Book of Dead Review and Demo

Book of Dead Slot Review

Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead slot is an adventure through ancient Egypt released by Play’n GO in 2016. Thanks to its 96.21% RTP, varied and unique bonus features, coupled with excellent mobile optimisation, the slot remains one of the most in-demand games in the UK slots market and by far the most popular game from the Rich Wilde series.

Play’n GO games are often praised for high quality 3D graphics, strong storylines and bonus feature driven gameplay. Apart from the Rich Wilde collection, Play’n GO has created several other well-known collections, such as Rise of Olympus and Moon Princess.

Category	Detail
Game Title	Book of Dead
Software provider	Play’n GO
RTP	96.21%
Volatility	High
Max Win	5,000x
Theme	Ancient Egypt
Key Mechanic	Expanding Symbols, Free Spins, Multipliers, Wild and Scatter Symbol, Bonus Game

Book of Dead Gameplay

Book of Dead is a high volatility slot played on a grid with 5x3 reels. Due to its high volatility rating the majority of gameplay consists of small, insignificant wins. Making a profit relies heavily on unlocking the Free Spins Bonus and securing higher paying symbols within it, though the Gamble Bonus Game can boost base play wins a little.

Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead has 10 adjustable paylines. Players can choose how many paylines they want, then the amount of coins they would like to stake per line and the coins’ value. Assuming all 10 paylines are in use, the max number of coins (5) is in play and each coin is worth £0.02, the total bet amount would be £1.00.

This table shows how many coins can be won depending on the symbols that land:

Symbol	2 of a kind	3 of a kind	4 of a kind	5 of a kind
10	N/A	5	25	100
J	N/A	5	25	100
Q	N/A	5	25	100
K	N/A	5	40	150
A	N/A	5	40	150
Horus (Falcon)	5	30	100	750
Anubis (Black Jackal)	5	30	100	750
Osiris (Pharaoh)	5	40	400	2,000
Rich Wilde	10	100	1,000	5,000

Theme and Story of the Book of Dead Slot

While some may argue that the ancient civilisation theme has been overdone, Book of Dead’s high quality visuals and exciting gameplay keep the slot from being too cliche. The ornate, gold and bejewelled symbols create a sense of luxury while Rich Wilde, the charming explorer, guides us through this world.

The game’s nine symbols can be divided into two main groups:

• Low-paying

• High-paying

Payments for the less valuable card symbols (10 to A) begin when you land three of a kind. There’s a solid increase between getting three, four or five of a kind but no major payment changes between the symbols themselves. On the other hand, the remaining four symbols, which portray Egyptian gods and Rich Wilde himself, need just two of a kind to start paying and have a much bigger jump in payments when you land four or five of them.

Graphics, Sounds and Vibes

You can clearly see how tomb-raiding movies and games inspired Book of Dead’s look and feel. The background consists of a sandstone temple with pillars, statues and torches creating an enticing atmosphere while keeping the player’s main focus on the grid.

The grid itself is densely packed with details.

For instance, there is a blue and gold border with the same pattern as the ‘crook’ and ‘flail’, two staffs that were held by pharaohs to symbolise kingship. Symbols glow, expand and pulse when a winning payline lands, but the best graphics happen when the free spins are unlocked and the game zooms in on the book and starts flipping pages. The smooth animation and historical details have a captivating effect.

The music is an adventurous tune accompanied by drum beats, which get heavier and more intense during the bonus features. It magnifies the tension, especially during near misses. Together, the visual design and soundtrack evidently build anticipation and successfully enhance the gameplay.

Book of Dead Slot on Mobile

Mobile gaming on Book of Dead is even better than on a desktop, which is a necessary quality for any modern slot game. The game’s responsive design adjusts to fit the screen in both portrait and landscape mode while ensuring the spin button is always easily accessible.

When playing Book of Dead on a mobile in landscape mode, players can adjust the settings to move the spin button to the left-hand side for optimal comfort.

Book of Dead Slot Bonus Features

Bonus features have a massive impact on players’ decision making process, especially when they work together like the wild and scatter symbol does in Book of Dead. Adequate variation and increased winning opportunities are some of the other main aspects to look out for, and that’s exactly what Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead delivers.

Tomb Scatter and Wild

In Book of Dead, the tomb symbol combines two major slot elements into one: it acts as both a scatter and a wild. This means that it can substitute other symbols to connect more winning paylines and work towards unlocking further bonuses, like free spins, at the same time.

Scatter symbol wins are even multiplied by the total bet staked and added to the payline wins. Here’s how many additional coins you could get depending on how many scatters land:

• 3 scatters = 2 coins

• 4 scatters = 20 coins

• 5 scatters = 200 coins

Free Spins

Landing three or more of the scatters mentioned above also reveals the Book of Dead free spins bonus. This grants players an initial 10 free spins. If three or more scatter symbols land once more during the Free Spins Bonus, 10 more free spins will be re-triggered.

