Sanatorium Secrets – Overview
Pragmatic Play released a new online slot game called Sanatorium Secrets.
A very dark themed slot game surrounding a Sanatorium. A lot of people instantly think of an asylum when they hear sanatorium, but there is a big difference. These where facilities where people went with contagious deceases and long term illnesses before antibiotics where invented. But I understand why people mix the two, because somehow those large, mostly 19th century buildings, always give off a very creepy vibe. And that’s exactly what Pragmatic Play uses, a dark, mysterious somewhat horror themed slot.
The game uses 6 reels that are each 4 symbols high and comes with 4096 ways instead of lines. Where symbols pay left to right, starting on the first reel.
Besides low paying card symbols and high paying characters there are also scatter symbols on reels 2, 3, 4 and 5 and a special super scatter on reel 6. There are also wild symbols, which come in different forms and are explained below.
Sanatorium Secrets comes with a solid maximum payout of 10.000 times your bet and is a medium volatile slot game.
Features
Wild symbols
There are a total of three types of wild symbols. Two appear during the base spins and during free spins. And one only appears during free spins.
- 1×4 wild – can appear on reels 2, 3, 4 and 5 during base spins. This wild will fill the entire reel and can also come with a random multiplier of x4 or x8
- 2×4 wild – can appear on reels 3 and 4. This wild will fill two entire reels and can come with a random multiplier of between x8 and x64
- 1×1 wild – can only appears during free spins feature. During free spins hooks can land on reels 1 and 6. When one or both hook symbols land, all high paying character symbols on the same row are turned into 1×1 wild symbols and the hook itself will become the character or even multiple characters. If a a hook moves over an already existing wilds, it will double the multiplier of that wild
Free Spins feature
3 scatter symbols will trigger the free spins feature and 3 scatters and the super scatter will trigger the super free spins feature. You start off with 6 free spins and 2 extra free spins for each extra scatter above the 3.
Before free spins start a Puzzle Feature is played.
Puzzle Feature:
A sort of Hold & Spin feature is played with 3 spins where puzzle pieces land and lock. Each new puzzle piece will add 1 more re-spin and also 1 more spin for the free spins. If a full reel is filled with puzzle pieces, the character above it will become a 1×1 wild symbol during the free spins.
There are also 1 or 2 hook symbols that can land on the left and right reel. Any hook symbol that lands will appear during free spins feature in a random spot next to the reels. If you triggered the super free spins, you are guaranteed 2 hooks.
There can also land x1 multipliers on the left and rightmost reels. Each one that lands will increase the minimum multiplier a 1×4 wild symbol can have.
The Puzzle Feature ends when there are no more re-spins or you have filled the entire puzzle. When you manage to fill the entire puzzle, you are awarded the maximum win of 10.000x bet, and the feature instantly ends.
Free Spins:
After the Puzzle Feature, free spins are played with any extra wilds, multipliers and hooks, as explained above.
During free spins you can’t win extra free spins.
Bonus Buy
For 75x bet you can buy the Free Spins Feature, which can also trigger Super Free Spins. For 150x bet you can buy Super Free Spins.
Verdict
Sanatorium Secrets is a very cool new game from Pragmatic Play. I can be a bit harsh on this provider because they release a lot of the same games or use a lot of the same mechanisms.
This game is nothing like that and even doesn’t really feel like a Pragmatic Play slot. Which is a good thing in my opinion.
The slot game looks amazing and instantly has this creepy vibe. And then on top of that they use these unique features during free spins. First a sort of Hold & Spin feature to increase your spins and maybe even earn extra wins. And then free spins with those hooks. Adding more wilds to the reels and increasing current multipliers. Which can make for a very exciting and very rewarding free spins bonus.
I am very happy with this release and I am guessing this game will become pretty popular.
If I have to name one small negative, it’s the maximum payout. This game feels a lot like a No Limit City slot. And those slots have huge maximum payouts of 50.000x bet or even more. This game also feels that it should have had that huge win potential. And although 10.000x bet is nothing small. I think it would have been even cooler of they increased that number by a lot.
Please try Sanatorium Secrets for yourself and let me know your feelings and opinions in the comments. I would love to hear more about you all. The game is now online available at any trusted Pragmatic Play casino.
