Secret o/t Stones MAX slot review (Netent)

Secret of the Stones MAX is Netent’s high variance version of the classic Secret of the Stones video slot

Netent started with BerryBurst Max and has been releasing so-called MAX versions of their most famous slots for a while now.

The gameplay is mostly the same, but the variance has been dramatically increased. In other words: you can win a lot more money on it, but the volatility of the slot has increased enormously.

It’s quite a smart move by Netent: some players want to play a long time with their money, while other players give their arm for the chance to cash in on mega payouts.

And winning big money, that’s what Secret of the Stones MAX was made for. By choosing the right boosters in the free spins bonus, you can make combinations of wilds and multipliers, enabling you to win up to a whopping 25,000 x the total bet.

Dayum!

The RTP, Variance (volatility) & Maximum win of Secret of the Stones MAX

The payout percentage of Secret of the Stones MAX is a fantastic 96.81%.

Fair is fair: even though Netent has been having a tough time in recent years, they don’t skimp on their slots’ payout percentages.

The classic version of Secret of the Stones had a slightly lower Return to Player of 96.72%.

The maximum win is 25,000x the bet or a cool $€1,125 MILLION (whichever is reached first). And it is not even a progressive video slot at that.

If you look at the Netent slots with the highest maximum win, this slot ends up in 3^rd place! Only dead or Alive 2 and Pyramid have a higher maximum win.

We are talking about a high variance slot here. The classical Secret of the Stones slot was already a medium to high variance slot with a maximum win of just 2500x the bet. So, this slot must have high volatility. Perhaps even extremely high?

We think this slot has chances to enter our top 10 high variance netent slots, pretty soon!

Secret of the Stones MAX gameplay and features

There are 25 fixed paylines, divided over five reels with three rows of symbols.

Betting starts at $€ 0,25 per reel and runs up to $€ 125 per reel.

The theme is based on Norwegian mythology, so expect many Celtic characters, druids and magical stones.

The druid itself is wild and replaces all symbols except the scatter, the Yggdrasil tree.

The premium symbols consist of beautifully designed animals: the deer, the owl, the bull, the wolf and the snake.

Free spins bonus with extra boosters

If you manage to hit three or more scattered Yggdrasil trees, you have won the free spins bonus.

The more scatters you spin, the more magical stones you can choose. And behind those magical stones lie those oh so essential boosters.

• 3 Scatters: Choose three stones
• 4 Scatters: Pick four stone
• 5 Scatters: Pick five magical stones

The boosters you choose largely determine your success in the bonus round, so an extra choice (or two) can make all the difference between a good or an extremely profitable bonus round.

There are 20 stones to choose from, and they contain the following boosters:

• Reel 2, 3 or 4 completely wild (a powerful booster, especially if you have two or even three)
• Extra multipliers (also an extremely valuable booster)
• Extra free spins (maximum 10)
• Additional wild symbols

The free spins cannot be retriggered.

Our verdict on Secret of the Stones MAX?

We were already big fans of the original Secret of the Stones video slot and have only grown even more enthusiastic.

Because the MAX version is equipped with more powerful boosters, you can, by choosing carefully, mould the ultimate mix of boosters.

How about choosing five times, all middle reels wild with two extra multipliers?

Furthermore, Netent hasn’t made many changes to the original (except for a few small graphic changes), and that’s a good thing: you shouldn’t mess with classics.

4 out of 5 stars

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