When you think about it, the iGaming world's obsession with Cleopatra is kind of odd. The ancient Egyptian ruler must be one of the most popularly used characters in slots, and it made us wonder how exactly we got here. Of all the billions of people who have walked the earth since records began, why Cleopatra? There is a direct association between her and Ancient Egyptian slots in general, of course, but still. Anyway, developers' main queen returns in a slot called Eye of Cleopatra from Pragmatic Play. Before 'book of' fanatics reach into their wallets, we're going to have to stop them right there. Eye of Cleopatra does not feature expanding special symbols at any point. Instead, what it does have is a spreading wild feature, governed by a wild pattern device, to provide the main thrills.
Eye of Cleopatra is played on a 5-reel, 4-row game panel, which sits to the left side of the screen, while the pattern device rests on the right. In the disused space, Pragmatic Play has squeezed in old school Egyptian columned structures. Yes, it is Egyptian-y looking, as is the soundtrack. There's nothing hugely out of the ordinary, but the sensory load is aggregable enough.
>
>
The math model Eye of Cleopatra runs on is as reliable from this developer as the theme, really. That's not a bad thing since Pragmatic Play is pretty liberal when it comes to the return to player figure. The default RTP, at least, is solid at 96.5%, though Eye of Cleopatra can be found at 95.5% or 94.5% tiers, so be on the lookout. Volatility is high, and stakes vary from 20 p/c to $/€100 – available on any device.
To start collecting coins, players must land at least three identical symbols across any of the 40 fixed paylines, starting from the leftmost side. Nine pay symbols, divided into four low pay and five high pays have been used. Lows are J-A royals, paying 0.25x to 1x the bet for five of a kind, whereas the highs are snakes, cats, birds, Pharaohs, and Cleopatras worth 1.25x to 10x your stake for a five symbol win line. Wilds are one of the most instrumental parts of Eye of Cleopatra, landing in any position to replace anything except the scarab scatter.
Eye of Cleopatra packs a feature called random wild patterns, which intermittently appears in the base game and on each free spin when triggered.
On the right-hand side of the screen sits a device with a golden inner circle, surrounded by 8 outer positions. The inner-circle represents wild symbols. On any spin, outer positions on the device may randomly light up blue. If this happens when there are wild symbols on the reels, the respective symbols adjacent to them are transformed into wilds. For example, if all outer positions on the device turn blue, each adjacent to the wilds in view turn wild. Wins are evaluated after any transformations have taken place.
>
>
Hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols anywhere on the screen activates the free spins feature. Before the round begins, players choose one of these four possible options:
During free spins, the chosen light pattern is active on every game round. Elongating the bonus is possible when at least 3 scatters land, thereby retriggering the same number of free spins as were initially awarded.
The Ante Bet lets users increase their stake by 25% to double the chance of winning free spins. With the Ante Bet switched on, RTP remains the same at 96.5%.
>
>
As long as users aren't put off by the prospect of heading back to Ancient Egypt one more time, there are fine moments to be had in Eye of Cleopatra. There are no qualms with the game's presentation, however trite. Pragmatic Play has a way with pixel placement, and Eye of Cleopatra is as vibrant as most in this category of slot are.
So Egyptian enthusiasts should be down with the looks and sounds, how about the gameplay? There were mixed impressions, overall positive, though while the random wild pattern feature is intriguing and can create pleasing results, it did feel like something was missing. As if the feature on its own was a little too one dimensional to really carry a game. That's too bad because random wild patterns is all Eye of Cleopatra really has going for it. As such, once we'd seen it do its thing a few times in the base game, ploughed through the eight-light pattern bonus round, we were pretty much done.
Maybe if Eye of Cleopatra had a secondary feature supplementing the wild pattern, it might have extended the game's shelf life. What would have boosted the effect, though? Throw in the towel and add some sort of Book of Ra inspired expanding symbol element? Hard to say, and as it is, Eye of Cleopatra is capable of churning out wins of up to 4,000x the base bet. Though the max win potential is relatively low by today's standards, the high max win frequency does make up for it.
We're just spitballing here because the random wild pattern feature occasionally shines, but it just felt a little unfulfilled overall. While what Eye of Cleopatra does is alright, it ultimately lacks a really killer one-two combo to push it over the edge. Still, the mechanic is probably more than enough on its own to give Egypt slot followers something to mull over, for a while at least.
Play for real money