Before the first round of free spins starts, a special book opens up and an ordinary symbol is randomly chosen to expand throughout the entire free spins sequence. This means that during the free spins, every time this chosen symbol ends on the grid it expands to cover all three spots on its reel to award more prizes from active paylines. Ordinarily, all wins are paid exclusively from left to right and must be connected. However, when in the free spins mode, the special expanding symbols will pay any winning combination, including ones with spaces between them.

Gamble Bonus Game

Every single win on Book of Dead gives players the chance to play the Gamble Bonus Game. Choosing to play this optional bonus round gives players a shot at making double or quadruple their win but whether players choose to utilise this bonus or not, the game’s overall RTP is not affected.

You must guess either the colour (for double) or the exact suit (for quadruple) of a face down card and if you get it right, your current win could increase massively. Book of Wilde allows players to play this bonus game up to five times in a row.

Even though playing the Gamble Bonus Game doesn’t impact the 96.21% RTP rate, participating can be risky as you are endangering that round's winnings on what is essentially a coin toss game or low one in four odds.

RTP and Volatility

Book of Dead has a 96.21% RTP, which sits just above the 94-96% average for UK slot games. It also has a very high volatility rating. This means players shouldn’t expect to make big winnings quickly. Book of Dead dishes out minor payouts here and there but requires a considerable investment to reach the more lucrative bonuses where real profits are more likely.

This makes the slot more suitable for higher rolling players, however careful monitoring of bankroll and setting a budget can allow more casual players to enjoy this game.

Bet Sizes and Variance

The minimum bet is £0.10, which covers every available payline. The maximum bet is £2 for players aged 18-24 and £5 for players over the age of 25, a limit set by the UKGC to protect gamers from harmful gambling behaviours.

Jackpots and Best Wins

Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead doesn’t offer any jackpot prizes. Wins are concentrated around regular paylines, the Gamble Bonus Game and free spins. Scoring the maximum win of 5,000x is actually possible from the base game by landing five of the highest-paying symbol (Rich Wilde) on a payline.

Bonus Frequency

Even though accurately tracking or predicting when a bonus feature will appear is not possible, trustworthy sites such as Slot Tracker collect data from millions of spins to estimate their frequency. In Book of Dead, bonuses unlock roughly once every 200 spins.

Testing the Book of Dead Slot with a £50 Bankroll

Taking budgeting into account is an essential part of our slot testing, so I played the Book of Dead demo with a £50 bankroll to see how it performs on a smaller budget. I used one coin worth £0.10 and included all 10 paylines, bringing my total wager per spin to £1 and total number of spins to 50.

From the jump, I got two small consecutive wins, £0.50 (5 coins) from my second spin and £1.00 (10 coins) from my third spin. Immediately after this I experienced a lengthy dry spell of 27 spins which quickly ate up over half my budget. Unfortunately this is typical behaviour for a high volatility slot game and the reason why careful fund management is essential.

My next win was £4.00 (40 coins) on the 30th spin and ended up being the largest win of the entire session.

Although I was unlucky to not land any higher paying symbols or unlock the Free Spins Bonus, a small consolation was that my wins were more regular from this point on. I made £2.00 (20 coins) from my 32nd spin, and had another consecutive win of £1.50 (15 coins) and £1.00 (10 coins) from the 38th and 39th spins. On my 41st spin, I scored £3.50 (35 coins) thanks to the Wild Symbol.

My final win came from spin number 46 and was only £0.50 (5 coins) which brought my total winnings to £14. This means that overall I had a £36 loss during this game session.

Book of Dead Slot vs Similar Slot Games

Book of Dead still holds its own against other top slots in the current iGaming market. Here’s a brief comparison against two well-liked titles:

Slot	Book of Dead	Book of Oz	Gonzo’s Quest
Developer	Play’n GO	Games Global	NetEnt
RTP	96.21%	96.5%	95.97%
Max Win	5,000x	5,000x	2,500x
Volatility	High	High	Medium
Theme	Ancient Egypt	Wizard of Oz	Ancient Civillisation
Bonus Features	Expanding Symbols, Free Spins, Multipliers, Wild and Scatter Symbol, Bonus Game	Wild Symbol, Scatter Symbol, Free Spins, Respins	Avalanche Tumble Mechanic, Free Falls, Multipliers,

Like Book of Dead, Book of Oz is a high volatility slot with similarly enticing mechanics. It has an adventure theme, big maximum win and solid RTP rate. It also operates on 10 fixed paylines, which some players may find easier to manage than Book of Dead’s payment system where you must decide the number of paylines yourself.

Alternatively, the Gonzo’s Quest slot has a slightly lower RTP rate and lower maximum win, but it has a medium volatility rating. This means you can expect a more financially sustainable mix of infrequent big wins and regular smaller wins.

Does CasinoTopsOnline Recommend Book of Dead?

Certainly. Book of Dead is perfect for high rollers and players who prefer mobile gaming, with intriguing and interactive features like the combined wild and scatter symbol as well as the Gamble Bonus Game. Despite what the high volatility and potential for long losing streaks may say, recreational players can also have a good time with Book of Dead as long as they stick to lower bet amounts and never wagering more than they can afford to lose. It’s the best tactic to prolong enjoyment and play time on any slot game.