Real screenshot from our demo test, 1 Nov 2026

Relax GamingReleased 7 Sept 2021

Dead Man's Trail Demo & review

6.3/10

A 40-line Relax Gaming slot whose bonus is a board game: a pawn rolls along a pirate trail, and Mystery Chests can raise, multiply or collect its tiles.

Hampus Grave, Founder & CEO at FluxPlaysWritten by Hampus GravePublished 2 Nov 2026

Play money · no sign-up · no deposit

Where to play Dead Man's Trail for real ↓

RTP
96.29%
Volatility
High
Max win
50,000x
Grid
5x4
Our demo test · 1 Nov 2026100 spins at $1Base return56.7%$56.70 of $100Winning spins21 of 100Bonuses seen0in the base spinsBought1 buySee the full test ›
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FluxPlays verdict

Our verdict

How we score
Gameplay
5.5
Bonus potential
6.5
Visual design
6.5
Value (RTP and variance)
7

No, unless you buy the Trail Bonus. The board holds the game's ceiling and its persistent actions, and the bought round carries a higher RTP than spinning for it. The drawback is how fast a trail can end: one roll onto a used tile stops the bonus. None of the big actions shaped our single bought run, so this verdict rests on the rules.

Who it suits

Play this if…

  • Bonus buyers: the bought Trail Bonus has a higher RTP than the base game
  • Learners: the board shows every tile's prize before the pawn moves, so you can follow each roll
  • Max-win hunters who like a slow build: persistent actions keep working on every turn of the trail

Skip this if…

  • Short-session players: the base game is ordinary lines, and the Coin Feature needs coins on three reels
  • You hate an abrupt ending: one roll onto a used tile ends the bonus, however full the board
  • Buy-menu fans: there is one buy only, with no cheaper or dearer tier

Where to play Dead Man's Trail

Dead Man's Trail is available at these casinos we have tested and reviewed. How we test casinos

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    18+ · T&Cs apply · Offer checked 7 Oct 2026

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    18+ · T&Cs apply · Offer checked 7 Oct 2026

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Dead Man's Trail: Full Review

Dead Man's Trail turns its bonus into a board game: a pawn rolls 1 to 9 steps along a pirate trail, and every tile it lands on pays once and then becomes a dead end. Relax Gaming released it in September 2021 as a 40-line game with a coin feature and a single bonus buy. It suits buyers who like a bonus they can watch unfold, more than players who spin for line wins.

Dead Man's Trail game information

Provider
Relax Gaming
Release date
7 September 2021
Grid
5 x 4 (reels x rows)
How it pays
40 paylines
RTP
96.29% (base game) (casinos may also run 98.00% (Trail Bonus buy) or 90% (German version, provider page))
Volatility
High
Max win
50,000x the bet
Bet range
$0.10 to $20
Bonus buy
Trail Bonus 100x (base game only)
Dead Man's Trail base game at a 1.00 bet: a 5x4 grid of card ranks and four pirates under the logo, with the Bonus Buy button belowThe base game before our first spin, at a 1.00 bet. FluxPlays demo test, 1 November 2026.

How Dead Man's Trail works

Five reels of four rows pay on 40 fixed lines, all active, and the Wild substitutes for the pirates and card ranks:

Symbol, pays at $1543
Wild$60.00$10.00$2.00
Top pirate$30.00$5.00$1.00
Second pirate$15.00$2.50$0.70
Other two pirates$5.00$1.20$0.30
A, K, Q, J$3.00$0.50$0.10

Two things sit on top of the lines. Coin symbols carry values, and when coins land on three or more reels at once, the Coin Feature pays the total of every coin in view. Three Bonus symbols open the Trail Bonus, which is where the game keeps its ceiling.

How the Trail Bonus works

The bonus swaps the reels for a map. Every turn the pawn moves 1 to 9 steps, and the tile it stops on decides what happens:

  • A Normal Tile pays the prize printed on it, then turns into an End Tile.
  • An End Tile ends the bonus.
  • The Start Tile triggers a Reset.
  • A Mystery Chest triggers one of eleven special actions.

So the round lives on luck with the dice and on how fast the trail fills with End Tiles. Each roll that lands on fresh ground adds to the total, and the first roll onto a used tile stops it.

Dead Man's Trail Trail Bonus board at the start: numbered stone tiles, Mystery Chests, skull End Tiles, a first roll of 9 and TOTAL WIN 0The Trail board at the start of our bought bonus, with a first roll of 9. FluxPlays demo test, 1 November 2026.

