Software provider Pragmatic Play may have been around for quite a long time, but recently we've seen them awaken from slumber and started hiking down a new path. It's possible that there used to be a time when a provider could churn out anything with 5 reels and 3 rows and still make it just fine, but times are tougher now, and the competition is getting increasingly brutal. As players have become more educated and aware of what they're actually playing, there's also been a shift in market demand. Albeit somewhat belatedly, Pragmatic has realised that it is volatility and monster potential that makes people talk about their slots.
The slot we're going to review today is a variation of the classic Book slot which has been cloned in absurdum. More or less every provider seem to have at least one version of their own although it's really only Play'n GO that's had mainstream success with its clone Book of Dead. Just the other day we published a review of yet another Book clone - Book of Adventure, created by Stakelogic, sister company Novomatic which are the inventors of the original version Book of Ra. Being identical in setup, mechanics and paytable, players have to decide which version appeals to them based on looks and feel, RTP as well as hit frequency and bonus frequency, statistics not always available to the player, however.
Slots like this don't really need any closer introductions, but in order to stick to protocol and for the sake of consistency, here it goes: Ancient Egypt Classic is a 5-reel, 3-row slot with 10 fixed pay lines. Playable on all devices, the bet size range is identical to that of most other Book slots which is between €0.10 and €50. The 96.51% RTP is somewhat higher than that of Book of Dead (Play'n GO) and Book of Adventure (Stakelogic) at 96.21%, and the original Book of Ra Deluxe (Novomatic) 95.10%.
Although far from spectacular, the warm colours and smooth graphics are soothing to the eyes. Set inside a pyramid treasury, the reels are flanked by a pair of hieroglyph pillars and flaming torches, all coming together nicely with an eerie Egyptian soundtrack.
In Ancient Egypt Classic, unlike other traditional Book slots, players won't be chasing red books, but golden scarabs which work as a scatter and wild combined. As low-value symbols, you'll see A to 10 playing cards while the premiums are represented by The Eye of Horus, Ankh cross and Anubis, which is typical for these slots.
The symbol of all symbols, however, is Cleopatra. Possibly as a homage to the 1963 movie, here illustrated strikingly similar to Elizabeth Taylor. Should you land 5 of a kind Cleopatras in the main game, a 500 times the stake reward will be yours to collect.
Three or more golden scarab symbols awards 10 free spins. As is the case with all other Book slots, a special symbol is randomly chosen as the expanding symbol before the start of the free spins feature. When this symbol lands on the reels, connecting or not, it will expand to cover the full reel which, to the benefit of the player, increases the number of winning pay lines.
It takes 3 low-value symbols and 2 premiums for the symbols to expand, and it's in the bonus that the 5000 times the stake max win can be achieved should you land 5 Cleopatra symbols.
Knowing that Pragmatic Play slots can be a bit of a b**** to trigger bonuses on undoubtedly makes us a bit reluctant to choose it as our go-to Book slot. What speaks positively for Ancient Egypt Classic, on the other hand, is the somewhat higher RTP compared to the rest of the bunch. As the games are more or less identical in terms of mechanics, paytable and pay lines, it all comes down to personal preference. Which one do you think has the smoothes gameplay, which slot performs best for you, and so on.
As a clone of one of the most successful slots ever produced, Pragmatic has accomplished the feat of creating a decent alternative. Will it overthrow Book of Dead (Play'n GO) from the throne as the Clone of All Clones? Not likely. Not necessarily because it's worse, but because we can't see any real good reason for players that have become used to Book of Dead to abandon it for a new favorite clone. But who knows, maybe in time we'll find a reason to revise our review.
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