When we first laid eyes on 3 Secret Cities, we thought we were in for yet another dime-a-dozen mesoamerican jungle adventure. 4ThePlayers has somehow managed to avoid that cliché trap, and it’s not only because of their new innovation; theBonus Up mechanic. Also the unique visual style, with the cartoonish animated backgrounds, combined with a subtle, yet powerful, jungle soundtrack, contributes to making this an experience out of the ordinary.
The reels are semi-transparent, making it possible to enjoy the view, and you’re kind of rooting for the bonus round not to trigger before you’ve reached the top-tier Golden City. It’s far from catastrophic if it does though, as you can walk away with solid payouts from all 3 levels. The math model is overall very decent, but hacking and slashing your way through the base game is not all that rewarding on its own.
The Aztec Calendar Wheel is the wild symbolin this game, and it steps in for all regular pay symbols whenever it lands. Everything revolves around the ‘Bonus Up’ feature, which awards better extras and potential in the bonus round for each level. We’ll walk you through how it all works below.
You can see the current Bonus Up level above the reels to the right, and a map will roll out if you clickBonus Top Prize panel. This map gives you an overview of the possible and current progression, and there are3 locations; Jungle City, Lake City and Gold City.
Whenever you land2 scatters on reels 1 to 3, you’ll pick one of them to reveal aninstant cash prize up to 50x, or it will progress you to the next and more lucrative location on the map. You trigger the Bonus Round when you land3 scatters on reels 1, 3 and 5, and this takes you to the initialTemple Pick feature.
You’ll pick 1 block from each row of the “temple”, and this awards a random number of free spins, a random starting win multiplier and a random super stacked symbol. The Pick’em game ends when you pick an ‘X’, and the possible outcomes are determined by which of the 3 cities you’ve reached. Here is an overview:
When you land scatters on reels 1 to 3 in the bonus round, you’ll pick one of them to reveal between 5 and 10 extra spins. There is no upper limit as to how many spins you can get, and you always return to Jungle City after any given bonus round has played out.
Depending on your jurisdiction, there is aBonus Buyoption available (not for UK players). This gives you 3 options to choose from if you’re eligible, and these are as follows:
The RTP increases significantly if you purchase the feature,from 96.5 % to 98 %, so it’s definitely something to consider. Just to be clear, the RTP is the same for all 3 options.
This is one of those games that sound overly complicated when you read about all the features, but it’s quite simple once you start playing. To clear up any confusion you might have gotten from the above, you can check out our brief and edited testing highlights video. The visual experience will probably make things fall into place for you, and give you a good overview of what to expect.
3 Secret Cities is a very solid treasure hunt slot, and it’s safe to say that this is the best slot 4ThePlayer has released so far. The theme might not look unique at first glance, but the budding developer has made it their own via the engaging visual style and the innovative Bonus Up progression system.
The Bonus Up feature keeps you motivated as you hack your way through the base game grind, and all 3 bonus rounds come with solid potentials. The background shifts as you discover new cities, but not all that much is happening in the base game. This makes the bonus buy very tempting, not least since the RTP increases to 98 %. Overall, a solid production that clearly demonstrates 4ThePlayers ambition and creative talent.
Pros
Cons
Gonzo’s Quest Megaways- is one to try if you like high risk/reward treasure hunts in the south american jungle. This is NetEnt’s excellent follow-up to their most iconic game, and it comes with a higher win multiplier range, as well as a few brand new features. The bonus round can lead to payouts up to 21,000x your stake.
Lara Croft Temples and Tombs- takes you on another jungle/temple adventure with a powerful female lead, and the rolling reels win multiplier gives you more base game action than in the game at hand. There are also 3 fixed jackpots up for grabs here, as well as a bonus round where you can win up to 7,343x your stake.
Cat Wilde and the Eclipse of the Sun God- is similar to Gonzo’s Quest, but the cascading win multiplier goes as high as 70x in the bonus round. It goes to 10x in the base game, and you can win up to 5,500x your stake at the most.
