The Secret of Machu Picchu

The Secret of Machu Picchu: Slot Overview

The Secret of Machu Picchu is a South American-inspired online slot brought to you by developer Stakelogic in partnership with Touchstone Games. Machu Picchu, of course, is the famous Incan citadel found way up in the mountains of southern Peru. It was built in or around the 15th century, some say as a royal estate where one of the Incan rulers could have gone after a military campaign. It was used for about 80 years before being abandoned, perhaps due to Spanish conquests and also possibly because most of the people living there died from smallpox brought by travellers.

But, that's all words taken from the internet. Perhaps there is something far more secretive going on in Machu Picchu than meets the eye. And if not, well, we can pretend there is while having a go at The Secret of Machu Picchu. Stakelogic has recreated the scene nicely, where ancient stone structures can be glimpsed in the background while symbols on the grid fall in and out. A misty mountain landscape makes up much of the rest of the view, which shifts from greens in the base game to golden, secretive colours in free spins. Players get a better look at the surroundings when rows of symbols are added to the reels and the camera pans outwards. When this happened, a game which already rang bells of ELK Studios' Gold slots started ringing even louder.

The Secret of Machu Picchu is played on a grid that grows from a default size of 6 columns, 4 rows high, up to a maximum of 7 rows in height. This means ways to win increase as well, from a starting value of 4,096 up to 117,649. To gamble, players pick a stake of 20 c to $/€200 and may elect to activate the Super Stake ante bet. When turned on, Super Stake doubles the bet to have three times more free spins features. The Secret of Machu Picchu's medium-high volatile math model produces an RTP of 96% whether Super Stake is switched on or not.

Winning combinations pay left to right on at least 3 adjacent reels from the leftmost side. Four geometrically patterned stone blocks start the pay symbols off, followed by four more patterned stone blocks, then a compass, a lamp, a map, and an explorer. The 8 stone block symbols pay 0.3 to 0.75 times the bet for a 6-of-a-kind win, whereas the 4 higher values are worth 1.5 to 5 times the bet for a 6-symbol win.

The Secret of Machu Picchu: Slot Features

Reaching into its box of tricks, The Secret of Machu Picchu pulls out cascades, a Lucky Llama symbol, multiplier symbols, plus free spins with Sun God and Sun Gate symbols.

Cascades

The cascade system removes winning symbols when they land and not only replaces them but adds an extra row to the grid, increasing the number of ways to win. The grid can grow to a maximum of 7 rows high. Cascades continue until no more pay ways wins appear.

Lucky Llama

Lucky Llamas are wild and substitute for all regular pay symbols. If a Lucky Llama is not used as a wild in a ways win, it triggers the Luck Llama bonus, which removes the eight lowest pay symbols from the reels, triggering a cascade for another chance to win.

Multiplier Symbols

Multiplier symbols with values between x2 and x50 may appear at any time. All multiplier values in view are added up and applied to the total win.

Free Spins

Landing 3 or more scatter symbols awards the free spins feature. If awarded during the feature, extra free spins are added. Free spins are where the Sun God and Sun Gate symbols may appear. Sun God symbols land with monetary values attached, which are awarded for each Sun Gate symbol in view.

The Secret of Machu Picchu: Slot Verdict

At a guess, it seems like The Secret of Machu Picchu was inspired by ELK Studios' Gold range of slots, touched on above in the overview. We know ELK Studios has stopped making Kane games, ending the series with Valhall Gold. This appears to have created a power vacuum for these sorts of expanding reel slots that J-POP and now The Secret of Machu Picchu have stepped in to attempt to fill. While J-POP offered something very different, thematically, The Secret of Machu Picchu is a more direct competitor, as it's located in an exotic location and led by a dashing explorer. The game looks and sounds nice, plus the choice of location is interesting, but an impression persisted throughout the review of The Secret of Machu Picchu being less of an unmissable experience.

The same goes for the features. Interesting things can happen, yet there's nothing hugely inventive that might have made The Secret of Machu Picchu a real successor for Kane's crown. What curbed enthusiasm was the way it was hard to visualise getting impressive results and a lack of the same nail-biting suspense that the game might explode at any moment, as can be present in a Gold slot. For instance, multiplier symbols land, but the lack of a persistent win multiplier in free spins was noticeable. Also, the Sun God/Sun Gate match-up, while appreciated as another way to potentially win, was a tad underwhelming, though multiplier symbols may boost collected values, so that's something. Winning potential was not available, which may or may not have tipped the balance in The Secret of Machu Picchu's favour.

Whilst no real secrets were uncovered during the test sessions of what was a decent game, The Secret of Machu Picchu did highlight how further along the evolutionary trail ELK Studios is. Those Gold slots just have extra polish, boast more inventive features, and arguably offer greater immersion. The Secret of Machu Picchu puts up a fight, but it came across as the lesser contender in this particular arena.