Dead Man’s Trail

Dead Man’s Trail Slot Review

Slot Provider: Relax Gaming

RTP: 96.29% | Variance: HighHigh | Maximum Win: 50,000x

Our Score: 9.0

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QUICK LINKS: Game Information | Where To Play | Full Review | Testing Notes | Tips For Players | About The Developer

WHY YOU CAN TRUST THIS REVIEW: The information and opinions on this page are the result of an comprehensive process of information gathering and live game testing by the gambling experts who work at allslotsites.com. Find out more here.

About Dead Man’s Trail

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 16th October 2021

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Dead Man’s Trail is a dark and deadly pirate-themed slot from Relax Gaming. It has a simple base game played on 5 reels with 40 paylines. But the main event is the trail-based bonus game, triggered by landing 3 or more bonus symbols. Players work their way around a board, picking up wins as they go, or uncovering modifiers that alter the values of positions on the board, or collect up their values. This is a highly volatile game with a 50,000x max win. Spins start at 10p.

Dead Man’s Trail Game Information

  • Release Date: September 2021
  • RTP: 96.29%
  • Variance: HighHigh
  • Maximum Win: 50,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 5
  • Rows: 4
  • Paylines: 40
  • Minimum Stake: £0.10
  • Theme: PiratesAdventurePirate
  • Features: Multipliers, Bonus Board with 12 Modifiers
  • Format: 5-Reel

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Dead Man’s Trail

IMPORTANT: To give you an accurate assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

Boom Or Bust? Our Session By The Numbers

Test spins and results analysis by Mark Wadie.

Results from 200 spins with real money on Dead Man’s Trail at Casumo.

  • Stake Size: £0.1
  • Start balance: £977.92
  • End balance: £975.71
  • Hit Rate: 17% (34 winning spins in 200)
  • Biggest Win: 35x
  • Free Spins Round: 1

The moody atmosphere of this game is superb and even though the base game is slow – 17% win rate is less than 1 in 5 spins – it’s still great fun. I got 2 Coin Feature wins from base game spins – a 35x and a 17x – and one Trail Bonus game. In the end it was quite disappointing, producing just a 29x win. I didn’t unlock a single modifier along the trail which is an indicator of just how hard it will be to score any big wins in the game – you can wait 150 or more spins to see the bonus and then find it doesn’t deliver any of the big modifiers you’ve been waiting for. Still, for atmosphere and tension, Dead Man’s Trail is great, even if the high volatility makes it a tight play.

Coin Feature Win
35x Coin Feature Win
Dead Man's Trail Bonus Feature
29x win from the Trail

What We Liked

  • Darkly atmospheric pirate theme
  • Random multipliers
  • High, high variance
  • Innovative trail bonus game
  • Big top payout of 50,000x

What We Didn't like

  • Base game is short of features
  • Variance too high for some

Dead Man’s Trail Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 9
  • RTP and Variance 8
  • Maximum Win 9
  • Symbols and Paytable 9
  • Features and Gameplay 10

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"Moody and inspired, one of our favourite high risk pirate slots of all time. Be ready for some tense moments on the bonus board!"

Overall Score: 9.0

Theme & Design

Our Score 9

Awesome Dark and Moody Pirate Slot Atmosphere

Dead Man’s Trail is a superb production. Relax are in the top tier of game developers and mostly they deliver games with top class narrative, visuals and audio. Certainly in this case they do. Whilst many pirate games offer a sea-shanty backdrop and Captain pugwash style graphics, Relax have identified the murkier parts of pirate mythology and their game is an eerie reflection of those tales of sea-faring crims. The setting here is a Caribbean port with huge, towering cliffs, a dark and brooding sky, and wooden ships and buildings lit only by the feint orange glow of lanterns.  Center stage are 4 suspicous-looking characters, ready to slice you with a cutlass, and a dark mist is rolling in to cover them all. There is a dramatic orchestral score to accompany your spins too. Altogether, top class.

Dead Man's Trail by Relax Gaming
Dead Man’s Trail

RTP and Variance

Our Score 8

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

The RTP in Dead Man’s Trail is standard for Relax Gaming slots and a comfortable 96.29%, well in range of most games these days. Meanwhile, you’ll know already that the variance is very high so the game is likely to deliver an uneven win distribution, and can be a frustrating play. You should expect the RTP to be weighted towards that tough-to-crack bonus round instead. With that in mind, the relatively low 10p min stake is a good call as it will be easy to burn though cash in no time on a game like this.

Maximum Win

Our Score 9

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

Like many high-risk slots, Dead Man’s Trail does offer a super high top payout of 50,000x. This is one of Relax’s highest max win slots, coming in only under a few games like Money Train 3 (100,000x) for example.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 9

The game plays on 5 reels, each displaying 4 rows of symbols. There are 40 paylines to win on with wins triggered by landing 3 or more identical symbols from left to right starting at the left most reel.

