Book of Dead sees Play’n Go combine the popular Ancient Egyptian theme with their explorer character Rich Wilde, putting them together for a fascinating North African expedition. With high volatility and the potential for some exciting free spins, this slot sounds as risky as Wilde’s latest exploit, so it might be one for more experienced players – you could be in line for some big wins, so should you give this slot a go? Keep reading to find out…

Key features:

Reels: 5

Paylines: 10

Min bet: 20p

Max bet: £10

Slot RTP: 94.25%

Provider: Play’n Go

Reading the Book of Dead

It looks like we’re at the part of the adventure where Wilde arrives at what looks like a mausoleum, and the graphics here are outstanding. The intricate detail on the building showcases various hieroglyphs and symbols, and everything looks very fancy indeed, covered in gold to give the game a warm glow.

The symbols are all bright and colourful – just like the background, a lot of detail has gone into making these look realistic, and it works. The Book of Dead logo at the top flashes too, and there are a couple of animations on the landing page before you begin, in which some of the features are described to you – overall, it’s impressive. As for the soundtrack, there’s a tense, foreboding drum beat typical of adventure movies like this, as well as a Middle Eastern tune playing, so it’s all rather immersive.

Symbols and hieroglyphs

Book of Dead has five reels, but just ten paylines – all the standard combinations you’d expect to see. As a result, this slot is quite volatile, and wins are likely to be less often but larger instead of little and frequent. There are a few low-value symbols, and these are all the numbers and letters found on playing cards. However, the high-value symbols pay out at quite a bit more – there are three Egyptian-themed symbols, and then Rich Wilde himself, the most valuable of the lot.

The book symbol acts as a wild, and can substitute for any other symbol to form part of a winning combination. It pays out too, but as it’s also a scatter symbol, all wins are multiplied by the total bet. For this reason, from a £1 bet you could win up to £200 here. The return-to-player of Book of Dead is 94.25%, which isn’t obscenely low but still a little on the low side, so you can expect a slightly lower return than on some other similar slots.

Going Rich Wilde

To win free spins, you just need to find three or more of the scattered book symbols – as well as winning money from that you’ll also get your free spins! You’ll start off with ten free spins to use, and there’s a special expanding symbol too. Before you begin your free spins, a regular symbol will be randomly chosen to act as the special expanding symbol for the entirety of the free spins. When this happens, the special symbol can expand to cover all three positions on its reel when additional prizes can be awarded along active paylines.

Should you get three or more scatter symbols while playing your free spins, you’ll win an extra ten! However, if you’re back in the base game there’s still the gamble round, if you feel like it. Here, you can multiply the total prize on any base game spin by guessing the colour or suit of a hidden card. Get it right, and you win! The gamble round can be played up to five times in a row.

Conclusion

Play’n Go were the first provider to make the move into mobile gaming, and it’s no surprise as they have a track record of setting trends and being creative. They’ve been making games since the 1990s, but still manage to come out with innovative slots with engaging themes. Alongside Book of Dead, you can try another 120, including Riddle Reels, Reactoonz and Irish Gold.

Provider

There’s a lot to like about this Play’n Go slot, from the graphics to the free spins and potential big wins, but the high volatility and low RTP might put some players off. However, if you’re willing to take the risk, this is a game that you’re sure to enjoy – particularly if you get into the bonus round…