Skeleton Key

Overview of Skeleton Key

Skeleton Keys is the latest release from the gaming team at IGT and is designed to an excellent standard. Most developers are currently trying to impress players with potential rewards, and this can be achieved in many ways. IGT have chosen to make this happen with multipliers and expanding reels. There are treasures to be had in this slot as well as some dark magic on the reels and this makes for a great gaming experience regardless of whether you are a fan of the volatility that it has to offer.

Theme and Symbols

The Skeleton Key is how you can unlock the treasure room where there are piles of gemstones and gold coins scattered around and these are very apparent as they can also be seen on the left and right sides of the game screen.
When it comes to the symbols you can expect to come across the Skeleton Key, the scatter which is represented with the padlock, the wild and some mystery symbols, and the goblets, rubies, green gems, spell books and purple gems are the higher value options.

Game Play, Bets and Wins

Skeleton Key plays out over 5x3 reels and offers 243 ways to win, however this slot can expand its area as you unlock new positions on the reels and when you do you can end up with a massive 7,776 ways to win. When it comes to the pay outs these are equally impressive with the cap being placed at a life changing 83,333x your stake. Amongst the features you will find added Key symbols complete with expansion capabilities, as well as free spins, multipliers, and mystery symbols.

On the left side of your screen, you can see the betting options that the slot offers, and you are given the choice to modify your total bet and if you do this only changes the coin value. When it comes to the coins there is a maximum of 10 that can be used at any one time. The amount can vary from just $0.10 to $300 per spin, and with this bet range the slot will appeal to all types of players.

When it gets to the wins that are available the slot promises that there are wins of up to 83,333x your stake however this can only be achieved when you are playing in the free spin feature and then you need the multipliers to be involved. Unlike many slots the base game can provide big wins which culminate with 7,776 ways to win and wins equal to 10x your stake.

The volatility of this slot edges towards the higher side and the return to player sits at 96% which is average, but this does suggest that the more experienced players are most likely to give this slot a spin or two.

Skeleton Key Features

When it comes to the features the most prolific characteristic in this slot is the way that it can expand the reel size. However, to achieve this you need to land key symbols on your reels, and this then results in the column the symbols have landed on expanded. The symbols increase from 3 to 6 on the reel and this can seriously boost the ways to win that are available to you.

The key will then disappear and extra symbols cascade from the top of the reels to fill the empty spaces, and eventually if you have keys on all reels there will be 7,776 ways to win available to you. Although the game area does reduce back to the original size this does not happen immediately. Instead, it removes a symbol for every losing spin that you land, and this helps you to postpone the reels from shrinking for a while of you have luck on your side.

The wild can also assist you to create winning combinations as it can substitute for the other symbols to make up the shortfall. There is also the symbol that features the question mark, and this is the mystery feature. If you land a question mark in one or more places it will morph into a single symbol of the same type in all areas where it was present.

To activate the free spins, you need to land 3, 4, or 5 of the padlock symbols in view and if you do you will be rewarded with 10, 20 or 30 free spins, respectively. The best thing is that in the free spins if you land an additional mystery symbol if can turn into a key and when it does the multiplier will be boosted by +1.

Conclusion

Skeleton Key is one of the best new slots I have played in quite a while. The design is on point, the rewards awesome and there are also some interesting features on offer. My rating of this game would be a solid 9.5/10 as it is almost perfection!