Book of Dead Review

Today, there are more Ancient Egypt-themed slots than ever before. It seems like pretty much every game developer has their own game that follows the theme. There is also an abundance of “Book of” games, slots that follow Novomatic’s original Book of Ra theme. However, Play’n Go’s Book of Dead is perhaps the best-known version of the game, proving a major commercial success for the developer. It is becoming one of the most played online slots in the history of iGaming.

Whether you’re an experienced online slot enthusiast or new to the iGaming world, you should head toward Ancient Egypt and play Book of Dead. It is an experience you shouldn’t pass on.

In this Book of Dead slot review, we will be looking closely at what the game’s all about, how it works, and what you can expect.

First, let’s cover the basics. Book of Dead structures around a 5-reel, 3-row format, and there are ten paylines. In older versions, it was possible to adjust the number of paylines, but most online casinos now offer a fixed payline version of the game.

Book of Dead: How To Play

It does not matter at which online casino you choose to play Book of Dead, you’ll find it incredibly easy to play. The first thing a player needs to do is select the amount of money they wish to wager on every spin. Generally speaking, Book of Dead can be played from between $0.10 and $50 per spin – though some sites may have a slightly higher maximum (or a lower minimum bet) bet of up to $100. Once you’ve selected a stake size you’re comfortable with, hit the “Spin” button, and the next game round will begin! You can select the size of your stake by adjusting the coin value.

Book of Dead offers an autoplay function, which allows you to set up to 500 spins to play out automatically without manually pressing the spin button each time.

Depending on where you’re playing from, you may also be able to activate the so-called “quickspin” option. This option increases the speed at which the reels spin, decreasing the time it takes between spins.

All casino sites where Book of Dead is featured will include a “help file” in the game. You can see the rules, how the game works, what the max bet is, and how the video slot performs.

Winning combinations in Book of Dead form the same way as most video slots. You’ll need to land three (or two, if premium) symbols from left to right.

When it comes to RTP, it doesn’t matter whether you’re playing at the maximum bet or the min bet – the return to player percentage remains the same. Play’n Go has set the default RTP for Book of Dead at 96.21%. However, the software provider offers most of their slots in flexible RTP settings, which means that some online casinos can offer a lower RTP version of the slot if they so choose. The RTP 96.21% should be the one you aim for – as this gives you the best play-time and the best chance of experiencing a winning session.

Aside from the Book of Dead RTP, let’s look at the volatility of this popular slot machine. Whether you’re playing for real money or playing the slot game in free play mode, you should be aware that Book of Dead is very volatile. When putting this Book of Dead review together, we found that wins in the base game are pretty common, but these wins are worth less than your stake. You should be cautious of the stake size you play at, as it’s not uncommon for the game to take quite a while to land the bonus round or decent-sized wins.

Play’n Go has opted to do what most slot machine companies do for symbols. It uses playing card values to represent the game’s low-value symbols, including 10, J, Q, K and A. The game’s high-value symbols are designed to look as Ancient Egyptian as possible. They include the Phoenix Rising, the Egyptian God, Anubis, a Pharaoh, and Rich Wilde himself, the highest-paying symbol. Land a 5-of-a-kind combo of the top-paying symbol, and you’ll catch a whopping 500X your stake.

There’s also a wild symbol – the Book – which substitutes all other symbols. What’s more, the book symbol is also the game’s scatter symbol – so it’s the key to triggering the main bonus round.

Play’n Go’s Book of Dead slot game is all about the bonus round, where an expanding symbol comes into play. There’s also a small gamble feature available when playing the game in real money mode – and we’ll look at both of these features below.

Free Spins

To trigger the main free spins bonus in Book of Dead, you’ll need to land three, four or five of the scatter symbols anywhere in view. Doing so will award you with ten free spins, and you’ll also receive a cash payout; landing five of the scatter symbols awards a whopping 200X your stake!

Before the ten free spins begin, a symbol will be chosen at random. This symbol then becomes the special expanding symbol. The special expanding symbol expands anywhere in view during the free spins and pays. It doesn’t matter where the symbols land or which position they’re on; as long as there are at least three (if a low-value symbol) or two (if a high-value symbol), the special expanding symbol will expand and pay you out on all ten lines.

If you’re lucky enough to get the special symbol as Rich Wilde – and manage to land one of him on each reel during the bonus – you’ll win the game’s jackpot, which is worth a whopping 5,000X your stake!

It’s possible to re-trigger the free spins bonus; this is achieved by landing another three or more scatter symbols anywhere in view. Doing so awards an additional ten free spins, and there’s no limit to the number of times you can re-trigger the free spins feature.

Gamble Feature

One of the special features in the game Book of Dead is the gamble feature. This allows you to gamble any win (both during the base game and after the free spins bonus), and if you choose to gamble your win, you’ll have two choices. You can try and double your win by guessing the colour of an upside-down playing card. If you guess correctly, your win is doubled – it’s simple!

You can also try to multiply your win by 4X; to do this, you’ll need to try and guess the suit of the upside-down playing card. You can gamble up to five times in a row or until you reach the game’s maximum win – details of which you’ll find in the game’s in-depth rules.

Play’n Go’s Book of Dead slot is iconic in many ways. While putting this Book of Dead review together, it became clear just how widespread and popular this hit title really is.

The Book of Dead slot can be found at virtually every online casino. Rich Wilde’s famed game is often included in many casino’s welcome bonus offers, so you may get free spins on the game when joining a new casino or completing tasks such as identity verification.

Arguably the main attraction of the Book of Dead slot is the free spins feature – a bonus game that’s proved immensely successful. We’d estimate there are now well over 100 games using the same “Book of” mechanic found within the free spins feature. While Play’n Go’s Book of Dead slot wasn’t the first to utilise such a mechanic, they popularised it to the levels we see today. Most game developers now offer a Book of Dead slot themselves.

We like that you don’t have to get Rich Wilde to hit big wins during the free spins bonus. Of course, if Rich Wilde is selected as the game’s expanding symbol, and you hit a full screen, you’ll win a whopping 5,000X your stake. Even the Royals, like Kings and Aces, pay 150X for a full screen – so you don’t necessarily need a premium symbol to experience a decent free spins bonus. The expanding symbols are chosen randomly, and no matter what symbol you’re awarded, you’ll want to land it on all five reels to secure the biggest payout. Land it on all five reels, and you’re guaranteed a decent hit!

We also like how the scatter symbol doubles up as the game’s wild symbol; this makes it easier to form wins during the base game. Unlike many slot games, it’s a unique way of triggering the bonus round.

Whether you’re looking to play a new Ancient Egyptian slot or already know that Book of Dead is a personal favourite of yours, this iconic game offers so much. It’s no surprise that it’s one of the most successful slots ever released.

Remember, you can play it free of charge right here at Casinomeister – without creating an account. Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to trigger one of the special features for yourself!