Artifacts by Peter & Sons - Slot Overview
Artifacts is a ways-to-win slot with no fixed paylines, just 243 possible combinations across a 5×3 grid evaluated left to right. It’s a fantasy-themed cascade title built around compounding Reel Multipliers and randomly triggered Feature Box power-ups. The math model rewards patience over volume: wins come from chains building momentum, not from hitting big single combinations. Three buy-in options are available for those who want to control when and how they enter the bonus.
Artifacts design, RTP and volatility
Visually, Artifacts is one of the more distinctive slots Peter & Sons have put out, and that’s saying something. The hand-illustrated art direction leans dark fantasy without tipping into grim: tavern-lit textures, glowing relics, and a cast of characters that look like they belong in a graphic novel nobody’s published yet. Cascade animations are smooth and satisfying. This isn’t a studio that phones in the art department.
The headline RTP is 96.26%, but Artifacts uses a dynamic RTP system, meaning operators can run it at certified configurations of 91.12% or 93.98% too, so it’s always worth knowing which version your casino has enabled. Volatility is VERY-HIGH, hit frequency is 23.49%, and the math is firmly built around multiplier accumulation rather than frequent small wins. Not one for the faint-hearted, but honestly, that’s what makes it exciting.
Special Features of Artifacts
Here’s where Artifacts really earns its keep. Peter & Sons didn’t throw a dozen features at the wall to see what sticks. They built three interconnected mechanics that all push in the same direction: cascades grow the multipliers, Feature Boxes supercharge them, and Golden Symbols keep the chains alive. Simple on paper, genuinely thrilling in practice. When all three align during Free Spins, the scoreboard can do things that’ll make you do a double-take.
Reel multipliers & feature boxes
This is the engine that drives everything. Each reel has its own multiplier: cover it with a win and it fires. Cover all five and the multipliers combine. During the base game, Feature Boxes beneath the reels randomly toss in additive boosts of up to +10 or multiplicative boosts of up to x2. That’s already exciting. Then you get into Power Free Spins mode, and those same power-ups can hit x20. Per reel. The ceiling on this thing is genuinely wild.
Golden symbols
This one sneaks up on you. Regular symbols can spawn with a Golden outline on the initial spin, and if they form part of a win, they instantly flip into Wilds for the next cascade. No button, no trigger, it just happens. It’s one of those mechanics that feels almost organic once you’re in a run, quietly extending chains you thought were dead and opening up wins on reels that looked like they’d already gone cold. Love it.
Free spins with persistent multipliers
Land three or more Scatters and you’re into Free Spins, starting at six with every extra Scatter adding two more, even ones that land during the feature itself. But here’s the part that really gets me: the reel multipliers don’t reset. Not once. They carry over from spin to spin for the entire session, stacking higher with every Feature Box power-up that fires. By the time you’re on spin five or six, the numbers on screen start looking genuinely surreal. It’s the best part of the game, full stop.
Artifacts Symbols Explained
The symbols in Artifacts do exactly what good slot symbols should do: they tell you where you are without getting in the way of the game. The lower end of the paytable leans on the classic card suits (clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds), which I know some players find a bit lazy, but they work here because the premium symbols pick up all the personality. You’ve got glowing artefacts and character-tied objects that feel genuinely tied to the world P&S has created, not just pasted on for the sake of it. The top-paying symbol, a glowing heart, returns 2x bet for five of a kind.
Scatter
Wild
Cube
5 x50
4 x30
3 x20
Heart
5 x100
4 x80
3 x50
Key
5 x80
4 x50
3 x30
Potion
5 x80
4 x50
3 x30
Clubs
5 x25
4 x10
3 x5
Diamonts
5 x25
4 x10
3 x5
Hearts
4 x15
3 x10
5 x30
Spades
5 x25
4 x10
3 x5
Stars
5 x30
4 x15
3 x10
Now, 2x for the top symbol sounds underwhelming, and out of context it is. But Artifacts isn’t built for big individual symbol payouts, and once you understand that, the whole design clicks into place. The game is engineered so multipliers do the work, not the paytable. A 2x win on a reel sitting at x15 is suddenly a very different conversation. Scatters land anywhere, pay nothing on their own, and exist purely to unlock Free Spins. That’s where the real party happens, as we’ve covered.
How to Play Artifacts
Pick your stake
Pick a stake between €0.20 and €50 using the bet selector. Start lower, give yourself enough spins to hit Free Spins.
Consider Golden Bet
Pay 1.5x your stake to double your chances of triggering Free Spins, and it’s worth it on longer sessions.
Spin and let the cascades roll
Wins remove symbols, new ones drop in, and the Reel Multipliers climb with each chain.
Chase the free spins
Land 3+ Scatters to enter Free Spins, where multipliers never reset between spins.
Buy in if you want
Spend x90-x270 your bet to jump straight into Free Spins or Power Free Spins via Bonus Buy.
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Artifacts Slot FAQ
What’s the difference between Free Spins and Power Free Spins?
Both modes feature persistent multipliers that never reset between spins. The difference is the power-up ceiling. In standard Free Spins, Feature Box boosts max out at +10 additive or x2 multiplier per reel. In Power Free Spins, both scale up to x20. That’s not a small gap. Power Free Spins costs x270 your bet and is only accessible via Bonus Buy, never triggered organically.
Is the bonus buy worth it in Artifacts?
Depends which option you’re looking at. The standard Free Spins buy at x90 gives you a guaranteed entry with 6 spins, reasonable if you’ve been grinding through base game dry spells. The Power Free Spins at x270 is the high-stakes call: you’re paying a premium for access to multiplier power-ups that simply aren’t available at full strength anywhere else in the game. With VERY-HIGH volatility, neither buy is a guaranteed profit, but the Power option is the one that puts the x20,000 cap in realistic reach.
What are the Feature Boxes and how do they trigger?
Feature Boxes sit beneath the five reels and activate randomly during gameplay. Each contains a power-up symbol that either adds to or multiplies one or all reel multipliers. In the base game, additive boosts reach up to +10 and multiplier boosts up to x2. They trigger randomly during cascades, so you can’t predict or force them. They’re also what separates a decent Free Spins round from a genuinely big one.
How does Artifacts compare to other Peter & Sons slots?
Artifacts sits in the same high-volatility, high-max-win bracket as Barbarossa and Bad Santa, both of which also cap at x20,000. What sets it apart is the Reel Multiplier system: rather than a single climbing chain multiplier like in Barbarossa, each reel in Artifacts has its own independent value that combines when wins span the full grid. It’s a more granular system, and it makes Feature Box hits feel more meaningful depending on which reel they target.
Is the Bonus Buy available in all markets?
No. Bonus Buy is restricted in certain regulated markets, most notably the UK, where legislation prohibits the feature. If you’re playing from a market where it’s unavailable, your only route into Free Spins or Power Free Spins is through natural Scatter triggers. The Golden Bet option, which doubles Scatter frequency, is generally still available in those markets and becomes more valuable as a result.
What’s the RTP of Artifacts and which version should I look for?
Artifacts uses a dynamic RTP model with three certified configurations: 96.26%, 93.98%, and 91.12%. The version running at your casino depends on the operator’s setup. The gap between 91.12% and 96.26% is meaningful over any volume of play. Most reputable casinos display the active RTP in the game info or paytable. If yours doesn’t, it’s worth asking support before you commit a serious session to it.
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