Book of Ra Deluxe Slot Overview
When it comes to slots based on ancient Egypt, they don’t come any more popular than the classic Book of Ra Deluxe slot. Created by Novomatic, it’s a 5 reel, 10 payline video slot that sends players to the deserts of Arabia on a hunt for the Pharaoh’s lost treasure. Simple and volatile, the main feature is the Free Games feature, complete with a special expanding symbol that fills its reel whenever it appears. Offering 5,000 x bet max wins per spin, it’s spawned a host of imitators. Does the original still deliver play fit for a king? Find out in our detailed Book of Ra Deluxe review and free demo.
Book of Ra Deluxe Details, RTP, Payout and Volatility
The action on the Book of Ra Deluxe slot plays out on 5 reels, 3 rows and 10 paylines. You can play with 1 to 10 paylines if you wish. Create winning combinations by landing 2, 3, 4 or 5 higher matching symbols and/or Wilds from left to right on a payline starting from the leftmost reel. You’ll need at least 3 lower value symbols to form a winning outcome. It’s about as simple a setup as you can find..
Bet levels in Book of Ra Deluxe range from $/£/€0.10 to $/£/€50 per spin. Use the + and – buttons next to the Bet Line box below the reels to adjust your stake size. You can also click/press the ‘Total Bet’ button to see all available bet options in 1 place. Autoplay is available for players in most jurisdictions but not currently the UK. Auto spins continue until you disable the feature.
The Book of Ra Deluxe RTP is 95.1% which is a little on the low side compared to the 96% online slots average. This is a normal return rate for a land-based slot machine though. It’s the only RTP version available though meaning it’s the same at all online casinos.
Very high volatility, the game has a 30% hit frequency rate. On average, you’ll land a winning combination on just under one third of spins (3.33 spins to be exact).
In terms of win potential, the most you can potentially win from a single spin in the Book of Ra Deluxe slot is 5,000 x your total bet. This is achieved if you fill the reels with the explorer symbol.
Book of Ra Deluxe Theme, Audio and Symbols
Book of Ra started life as a slot machine way back in the mid-2000s. With the release of the Book of Ra Deluxe slot following soon after, the design in the online version has been spruced up a bit but the game’s brick-and-mortar casino roots are still clear to see.
With an ancient Egyptian theme, this certainly isn’t the most lavishly designed slot you’ll come across. In fact, the sound and visuals are a little basic compared to the higher spec finishes I’ve come to expect from newer slot games.
The imagery here certainly isn’t the most dazzling. The bangs and bleeps style soundtrack in the base game is a real Marmite affair. Some players will love the live casino atmosphere it creates. Others will be reaching for the mute button. The dimly lit interior of a pyramid or Egyptian palace is the setting for Book of Ra Deluxe.
Set against a backdrop of a stone wall covered in hieroglyphs, the reels are made up of lower value A to 10 royals, a scarab beetle, Horus the ancient Egyptian god of the sky, a Tutankhamun-style burial mask and the treasure hunting, Indiana Jones wannabe explorer. The explorer is the game’s top-paying symbol, award a 1, 10, 100 or 500 x your total bet if you land 2, 3, 4 or 5 across a payline.
The Book of Ra symbol serves a dual role. It’s a wild so substitutes for all the standard symbols when it makes up part of a winning combination. It’s also the scatter with 3 triggering the game’s only bonus feature. Below is a list of payouts per symbol:
- 10: 3, 4 or 5 = 0.5, 2.5 or 10 x bet
- J: 3, 4 or 5 = 0.5, 2.5 or 10 x bet
- Q: 3, 4 or 5 = 0.5, 2.5 or 10 x bet
- K: 3, 4 or 5 = 0.5, 4 or 15 x bet
- A: 3, 4 or 5 = 0.5, 4 or 15 x bet
- Scarab Beetle: 2, 3, 4 or 5 = 0.5, 3, 10 or 75 x bet
- Horus: 2, 3, 4 or 5 = 0.5, 3, 10 or 75 x bet
- Tutankhamen: 2, 3, 4 or 5 = 0.5, 4, 40 or 200 x bet
- Explorer: 2, 3, 4 or 5 = 1, 10, 100 or 500 x bet
- Book of Ra Wild/Scatter: 3, 4 or 5 = 2, 20 or 200 x bet
Book of Ra Deluxe Mobile
Like the desktop version, the Book of Ra Deluxe mobile slot isn’t the flashiest you’ll play when it comes to sound and visuals. The simple gameplay is well suited to smartphone and tablet play though. You can play Book of Ra Deluxe on iOS, and Android handsets.
Book of Ra Deluxe Bonus Features
Like the design, the gameplay in the Book of Ra Deluxe slot game is rather stripped back. The game only comes with 1 bonus feature. It’s a classic free spin bonus.
