If you’re someone who likes vintage online slot games, then you should check out Book of Ra by Greentube. I did and I found it to be a wonderful blast back to the good old days of slot gaming. The slot includes five reels and three rows to spin – a classic video slot interface.
At the same time, it provides a popular base theme in Ancient Egypt and features a scattered wild with free spins. Some may not like the dated graphics and the fact that it only has 9 paylines. Yet there are various redeeming features to experience, too.
Is there any reason to Play Book of Ra?
Other than the fact that it invokes a serious sense of nostalgia? Yes, there are several reasons why Book of Ra may appeal to you. For example, you can win up to 5,000x your bet when spinning the reels. This is something quite rare for older online slots, which often didn’t provide payouts beyond 1,000x unless they included progressive jackpots.
The low RTP rate of Book of Ra by Greentube could be quite the disappointment to some players, though. Again, this is likely due to the time that the game was released – 2005. Back then, RTP rates weren’t as high as they can be today. Of course, free spins will always add to the appeal of a slot, as will scatters and wilds.
- It’s great that a slot from 2005 has a maximum payout of 5,000x.
- Excellent 10 free spins round to trigger.
- Customisable number of paylines.
- The RTP rate is low in comparison to today’s standards – 92.13%.
- It’s a high volatility slot.
- Despite being customisable, the maximum number of active paylines is 9.
How do you get started with this slot?
The Book of Ra slot operates like most others, and this starts with you needing to select a specific bet. If you’re happy with the number of active paylines being 9, you can leave this section alone. If not, you can use the relevant + and – buttons under the Lines section to adjust them. You can then choose to change the Credit amount between 50p and £10 as well as the Bet Per Line between 1 and 100. This results in a wager of between 9 credits and 900 credits per spin.
The flashing green Start button in the bottom-right of the screen can then be clicked on. This sets the reels off spinning and produces a result. Symbols like scarab beetles, the explorer, playing cards and more show up to form wins. This occurs when three or more identical ones come into view on a payline from leftmost reel to right.
Taking advantage of the Book of Ra special features
Greentube knows that its audience is looking for something more than a base game to play through. That’s why Book of Ra has a couple of special features in it. My personal favourite of these is the free spins round. To trigger this, three or more scattered book symbols need to show up anywhere. That symbol also works as the slot’s wild symbol, substituting to form wins.
If you do manage to trigger free spins, you get to play 10 of them. Beforehand, a special expanding symbol is chosen at random. This one can expand to cover three positions on the reel it appears on. It’s also great that you can trigger 10 more free spins if three or more scatters show up during the round.
One final addition to Book of Ra, which I enjoy seeing, is its gamble round. This activates whenever you form a win. Choosing to play it will see you try to predict the colour of a face-down playing card. Get this right and you will double your win from the triggering round.
The technical features and mechanics of Book of Ra
Just to reiterate a point from earlier – Book of Ra comes with a maximum payout potential of 5,000x your stake. That’s pretty good for a game from 2005, I have to say. It’s also a high volatility slot to play, though. In this case, you need to make sure you have a decent bankroll and that you gamble with it responsibly. Otherwise, you may end up using it before managing to accrue decent wins.
Having viewed the proper documentation from Greentube on the slot, it has a return to player (RTP) rate of 92.13%. That explains how much you can expect to receive back from the slot in wins over time. Yet with the general average for video slots today being 96%, it does stand out as being particularly low in comparison.
Book of Ra – To play or not to play?
If you like a hit of nostalgia, then Book of Ra is sure to provide it. I happen to love how everything is laid out and set up in the game. Even though everything is very much of its time, including the graphics and the button layout running along the bottom of the screen, it works as a compelling enough slot.
I’m already a fan of games with free spins involved, and with the scattered wild and the gamble feature, Book of Ra provides entertainment throughout. Try it in demo mode first if you’re not convinced. You’ll love it!
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