Hidden slot review

Hidden takes place in Egypt as we delve together with a small band of explorers into ancient tombs and hidden caves. This 2017 slot entertains with sticky re-spins, cascading reels and a free spins mode.

Developed by Elk Studios, Hidden is set in the popular destination of Egypt. Just like Indiana Jones and similar stories, we are sent back in time to the early 20th century where there were no phones and GPS to help us in our exploration. Instead, clever deduction and brawn are necessary to break the secret vaults wide open.

As it is set in Egypt, you can expect the usual imagery. The background shows us a massive pyramid while the 5-reel, 4-row playing field is filled with different characters, camels and statues. The game has an impressive 178 paylines that count consecutive symbols from left to right. The low-paying symbols are unfortunately all card letters, but there has been some attention put into making them feel part of the setting.

Obviously, a game set in Egypt can’t go without the usual Egyptian music and Hidden is no exception. That said, there was almost no music during the base game except when there was a win. I thought that was quite strange as it makes the game feel a bit empty and boring when it comes to the sounds. When the re-spins or free spins mode starts, we do get a song. An Egyptian song in a hip-hop style that actually sounds very good.

Symbols

All the symbols in Hidden are drawn beautifully, with the high-paying symbols unique characters and animals while the low-paying symbols are simple card letters. Still, even these have a background filled with hieroglyphs to keep with the theme. There are no real animations to speak of, even when there’s a win except for the usual flash. Only the Scatter symbols move slightly when they’re on screen but not enough to make the playing field come alive.

From highest to lowest:

• Bonus: Get 3 Bonus Symbols on the screen to activate the Re-Spins mode. Get 5 Bonus Symbols to activate the Free Spins mode.
• Wild: Wilds substitute all regular symbols in the game.
• Researcher: Max. 100x your win with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Student: Max. 50x your win with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Camel: Max. 30x your win with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Sphynx: Max. 20x your win with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Ace: Max. 12x your win with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• King: Max. 9x your win with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Queen: Max. 9x your win with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• Jack: Max. 6x your win with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.
• 10: Max. 6x your win with five-of-a-kind on a winning bet line.

The game has a listed High Volatility which fit my experience. Especially during the base game, it felt quite tricky to get a win. I would recommend players pick a smaller bet between the possible £0.20 and £100 per spin to get a feel of the game before they start to bet bigger.

Features

Hidden has a few interesting features without feeling too overwhelming:

• 178 Ways To Win: With 178 ways to win, wins are counted as long as a symbol appears on consecutive reels from left to right.
• Cascading Reels: During the Free Spins game, the reels can drop away to make room for new symbols when certain conditions are met. This continues as long as new wins are created.
• Re-Spins: With 3 Bonus symbols on the screen the Re-Spins mode is triggered. The game will add a reel of Wilds to reels 2, 3 or 4 and stay there for the Re-Spins mode.
• Wilds: Wilds substitute all other regular symbols in the game. They only appear during the Re-Spins mode.
• Free Spins: Get 5 Bonus Symbols on the screen to activate the Free Spins mode. The player starts with 5 Free Spins and can retrigger additional spins. One symbol is selected as a random expanding symbol at the start of the mode, and will always expand on the screen during every spin.

The features in Hidden are spread out across the different modes. You won’t have any Wilds in the game except during the Re-Spins and you won’t have the Cascading Reels when you’re not in the Free Spins mode. That’s something to keep in mind.

Get 3 Bonus Symbols to activate the Re-Spins mode, which involves a flashback to when the pyramids were still new and maintained. This is shown through the background art looking different, which I thought was a nice touch.

The Re-Spins mode plays much like the regular game, except with a reel filled with Wilds. These Wilds are Sticky for as long as the Re-Spins last. It can happen more than 1 reel is filled with Wilds, but it didn’t happen while I was playing.

The Free Spins mode starts when you get 5 Bonus Symbols on the screen. This mode takes you inside the pyramid, changing the background image once more. Players get 5 Free Spins to start with and additional Free Spins can be added.

At the start of the Free Spins mode, the game picks a random symbol. Each spin, this symbol when on the screen is expanded to a 2x2 tile before the other symbols drop away and new symbols are added. If this creates a win with the selected symbol, the other symbols drop away again. This continues for as long as there are new wins.

All in all, the features felt solid but a little unrewarding. I even had times where both the Re-Spins and the Free Spins mode didn’t award a single win. Both modes are still very reliant on simple chance to get a win, with the extra features not offering enough to make it more likely to win.

In Conclusion

Hidden is a very nice-looking slot with some interesting features that are unfortunately gated behind the special modes. When they do show up they only have a limited impact on the gameplay. In my experience, these modes did not help a lot in getting any big wins and I would frequently walk away with nothing.

As a result, the game offered a steady drain on my funds without ever feeling like I had a shot at winning or even breaking even. That’s alright if you play slots for fun but if you want to win, you might want to look elsewhere.

The graphics and sounds make up for a lot, but be aware that Hidden doesn’t seem to be for hardcore players. The high volatility feels a little too punishing even though the max. win of 2,150x your bet is acceptable.