Sample for the form of content we can write: Short Reviews.
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Book of Dead is a cult classic for a good reason. It’s one of the most popular slot games you’ll find on all sorts of international casino sites. As Play ‘n GO’s crowning jewel, the game offers a sweet 96.21% RTP (adjustable), which is above the global average of 96% — what we consider to be the bare minimum for a “good” slot game.
- 5⨯3 Grid
- 10 Paylines
- 96.21% RTP
- Play ‘n GO slot
- High Volatility
- 5000⨯ Max Win
- Egypt-themed
Game Mechanics
Apart from the handsome face of Rich Wilde (the full name of the game is Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead), the game offers a pretty nifty selection of bonus features. We’re talking scatters, free spins, and retriggers. The volatility is high in this 5-reel, 10-payline game. You can choose stakes between 10p and £100.
Pro tip: Just be mindful that many welcome bonuses carry an upper limit on the stake size which is typically £5! Go beyond that and you’ll essentially forfeit the deal.
The maximum win possible in Book of Dead is 5,000. That’s not bad considering it’s a high-volatility game. Be on the lookout for that elusive, special expanding symbol. That’s where the wins are. It’s possible to retrigger the feature for unlimited free spins — the main reason why Book of Dead is so popular among online slot enthusiasts.
The RTP can be adjusted. Options are 84.18%, 87.25%, 91.25%, 94.25%, and 96.21%.
How to Play: The game is as simple as it gets. Land 3 or more matching symbols in a payline (starting from the first reel) and it’s a winning combo. It just takes two for the most generous symbols (or the Wild/Scatter). New players can go fearlessly into the game.
Player Experience
The overall experience of the game is top-notch. Whether it’s the overarching theme, the symbols, the graphics and animation, or the background sound design, Play ‘n GO has done an excellent job of creating an immersive experience that drowns you.
That being said, we won’t give the game full marks in terms of originality. But in its defence, today it’s not really possible to be very original when designing a slot game, and you kind of have to stick to some time-tested, classic mechanisms to get the users to feel comfortable.
In the bonus department, the game works really well … on paper. In real-world experience, the Book of Wild underdelivers somewhat. With such a nice mix of bonus features, you’d expect everybody to win large sums. But the game has been engineered perfectly to offer a mixed-bag experience. That’s not bad in any way. The RTP doesn’t lie. The bonus features are just not that big of a deal when you really take a dive into the game.
Technical Details
All right, let’s get down to the brass tacks. This is a flagship game from Play ‘n GO. It might be heavily inspired by Book of Ra (Novomatic), but it has a few quirks of its own that have cemented its position as the go-to Ancient Egypt/Book-themed game in the world of online slots. So, what’s it like under the hood? Let’s find out.
- Symbols: The symbols include 10, J, Q, K, A, Horus, Anubis, Osiris, Rich Wilde (the handsome chap himself), and the special Tomb symbol that acts as the Wild and Scatter, both. The list is in increasing order of win potential.
- 200 to 500x Wins: The Rich Wilde symbol can bag you 500x your total bet for 5 across any payline. That’s the big win here. The Tomb symbol is the substitute that can pay up to 200x your bet as well as trigger the Free Spins bonus round that we all love.
- Mobile Experience: Play ‘n GO games can be universally accepted to run really well on mobile and tablet devices. As long as you’re playing on a major online casino platform, the HTML5 technology powering the game will offer a seamless, native-like experience like a real game. The bet controls compress gracefully on smaller screens and in our opinion, the mobile layout is better compared to the desktop version.
- Gamble: This feature can be triggered after hitting any winning combination. You have to manually initiate it, as it’s optional. If you guess the colour or suit of the card (kept face-down) correctly, you stand to double your prize. It’s 4x if you’re right about the suit.
- Free Spins: The Free Spins round is activated with 3 or more Tomb symbols. Before the 10 free spins, you get 2, 20, or 200x your total bet.
What’s Not to Like?
The only downsides we can think of that could be potential deal-breakers are high volatility and a lack of sufficient bonus features. But let’s face it, that’s pretty standard to begin with.
There’s a working theory that Play ‘n GO has an under-the-table deal with most major online casinos. As a result of this, the game gets overplayed as a great slot game, while the returns are actually low and the winnings minimal. That is conclusively false. There are much worse games to stumble upon in the wild. Book of Dead is one of the best games we’ve seen on many top online casinos.
If anything, it makes the barrier to entry lower as the stakes are lower and people with smaller balances can have good fun. That, however, might not be to a high-roller’s liking. In our experience, we’ve seen Book of Dead to not be a high-roller-friendly game.
Another fair criticism is that the game is pretty unoriginal. The animations and graphics are nice, don’t get us wrong. But they don’t offer much to diverge from the classic experience we’ve all gone through countless times (looking at you, Novomatic, Playson, 1×2 Gaming). Generally, if one of the better alternatives is available, Book of Dead isn’t recommended as your go-to slot game at all. The rewards are pretty basic, and the game is mostly for low rollers.
Wrapping Up
Ready for some Indiana Jones fun mixed with an almost-exciting atmosphere of Egyptian deities? Well, this is the game. Before you play, however, know your symbols! The game is purely classic. The experience is not groundbreaking. But at the same time, there’s no stopping you from having fun when spinning the reels on this Play ‘n GO game.
We’re not lying when we say that Book of Dead is one of the best slots you can play online. It’s not a baseless, blatant promotion. It’s a fact. It’s a well-rounded game that’s been gracing online casinos since 2016. So far, it’s built quite a reputation around itself. People with a keen interest (and experience) in non-GamStop casinos in the UK find it exceptionally rewarding. To have Book of Dead as the featured game tied to your casino’s welcome bonus free spins is a fancy style statement that brings in those new members in droves. The Expanding symbol and the glimmering design make it a sight to behold.
So, if you happen to find a good deal on Book of Dead anywhere, don’t miss out on it. Just make sure that you read the paytable! The RTPs range from as low as 84.18% all the way up to 96.21% — better safe than sorry!
