Crypt of The Dead

Blueprint Gaming is known for taking a design and tweaking the living daylights out of it. Crypt of the Dead Slot is another in a long list of 'book of' style slots that started many moons ago and shows no sign of abating. For a new book slot to be justified, there needs to be a twist, either thematically or in terms of features. The latter, Crypt of the Dead, is solidly Egyptian, having been set in a crypt where an eerie green light emanates, illuminating a few cat statues and hieroglyphic pillars. The centre of the chamber is dominated by something unusual in a book game - a six-reel, four-row game grid. Even more intriguing, Blueprint's math wizards have devised a pay system providing 4,096 ways to win. A far cry from the ten fixed pay lines you usually find in these games. The trade-off is evident if you have so many winning options and symbol values have fallen, as you may have noticed. A total of 11 symbols adorn the reels of this game, 10 of them pay symbols, and one is wild and scatter at the same time. At the low end of the scale, we have the 9-A card royals, embellished with little Egyptian icons, followed by Horus, Anubis, a Pharaoh, and of course, the Indiana Jones explorer wannabe symbol with the floppy hat. A full six-of-a-kind win consisting of picture premiums is worth 1.5 to 10 times the stake. While it doesn't initially sound like much compared to other book games, expanding symbols in all those ways can add up. For exploring the ominously named Crypt of the Dead Slot, stakes of 10 cents to $5 may be set. A highly volatile RTP comes in two forms - a default value of 95.49 % and a bonus value of 96% when the bonus is activated. In addition to this, the buy feature expands special symbols in free spins, which are synonymous with this style of play.

How to Play

Click on the horizontally oriented button with three horizontal lines to view the paytable. It's best to familiarize yourself with the features and payouts before spinning. Click the dollar bill sign to change your bet size. You can bet between .10 cents and $5 per spin. Using the circular arrows below SPIN, you can look at the different autoplay buttons. Enjoy the spin!

Crypt of the Dead Slot Features

Here, the book symbol is replaced by a tomb/logo that acts as a wild and scatter symbol. Furthermore, the wild symbol will replace all other symbols to help complete winning combinations anywhere on the reels. Three, four, or five scatters in view award 10, 15, 25, or 50 free spins, respectively. During free spins, scatters remain on the reels, so they can be retriggered if three or more land. Before the free spins feature begins, a random symbol is selected to be the expanding symbol. The golden background of this special symbol gives it a special appearance on any reel. Whenever a spin stops and regular wins have been awarded, if the special symbols can form a win, they will be awarded and expand to cover all positions on their respective reels. These full reel symbols pay all ways, from any position, and do not need to be next to each other to do so. Thanks to the expanding symbols, players can take advantage of the Bonus Bet feature to boost their chances of landing lucrative wins during free spins. An extra bet of 100 times will guarantee at least three scatter symbols on the next spin, thus triggering the feature.

The Verdict

For such a significant increase in reels, rows, and pay-ways, the change doesn't seem as drastic most of the time. Base games, for example, are more or less the same as they usually are, which means wasting time waiting for free spins to come. In addition to looking decent and running smoothly, the novelty factor in this game is evident from the moment the first reel begins to spin. Crypt of the Dead, however, also looks like fifty other book games in the beginning, so its new features aren't immediately apparent. Free spins changed the perception of the game. Until that point, Crypt of the Dead seemed to be holding back, awaiting its chance to unleash its full power during the bonus. All the extra winning possibilities are flexed here through expanding special symbols. The financial differences aren't always very noticeable when three of four special symbols land. The numbers accumulate exponentially beyond that point. At around 3,000x, five of the explorers, for instance, are worth less than five are in games such as Book of Dead. With a six-line, the payout is 40,960 times the stake - far more than most games in this category. Its considerably expanded grid might not seem like a game-changer at lower levels, but it can be a real game-changer when wound up at higher levels. It's a game for Book of Ra fans to have a crack at or anyone intrigued by expanding symbols and what they can do.