to be a stone entrance – to what, we have no idea. The beautiful aqua colour scheme is quite stunning and makes the symbols jump out, so perhaps this is the bridge between 2D and 3D graphics.
All of the pokies’ functions are available under the reels, including the adjuster for the paylines, coin size, and bet level, as well as the paytable and spin button – all very easy to see and use.
Our verdict on Secret of the Stones
We are going to be brutally honest and say the base game of this pokie is incredibly boring. There’s no special Wilds or extra bonus features eligible to be triggered at random, which can make spinning the reels a tedious task.
The vast range of bet sizes is quite convenient – we played the minimum bet with all paylines activated and the bet level set at 10 (maximum), which saw a bet of $2.50 per spin.
We managed to keep our bankroll fairly balanced until we triggered the free spins – which don’t require all paylines to be activated, but winnings in the free spins rely on your bet played when the feature was activated.
Once we triggered the Free Spins feature we clicked three stones and won 12 extra free spins and an Expanding Wild on reel 2, leading to some huge wins – 28,300 coins to be exact.
So while the base game spins can be somewhat tedious it can be worth the wait – provided you pick the right stones for the free spins.