Book of Pharao: back to the tombs with Amatic

The classic setting, played straight

Egypt is where book slots began, and Book of Pharao makes no attempt to hide it. A pharaoh's mask, a scarab, a statue of a god and the card ranks fill five reels and three rows, framed by sandstone. The book itself is the symbol to watch: it acts as a wild on the lines and as the scatter that opens the bonus.

That makes this one of the easiest Amatic slots to understand. There's no side game, no collection meter, nothing to learn beyond the paytable.

What happens when three books land

Three or more books anywhere award a set of free games. A symbol is chosen at random before they begin, and for the whole round it expands to fill a reel whenever it shows up on enough reels to pay. Expanded symbols pay on every active line, so they don't need to sit side by side. The pharaoh as the special symbol is the outcome everyone hopes for; card ranks come up far more often and pay accordingly. More books can extend the feature.

As in most Amatic games, a red-or-black card gamble is offered after wins in the base game.

Using the Book of Pharao demo well

The free play version comes with 1,000 virtual credits and needs neither download nor account. A good first pass is 300 spins at a steady stake, roughly £0.20. Watch how many spins it takes to hit the free games and how much of your balance drains in the meantime: that tells you more than any description. If a feature arrives early, keep going; one lucky trigger says nothing about the next.

Compare it with another book title afterwards. Small differences in the symbol values change how often a feature feels worthwhile.

Our take

Book of Pharao is a straightforward, faithful book slot with a quick spin and clean graphics. It won't surprise anyone who knows the genre, and that is part of the appeal. The same game runs for real money at the casinos below.