Book of Ra Magic

Pull your explorer’s boots back on because it’s time to return to Egypt with the Book of Ra Magic slot from Novomatic. But there’s a little something extra hidden in the reels this time as you face familiar elements in a bid to win the top cash prize of x5000. 

Book of Ra Magic was released in 2018, many years after the original Book of Ra Classic slot was launched in 2005. No one could have guessed just how popular the game would become, spawning a whole series of “Book of…” slots that follow a very similar format. 

Just like the original, Book of Ra Magic is played on a 5x3 grid, keeping things simple. There are 10 traditional paylines, and betting starts at 0.02 and increases to the max bet of 20.00. This feels rather modest, so it's surprising to see a high volatility lining up. That means you can expect symbols to land less frequently, but to offer bigger payouts when they do appear. 

Novomatic gave us Book of Ra Classic but there are many other slots available to play at bwin, such as Avalon Gold and Tiger's Ice.

The intro screen looks promising, with the sun scorching over silhouettes of the pyramids and Rich Wilde poised to spring into action. The actual gameplay is a bit less enthralling, with a dark and gloomy chamber only lit up by piles of gold on the floor.  

The card suits are the low pays, a common inclusion on the paytable. The premium symbols include a scarab, Ra, a sarcophagus, and the archaeologist, Rich Wilde. 

The Book of Ra is the wild and can substitute for any of the regular symbols to help make more winning lines. 

The original Book of Ra slot wasn’t overloaded with bonus features, and that’s the case again here. However, the free spins round does have a little extra va-va-voom to spice things up a bit. 

The Book of Ra is the scatter as well as being the wild, and if you land five, you'll win a prize of x200. However, three or more will also unlock the free spins bonus, and that's where you'll find the extra features.  

You'll always start with ten free spins, no matter how many scatters you land. Before the free spins bonus starts, one symbol will be chosen to be a special expanding symbol. This means when it lands, it can expand to cover the full reel. This symbol will be selected entirely at random, and if it's one of the high pays, this can produce some excellent wins.  

The gameplay may feel very similar to the Book of Ra Deluxe, but the difference here is that you can retrigger the free spins bonus by landing three more scatters. The big benefit of this is that you’ll get an additional symbol chosen to be expanding, as well as keeping the original one. If you keep retriggering the free spins, you could - in theory - end up with nine expanding symbols and enormous payouts. 

Book of Ra Magic from Novomatic doesn't veer too far from the original, but with a boosted bonus, there's an even greater chance to win a blistering payout.