The Secret of the Opera

When you first take at look at The Secret of the Opera, you will immediately know the play that it is based off of. Red Rake Gaming has brought The Phantom of the Opera to the reels in this case, and you'll see the curtains behind the reels along with both Christine and the Phantom in the symbol set. This theme has been handled particularly well in this slot, and you'll find that the bonus features make sense for the concept as well. The graphics look nice, but they aren't over-produced, which helps a lot with the visual appeal for the game.

Slot Format and Layout

With this game, the grid of symbols is a bit larger than usual. Instead of having five reels, this game has six, and there are also four rows of symbols. Across this 6x4 slot are 50 paylines of action. You can pick bet sizes starting at 100 coins, and the maximum can go as high as 20,000 coins per spin, but different casinos have the ability to cap the max bet at whatever they're comfortable with, so it may be different depending on where you're playing from. You can choose different coin sizes as well, so you'll have no problem adjusting your bet size to what you need.

Scattered Mask Symbols

The scattered mask shows up on all six reels. You can get at least three of them for a payout and a chance to hit a free spins bonus feature along the The Great Overture Bonus round. The mask is an iconic part of the play, so it makes sense that they made it one of the most important symbols in the game as a whole.

The Great Overture Bonus

The Great Overture is the song played by the main character, and it's particularly memorable and has been used in video games, television shows, movies and other assorted media. You'll use the organ on the screen to play the music, though it really amounts to a random bonus feature, and you can unlock free spins as you do so. It's a really cool way of tying in an important part of the play into this game, and it just goes to show how much thought and effort Red Rake Gaming put into this title.

Free Spins Wild Features

Christine and the Phantom are stacked wilds, and in the free spins, they give you a chance for a special retrigger feature. If they appear beside of each other in the center two reels, then you'll get five extra free spins. If they appear on the reels separated by at least one reel, then you'll still get one free spin added to your total. What's more is that if these wilds appear partially off of the screen (since they cover a maximum of four spaces), they will nudge themselves up or down into place however far is needed to cover the entire reel.

Top Game Payouts

Players can win a 1,000x payout for five of any of the wilds. There are grouped wilds and regular wilds, but there are also special stacked wilds of Christine and the Phantom. Aside from that, there are regular Christine and Phantom symbols, each of which pay 500x for five of a kind. The rose, keyboard and broken mirror pay 200x for five on an activated payline, and all of these mentioned symbols pay for at least three of a kind or more.

Our Thoughts

This is a pretty well-balanced video slot with an above-average volatility thanks to the features and tons of wild symbols. We can't remember having seen a game in a while that uses so many different wild symbols and features, and it's obviously the main thing that drives the gameplay in The Secret of the Opera slot. Overall, we think it's a solid title that a lot of different players will like. Even if you don't care for the play, the gameplay here is enough that we can suggest you give the slot a try. Add in a value-packed free spins feature with a chance to win up to 25 free turns on this game, and we think it's a no-brainer.