Book of Dead is one of the most played online slots in the United Kingdom, and for good reason. Play’n Go built this five-reel, ten-payline title around an explorer named Rich Wilde, and it pairs a simple, fast-playing base game with one of the most volatile free-spin bonuses on the market. If you are new to the game, this guide covers everything from stake sizes to the Expanding Symbols mechanic that drives the biggest payouts. For more details, visit BingoNodepositBonus free spins on registration.
The slot runs on a 96.21% return to player rate, which sits comfortably above the industry average of roughly 96%. Variance is rated high, meaning long dry spells are possible before a big hit lands. Maximum exposure tops out at 5,000 times your bet per spin, so a £1 stake could theoretically return £5,000.
Bets start at just 1p per spin and rise through a series of preset levels up to £100. There is no skill element and no strategy that changes the outcome , every spin is decided by a certified random number generator. That said, understanding the paytable and bonus rules helps you set expectations and budget sensibly.
The Base Game: Symbols, Paylines and Payouts
Book of Dead uses ten fixed paylines running left to right. You cannot adjust the number of active lines and there is no “both ways” payout, so wins only count from the leftmost reel. The paytable includes the familiar playing card icons (10, J, Q, K and A) plus four premium symbols: Anubis, Horus, the pharaoh mask and Rich Wilde himself.
Three or more matching symbols on a payline trigger a win. Rich Wilde is the most valuable standard symbol, paying out at 500x your line bet for five of a kind, with the pharaoh mask at 200x. Low symbols pay considerably less, which is why most of the value in this game sits with the bonus round.
The Book of Dead symbol is both the scatter and the wild. As a wild it substitutes for any paying symbol on a line. As a scatter it pays on its own and unlocks the free spins , and it is also the symbol that is randomly chosen to expand during the bonus, which is the key detail to remember.
- Two scatters anywhere on the reels pay 2x your total bet
- Three scatters trigger 10 free spins
- Four scatters trigger 10 free spins plus a 200x payout
- Five scatters trigger 10 free spins plus a 2,000x payout
Free Spins, Gamble and Other Features
When three or more scatters land, a symbol is selected at random before the free spins begin. Whenever that symbol appears during the bonus, it expands to fill the entire reel , and expanded symbols pay on adjacent reels regardless of position, not just along a payline. This is where the big wins come from, and a full screen of the chosen premium symbol pays the top prize of 5,000x.
The free spins cannot be retriggered within a bonus round, but if a wild lands on an expanding reel it can spread across the board. Ten spins is a modest allocation, so the round is genuinely all-or-nothing: many sessions return little, while a well-timed expanding premium symbol can transform a small stake into a substantial return.
After any winning spin you can choose the Gamble feature and try to double your winnings by guessing the colour of a face-down card, or quadruple them by guessing the suit. A correct pick can be gambled again, up to a limit of five times. Get it wrong and the winnings are lost. This is an optional risk and does not affect the RTP of the base game.
For newer players, the UK Gambling Commission requires licensed operators to offer stake limits, deposit limits and time-out tools. Setting a session budget before you load the reels is far more useful than chasing losses. The game itself is available on desktop and mobile, and the demo version is identical in every respect apart from using virtual credits.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Reels / Paylines | 5 reels, 10 fixed paylines |
| RTP | 96.21% |
| Volatility | High |
| Min / Max bet | 1p / £100 per spin |
| Free spins | 10, with one randomly expanding symbol |
| Max win | 5,000x bet |
| RTP in free spins | 94.25% (contributes to overall figure) |
One figure worth knowing: the RTP during the free spins is 94.25%, while the base game runs at 96.82%. Because the bonus round carries a lower theoretical return, the game relies on expanded symbols to supply its headline wins rather than frequent bonus triggers. Play at a stake you are comfortable with, treat the Gamble feature with caution, and remember that high volatility means patience and bankroll discipline matter more than any spin pattern.