Players, if you're keen to 'enter the abyss of dark delights' or 'crawl through the catacombs filled with curses', then Pragmatic Play has got just the thing. This one's called Book of Fallen and sees the steeliest of steely-eyed Indiana Jones wannabes return to Ancient Egypt for another 'book of' styled slot. If you've been following the intrepid John Hunter, you'll have spotted his penchant for this part of the world, as evidenced by Tomb of the Scarab Queen and Book of Tut. Both were straightforward Egyptian games, and so is Book of Fallen, so don't expect to see major alterations to the regular 'book' format. However, there is an optional Ante Bet feature that might suit players who like to go large, and you can choose the expanding symbol for free spins, so let's take a look.
Possessing an exceptionally strong Book of Dead feel, Book of Fallen is located in an Ancient Egyptian structure, like a tomb, temple, or a space used for a purpose that eludes modern imaginations. Any veteran Egyptian slot player will be familiar with the view, made up as it is of columns, hieroglyphs, and a lot of stonework lit by an inviting golden light. Like most of Book of Fallen, the graphics do their job and end it there. There isn't much attempting to significantly rock the boat around here.
Mathematically, there are no concerns. Well, RTP is variable, so that's something to be on the lookout for, but the default version has a value of 96.5%, which compares favourably with most in the 'book' category. Regular bets range from 10 p/c to $/€50 per spin, though this is seriously driven up when engaging the Super Spin Ante Bet, which we'll look at in more detail below. The RTP when the Ante Bet is active drops slightly to 96.49%, and a titch less to 96.48% when buying free spins. No matter how you approach Book of Fallen, volatility is high, and the goal is to fill screens with expanding symbols which can be done in both free spins and, interestingly, the base game.
The majority of the rules have remained untouched, meaning Book of Fallen is played on a 5x3, 10-line game panel, where winning combos consist of identical symbols landing left to right from the first reel. Symbols are standard too, starting with 10-A card rank tiles, shifting to higher-value Ankhs, Anubis, Tutankhamun, and John Hunter. Landing a line of five premium symbols is worth a payout of 75 to 500 times your stake.
So far, so pretty regular, and the same can be said for the features with one or two exceptions. Amongst free spins offering expanding symbols is the Super Spin Ante Bet and a bonus buy option, where available.
The only other symbol to note is the book. Books are wild, so they replace any paying symbol to help complete wins. They are also the scatter, so should 3 or more books be in view, 10 free spins are awarded. Before the bonus round begins, players actually get to pick which symbol they would like to be the special expanding symbol. During the round, after the payout of regular symbols, the special symbol expands vertically to cover all positions on its reel. Expanded symbols pay all lines from any position – they do not need to be adjacent or start from the left side of the screen to form wins.
This is a base game add on which increases the current total bet for every spin by 10x when activated. By switching the Super Spin Ante Bet on, players can preselect a special expanding symbol for the following spins. This selected symbol expands and pays anywhere the way it would in free spins, but on regular base game spins. Win values are calculated using the base bet, not the increased Super Bet cost.
Another option is buying the bonus round itself at a cost of 100x your stake. This will instantly trigger 10 free spins.
At a cursory glance, Book of Fallen is an archetype 'book of' slot but investigate the fine print, and there are two developments to prompt further investigation for Ra specialists. These aren't visual. The game looks utterly standard, though this might be a good thing, as players who value tradition over innovation should feel cosy. Plus the real archaeological sites of Egypt have remained more or less the same for thousands of years and tourists continue to flock to see them.
Where the changes come in is being able to choose the symbol you would like as the expander for free spins, which is unusual. In the past, rejecting the randomly selected symbol was about as good as it got, so being able to outright choose will no doubt be an enticing proposal. What will it be? John Hunter every time, and cross fingers for those 5,000x full screen wins, or one of the low pays to benefit from theoretically more frequent hits, or a middle-ground option? The choice is yours, literally.
The Super Spin Ante Bet is another tantaliser since engaging it means there is a technical chance of hitting full screen wins on any base game spin. Of course, this is not going to happen often, in which case paying ten times the stake is a significant outlay and a potential bankroll batterer. The increased cost might make regular gamblers pause, but it doesn't take much imagination to picture certain streamers going nuts with the Ante Bet option. Finally, there is also the feature buy option add on which you don't typically see in book slots, certainly not in the two classic versions Book of Dead or Book of Ra. Thus for impatient players, Book of Fallen might be the preferred option.
And so, Pragmatic Play tosses another Ra based slot on the mountainous pile. Like many of these sorts of games, we could have gone through life just fine without it. However, Book of Fallen is a decently made game possessing solid stats, familiar looks, while packing two new bits to give book fans something to trial out.
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