Theme & Story

The game follows the somewhat traditional theme of Ancient Egypt. Those who are familiar with Book of Ra and its imitation will likely be satisfied with the visuals of this game. There’s a distinct feel of the ancient civilization, with sand-dusted columns and stone tablets. There are also other elements associated with the culture, such as hieroglyphics and sarcophaguses. The game itself, however, doesn’t offer anything ultimately original, as even the face of the title Rich Wilde, is the rugged and dashing treasure hunter, who is a perfect mix of the old-school adventure movie heroes and the newer names that come from the modern computer games. And the players have a chance to help him uncover the great treasure!

Features & Graphics

One thing that might be instantly obvious is the graphics. Those who played Book of Ra will see clear connections between the two games, but Book of Dead is more polished and provides smoother gameplay than its predecessor. The images have a higher resolution than the older generation games. Sound design is nothing too spectacular, but Play’n’Go does set up the proper atmosphere and pulls the player deeper into the desert sands and hidden tombs.

The effects, however, follow a more generic path. There are not scarabs taking the tiles away, no mummies jumping out when you hit the jackpot. This might not be apparent at first glance, but the more you play, the more disjointed the theme and effects might feel. To some, it may become a hurdle, if only a minor one.

Gameplay

The gameplay follows the basic and established pattern of connecting tiles in a sequence. Book of Dead has a base game and free spin bonus rounds. Either of them has five reels and three rows, and there are ten configurable win lines. Your games can have anywhere between one and ten lines, according to your preference. You can select how many coins you wish to bet, and you can adjust color or suit pays. Should you wish to increase the engagement even further, why not increase the difficulty and try your luck then?

Aside from the regular and somewhat anticipated features, the game doesn’t introduce anything particularly innovative. On one hand, people might be disappointed by the lack of freshness, on the other, the game polishes the well-known gameplay and doesn’t throw any learning curves at the players.

Bonuses, free spins & wilds

While the game contains many fun tiles, one of the more special ones would be the Book. It’s a dual tile and can work as either a wild symbol or a scatter command. As a wild, the Book symbol can be substituted for any other tile, ensuring there are more ways to create a lucky chain. As a scatter, the Book gives out coins from anywhere in the reel, and it doesn’t matter is there’s a chain or not.

If you connect three Books, you will receive a payout that’s twice what you bet; the payout of four Books will be twenty times the wager, and if you manage to get five Book symbols, you’ll win a sum 200 times than what you bet. The additional win lines will bring their own rewards.

You can receive ten free spins if you connect three or more Books. Free spins have random special symbols that can appear anywhere on the reel. Unlike the basic tiles that have to go left to right starting the first reel, the special symbol can pop out in any reel and will still earn you wins. If you hit three or more scatter symbols, the free spins are renewed, so you can have a chance to play twenty free spins in total.

Conclusion

There’s a reason why Book of Dead remained such a popular game over the years. For one, it allows the player to control the risk levels that come with the game (such as setting how many lines they want to play with). There’s also the free spin element and with little luck, players can earn wonderful rewards. The minimum bet for a single line is £0.01, which means you can play all ten lines for £0.10.

The game offers the classical theme with adjusted gameplay, there is a decent RTP and an achievable bonus. The players will not be disappointed by giving this one a try!