Free Spins
Trigger the Free Spins feature by landing 3, 4 or 5 Book of Ra Wild/Scatters on the same spin. After a payout of 2, 20 or 200 x your total bet, you’ll go on to play 10 free spins.
Before you play those free spins, you’ll see all the symbols scroll through on a new screen. The symbol that eventually appears on the screen will be selected as the special expanding symbol. This is crucial. Each time this symbol appears during a free spin, it expands to fill the whole of the reel.
Here are the maximum wins if you fill the reels with the same expanding symbol (i.e. 5 reels full of the special expanding symbol):
- 10, J or Q: 100 x bet
- K or A: 150 x bet
- Horus or Scarab Beetle: 750 x bet
- Tutankhamen: 2,000 x bet
- Explorer: 5,000 x bet
Finally, landing 3, 4 or 5 Book of Ra Wild/Scatters on the same free spin delivers a retrigger and another round of 10 free spins are added to your total. There’s no cap on how many times you can retrigger the free spins.
Book of Ra Deluxe Slot Verdict
The sound and visuals in the Book of Ra Deluxe slot look a little tired and you won’t find a huge range of features. In some ways, the fact it’s not as shiny and high-definition as newer alternatives makes it feel special, especially if you’ve played this game in a land-based casino or arcade.
Book of Ra Deluxe still has its charms though. The Free Spins feature is a classic. The key to success is landing one of the higher value symbols as the special expanding symbol. The Tutankhamen or Explorer symbols can really get things racing with max wins reaching 2,000 or 5,000 x bet respectively. Bad luck if you land a 10 or a J as the special expander though.
The high volatility means that Book of Ra Deluxe will prove to be a very frustrating game. The RTP is a little on the skinny side too. It remains a hugely popular one though. The combination of free spins with a special expanding symbol can be found in a host of Egyptian-themed slots.
If you like game with lavish visuals and lush orchestration, then Book of Ra Deluxe probably won’t be for you. For fans of old school action with a live casino flavour, this Egyptian treasure hunt is a must.
Book of Ra Deluxe Pros and Cons
Pros
- Land-based/arcade favourite
- Unlimited free spins with expanding symbol
- Copied/cloned by all slot operators
Cons
- RTP is lower than 96% average
- Graphics/animations are dated
Spinoffs, Sequels and Copies
Novomatic’s treasure hunter has featured in a host of Book of Ra-themed slots. They all have the basic elements found and Book of Ra Deluxe with an added twist or two thrown in. Book of Ra 6 for example, is played on 6 reels whilst Book of Ra Magic allows up to 9 special expanding symbols during the free spins. Book of Ra: Temple of Gold features a female adventurer and offers free spins with up to 3 special expanding symbols.
Book of Ra Deluxe is the classic title that started a phenomenon. Play ‘n GO are main beneficiaries as they released Book of Dead in January 2016. It’s effectively the same game as Book of Ra Deluxe but with sharper/smoother graphics and animations as well as a higher max bet and RTP rate.
Finally, most slot providers offer ‘Book of’ slots as they are commonly known. Whilst they all come with special expanding symbols, some games combine this mechanic with other bonus features and even progressive jackpots.
Nolimit City’s Book of Shadows allows you to play with 10, 15 or 20 paylines and you can gamble for a better special expanding symbol. It also offers 30,338 x bet max wins.
The other game I recommend is Games Global’s Book of Atem: WowPot. It comes with free spins with an expanding symbol but it offers you the WowPot Jackpots where you can win 4 progressive jackpots. The WowPot Jackpot has paid out a world-record €38,461,200.95 (in December 2023).
Book of ra is novomatic game, and i think this is their most popular brand across all the world. It is not hard to find this game in land based casinos, here in Belarus we have this game on every club or casino, and people love it. I am also can be counted as big fan of this game, and i really think that it is super great game.
Book of ra has 10 paylines, and i like this, because when not so many lines involved in gameplay, payouts for 5 of a kinds really great, and when you hit 5 of a kind, you get really nice win, apart from netent games for example, where 5 of a kind usually pay really low. But the best thing about book of ra it is free games. When player get 3 books which is also wild - feature activated and player awarded with 10 free games with random expand scatter symbol.
I play this game probably in all online casinos which offer it. And also i think this is one of my favorite games, i play it quite often, and it is never boring to spin on it, both base game and feature is amazing and can award wins with more than 1000 x total bet. My best hit on this game is 1200 x total bet after feature, i get expanded scatter an man, best paying symbol, and slot landed 4 of them on my last freegame. wow, that was really impressive, at 0.8 euro bet i get 800 euros! That was at stargames casino, two years ago, but i am still good remember this day. Like any other slot with insane variance this game can be very cold and just suck money without letting you to get feature.
I give this slot 10 stars, this is legendary game, one of the best online slot i ever player. I can't say anything bad about book of ra, and i just can open this game and start my haunt for 3 books.