The special actions

The Mystery Chests are what can turn a small trail into a big one:

ActionWhat it does
ScoutAdds 100x to 1,000x to one tile
One-EyeMultiplies tiles by x2 to x5, two to four times
CommanderAdds 3x to 5x to every Normal Tile
CollectorCollects every Normal Tile on the board
Collect & CommandCombines the Collector and the Commander
Reset, Super ResetReset the trail
Coin WinPays 25x to 50x
Persistent Scout, One-Eye, CommanderAct again on every turn for the rest of the bonus

The persistent versions carry the game. A one-off Scout helps one tile, but one that acts every turn keeps raising the board while the pawn walks. By the rules, a tile raised by a top Scout and then hit by a top One-Eye would be worth over 5,000x before anything else happens.

Dead Man's Trail Trail Bonus intro: three locked Persistent Actions above the Super Reset, Collector, Scout, Commander, One-Eye and Reset badgesThe intro screen of the Trail Bonus, with every special action it can trigger. FluxPlays demo test, 1 November 2026.

Bonus buy, RTP and max win

The Trail Bonus can be bought for 100x the bet from the base game. The bought round returns 98.00% in theory, against 96.29% for the base game. That gap is unusually wide, and it makes the buy the better way to play by the game's own figures. Relax's product page also lists a 90% version for Germany, and the casino decides which one runs.

The rules state no volatility label, and review sites rate the game High. Wins top out at 50,000x the bet, with no single tile worth more than 10,000x.

Dead Man's Trail Trail Bonus buy panel at a 1.00 bet: bet per spin 1.00 and total bet 100.00 for the bought bonusThe buy panel at a 1.00 bet: the Trail Bonus for 100.00. FluxPlays demo test, 1 November 2026.

Our Dead Man's Trail demo test

FluxPlays demo test

1 November 2026, demo running 96.29% RTP

Base game spins

100

at $1 per spin

Staked

$100

Paid back

$56.70

56.7% of stake, -$43.30

Winning spins

21 of 100

21% of spins paid something

Biggest win

$17.30 (17.3x)

line wins from one low symbol across all five reels; Bonus symbols came singly on three spins, so no natural Trail Bonus

Free spins triggered

0

natural triggers in the session

Bonus buys tested

  • Trail Bonus (100x)

    12 turns; the total grew 2, 5, 9, 16, 20 and on to 32x before an End Tile ended it; no Scout, One-Eye, Collector or persistent action of note

    $100 in

    $32 back

    0.32x its price

    32x the $1 bet

Tested on Relax Gaming's public fun-mode client (rules version 2.0.3, 14/05/2024) on 1 November 2026, in FUN practice credits read as dollars, from a 5,000 balance. The demo opened at 2.00 and was lowered to 1.00, the bet used for every round. Every round was checked against the game server: 100 base spins and one Trail Bonus buy, $200.00 spent and $88.70 back, ending at 4,888.70 on the server and on screen. The biggest base win (spin 67) comes from the server log and was not captured on screen.

Our bought trail stayed small from start to finish. Twelve turns found only low Normal Tiles, the total crept up a few times the bet at a time, and an End Tile stopped it at $32.00. In the base game, Bonus symbols arrived one at a time and coins never reached a third reel.

No Scout, One-Eye, Collector or persistent action made a difference to our run, so the board's big side comes from the rules. One bought trail is a sample of one.

Dead Man's Trail back in the base game after the bought Trail Bonus: three Bonus symbols on the reels, WIN 32.00 and balance 4,888.70Our bought Trail Bonus paid 32.00 in all. FluxPlays demo test, 1 November 2026.

Is Dead Man's Trail worth playing?

For a buyer, yes. For a line-game player, no. The base game is 40 lines with a coin feature that needs three reels, while the board has the cap, the persistent actions and the better RTP. The cost of that is a round that can end on any roll.

Pick Money Train 3 if you want Relax's best-known bonus, with four buys and a far higher cap. Choose Dead Man's Trail if you would rather pay for one bonus at a high RTP and watch a trail play out.

In the demo, buy the Trail Bonus more than once. The actions are the part worth seeing, and our single run never got one that mattered.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Trail Bonus work in Dead Man's Trail?+

Three Bonus symbols start it. A pawn moves 1 to 9 steps a turn, each Normal Tile pays its prize and becomes an End Tile, and landing on an End Tile ends the bonus. Mystery Chests trigger special actions such as Scout, One-Eye and the Collector. Our bought trail ran 12 turns.

Can you buy the bonus in Dead Man's Trail, and what does it cost?+

Yes. The Trail Bonus costs 100x the bet and can be bought only from the base game. The bought round has a theoretical return of 98.00%, well above the 96.29% for normal play, which makes it the better route by the game's own figures.

What is the max win in Dead Man's Trail, and how is it reached?+

It is 50,000x the bet, and no single tile can be worth more than 10,000x. Reaching it takes Mystery Chest actions on the trail, above all the persistent Scout, One-Eye and Commander that act every turn, and a pawn that keeps landing on fresh tiles.

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