Dead Mans Trail Paytable
The paytable with 30x for 5 top paying premiums

You have 8 pay symbols in the table. The low value ones are the cards, Jack, Queen, King and Ace, valued at from 0.1x for 3 Jacks up to 3x for 5 Aces. The premiums are the 4 main characters, One-Eye with his eye-patch, Scout the cigarette-smoking female pirate, the sneering Collector rubbing his gold coin and the bald-headed cutlass-wielding Commander. These character symbols pay from 5x to 30x your bet for 5 of a kind.

There is also a Wild, represented by a golden W which can substitute for all pay symbols to complete a pay line. It also pays out 2x, 10x or 60x for 3, 4 or 5 on a payline, which is double the best-paying character symbol.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 10

Limited to just one extra feature in the base game, Dead Man’s Tail is really all about getting to the trail-based bonus round. Here is how it all works.

Coin Multipliers In Base Game

In the base game landing 3 gold coins on the reels on the same spin will get you a multiplier prize. The 3 multipliers on the visible coins are added together. This basic event livens up the base game from time to time whilst you’re waiting for the Dead Man’s Trail Bonus feature to trigger.

Dead Man's Trail Coin Feature
Coin feature in base game

Dead Man’s Trail Bonus

So, onto the main event, and when 3 of more Bonus symbols – represented by the Pirate Ship at full sail – land on the reels together so this will activate the Dead Man’s Trail Bonus. A new screen is revealed featuring a map with a trail. Your piece will move around the board by the number of places revealed each turn, from 1 to 9. Each time you land, a new action is triggered depending on the type of tile landed on.

Tiles come as Standard Tiles that reveal a prize value, all of which are added together and paid out at the end of the round, Skull and Crossbones Tiles that signal the game is over, Start Tiles that re-sets the board, or Chest Tiles that delivers one of the following:

A Scout – adds a 100 or 1,000 value to one of the standard tiles on the board.

One Eye – increases the value of a standard tile by multiplier of 2x to 5x

Commander – increases the value of ALL standard tiles by 3 or 5

Collector – adds sum of ALL standard tiles in play to the total win so far.

Collect and Command – adds the sum of ALL standard tiles to EACH standard tile AND the total win so far.

Reset – replace End tiles (Skull and Crossbone) with standard ones, extending gameplay

Super Reset – replaces the End tiles with Mystery Chests

Coin Win – at random a value of 25x to 50x is added to current win total

Persistent Scout – same as standard Scout but triggers after EVERY turn

Persistent One-Eye – like standard One Eye but triggers after EVERY turn

Persistent Commander – like standard Commander but triggers after EVERY turn

And that’s it. If you think there are similarities with the Money Train bonus rounds then you’d be right. But in this case, which modifiers come into play depends on your moves around the board, which adds a further jeopardy as you can see what might come up next.

The Final Verdict

What a game! Dead Man’s Trail is a gritty pirate adventure that touches on the darker side of fictional pirating! This slot is ideal for players looking for one with an edgy vibe and a super volatility. The drawback here is that things can get a bit boring if you don’t hit the Bonus Game for a long time. The gold coins do offer the chance to boost your rewards with random Multipliers but that is all you have to keep you happy in the slim pickings of the base game.

But let’s not judge on that front because when you load up a high variance slot, you know what you are getting into, and it’s going to be tough at times. They key is what follows, if you get that far, and that is a Trail Bonus that is both innovative and potentially hugely rewarding. It’s not often high variance games go down this route, so credit to Relax for tearing up the rule book. And just look at some of those Chest features – in particular the Collect and Command can add huge value to your overall win total, and the Super Reset is like a re-spin re-trigger giving you much more game time. And of course, those Persistent Scout, One Eyes and Commanders have potential to trigger big cumulative wins as they trigger on every turn. With a bit of luck, if you trigger these there is a real chance of getting wins in the 10,000s x.

So, in summary, what you have is some of the best aspects of high variance slots play transferred from free spins into a Trailblazing Trail round! It’s a superb idea and great execution – and we highly recommend having a crack at Dead Man’s Trail to find out for yourself.

Useful Resources

Relax Gaming’s Slot Profile Page

Useful Tips When Playing Dead Man’s Trail

Remember, online slots are games of chance, there is NO strategy that can improve your odds of winning. However, reading our review and following these tips will help you get the most out of your time playing this slot game.

1. Set A Low Stake And Be Patient

It’s all about waiting for the trail bonus to drop which can take time. So you should be patient and choose a low stake to stretch your balance.

2. Look Out For Multiplier Coins

In the base game those multiplier coins can boost your wins. Look for 3 to drop on one spin.

3. Persistent Modifiers In The Trail Bonus Are Powerful

As with Money Train bonus rounds, the persistent modifiers are the best as they do their thing on EVERY turn on the trail. Know what they are and look out for them.

4. Play At Our Recommended Slot Sites

We have chosen the sites on this page because they all scored high in our reviews and they are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. That makes them fair and safe places to play slots.

Who Made Dead Man’s Trail?

  • Name: Relax Gaming
  • Established: 2010
  • UK License: Remote 037462-R-319357-014
  • Total Games: 100 +
  • Known For: High variance, high max win, progressive jackpots, innovative game mechanics
  • Popular Slots: Money Train, Temple Tumble, Dream Drop Jackpots, Hellcatraz
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