If there's one chap who's experienced several of the world's Ancient Civilisations on the reels, it's Pragmatic Play's man John Hunter. Of all of the exotic destinations, the one he seems to favour most is none other than the warm lands of Ancient Egypt. Well, he's heading back for another whirl in John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respins. If you're familiar with John Hunter's exploits, you'll know he appeared in an earlier release titled John Hunter and the Book of Tut. As such, players can expect much of what appeared in the previous slot, with an added Respins mechanism and the resulting tweaks Pragmatic Play had to perform to fit the feature in.
Visually, the studio has left well enough alone. In other words, the graphics that adorned John Hunter and the Book of Tut have pretty much been used again to adorn John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respins. It'll be a recognisable view to Egypt slot veterans, displaying sand, river, columns, pyramids, and palm trees, as well as several classic icons on the actual reels. In short, John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respins delivers the sort of sights and sounds strongly associated with this slot category without doing anything out of the ordinary with them, either positively or negatively.
The virtual trip back to Ancient Egypt can be made on mobile, desktop, or tablets and accepts bets of 10 p/c to $/€100 per spin. As before, max RTP tops the scales at 96.5%, though it can be found at lower settings such as 95.5% or 94.5%. As before, volatility is high (5 out of 5), and while there is a mechanical tweak, John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respins' setup is pretty conventional, being played on a 5-reel, 3-row matrix, with 10 paylines for landing winning combinations along.
Novelty stands aside for tradition when it comes to pay symbols, the low pay lot consisting of 10-A card ranks, then scarab jewellery, a cat statue, a Pharaoh type symbol, and John Hunter as the four high pays. The addition of Respins has knocked back the symbol values compared to the previous game, where five royals get you 5-10x the bet, or five premiums pay 30-100x the bet. And so, ends the regular game rules.
The new bit in John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respins is the Respins feature. It's available in both the base and bonus game. In the base game, on random spins, one pay symbol is picked to be the Mystery Symbol for the current spin. After any normal payline win has been awarded, if 3 Mystery Symbols are on separate reels, they expand to cover all positions on their reel. They are then locked in place while the other reels spin. If more Mystery Symbols land, they expand, lock, and the other reels respin again. This ends when no more Mystery Symbols land or all five reels are covered with them, and a win evaluation can take place. Expanded symbols pay all lines and do not have to be adjacent.
The other symbol present on the reels is the book. Books are wild, so they substitute for all other symbols, and they are also the scatter symbol. When 3, 4, or 5 scatters land in view, players win 10 free spins plus a payout of 2x, 20x, or 200x the bet, respectively. Before free spins launch, one pay symbol is randomly selected to be the Mystery Symbol. In free spins, the Mystery Symbol acts as it does in the base game, expanding to fill the reel, and triggering Respins until no new Mystery Symbol hits or the reels are filled with them. Landing 3 or more book symbols during the bonus round triggers +10 additional free spins. No limits have been put in place as to the number of retriggers it is possible to win.
Where available, players are able to buy free spins for 100x the bet. Before free spins begin, players can actually pick which symbol they would like to be the Mystery Symbol. Bought bonus rounds have an RTP of 96.48%.
Fair enough, John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respins is a 'Book of' slot with a twist. Indeed, it's part of a long and growing line of 'Book of' slots with a twist, so how does it measure up? There are pros and cons, that overall in the end, sad to say, kind of leaned closer to the latter than the former. On the plus side, from a visual standpoint, John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respins has the high standard we expect from a Pragmatic Play game. Nothing extraordinary or very unique, but there's nothing in John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respins that'll hurt your eyes. The same goes for the sounds, which have a cute old-school landbased Book of Ra playback effect when the reels are spinning that veterans may enjoy.
As for the gameplay, everything will be pretty much old hat apart from the Respins feature, which has its moments. In some ways, it felt like it helped build bigger winning combinations, though that might have been pure luck, but you do pay for the privilege. The trade-off is lower symbol values, so gone are the 5,000x full-screen top premiums wins found elsewhere. Strangely, the win cap is actually stiffer than the previous game, this time maxing out at 4,000x the bet, which is a little weak for a 'Book of' slot. A deal-breaker? To some, perhaps.
What was actually kind of neat about John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respins was the ability to pick the Mystery Symbol when buying free spins. It's certainly handy having the opportunity to chance it with the John Hunter symbol or play the 'safer' option and pick a royal. It's funny the choosing function doesn't pop up more often. Perhaps now it will. Anyway, if it all sounds fine and dandy, then John Hunter and the Book of Tut Respins is sure to offer something for players into these types of games, but it's probably not a release that'll scoot to the top of many wish lists.
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