Treasures of Ra

Treasures of Ra: Slot Overview

Have you ever repeated what was a pleasant activity so many times it ended up losing its lustre? Watching the same beloved movie one too many times, eating too much of your favourite snack, bouncing on the trampoline too long, could be anything. In the realm of online slots, the repetition of the same theme can make it hard to get really amped up over a new release. So it was with Stakelogic's online slot Treasure of Ra, which came fairly hot on the heels of another Egyptian-themed game review. Then again, sometimes, when you least expect it, life throws a curveball, turning what you had almost no expectations of into a landmark event. Was Treasure of Ra? Let's find out.

First of all, a clarification. Despite the name, Treasures of Ra isn't strictly a 'book of' style game, though it retains a tenuous relation to slot royalty like Book of Ra Deluxe, with a full reel expanding symbol feature. Once that point was realised, curiosity in what Treasures of Ra might actually be was dialled up a notch. On the theme side of things, there were few surprises. Stakelogic is no Egypt newb, having visited the land in games like Gods of Death and Pyramid Strike; therefore, the team knows a thing or two about throwing together statues, hieroglyphs, and stone masonry. Much of this sort of thing we find in Treasures of Ra, which is a handsome enough game, but not the sort of beauty that is likely to halt players in their tracks.

Treasures of Ra is played on a conventional 5-reel, 3-row gaming panel with 10 fixed betways. Stake selection varies from 10 p/c up to $/€10, though engaging the Super Stake bet enhancer doubles the base stake in exchange for extra scatters on the reels. Note that switching the Super Stake on does not affect symbol values, nor does it affect the RTP, which remains constant at 96.1%.

Across the game's paylines, at least three low pays or at least two high pays are needed to create winning combinations. Hit a five-symbol winning line, and the rewards are 10-15 times the bet for the 10 to A card royals or 30 to 100 times the bet for representations of Bastet, Anubis, a Pharaoh, and a Fedora-wearing adventurer.

Treasures of Ra: Slot Features

The serious-looking bird symbol, not sure if it refers to an Ancient Egyptian deity or not, is Treasures of Ra's Countdown Wild, which appears on all reels and have the same value as the adventurer symbol when creating their own line wins. Alternately, Countdown Wilds are able to substitute for any regular paying symbol and also have two special abilities. When they hit, they may display a number overlay. This number reflects how many spins the Countdown Wild symbol will stick to the reels for. In addition, Countdown Wilds symbols may also land with multiplier values displayed in the lower left to help bolster payouts.

Another important symbol to be on the lookout for is the golden question mark symbol, which may land on any reel. When one of these hits, it randomly selects a pay symbol, then stacks its reel and all reels to the left of it with the chosen symbol. Hit a golden question mark on the rightmost reel means the whole grid will be filled with the same pay symbol. However, chosen symbols do not cover any wilds in view.

Lastly, scarab scatter symbols offer a way to enter Treasures of Ra's bonus round. This may occur organically, or applicable players can buy 10, 15, or 20 free spins for the cost of 100x, 250x, or 500x the bet. A fourth bonus buy option lets players pay 225x the bet to randomly win 10, 15, or 20 free spins.

Treasures of Ra: Slot Verdict

Looping back to the first paragraph, while Treasures of Ra might not be one of those unmissable slots that demands to be played at least once, it's still a sturdy Ancient Egypt alternative with one or two tricks up its sleeve to be unleashed. In some ways, Treasures of Ra might make a good stepping-stone slot for those who can't get enough 'book of' action but are looking to try a newer format while still requiring something familiar to ease the transition. The way Treasures of Ra expands its symbols to cover reels and, with luck, lead to a full-screen win is clever and may well appeal to the 'book of' crowd. Especially when factoring in multiplier wilds.

Non-modified full-screen wins aren't as impressive here as they are in a traditional 'book' slot, though, where the Indiana Jones lookalike awards 1,000x the bet (without a multiplier) compared to the usual 5,000x. However, stepping back a bit to see the full picture, Treasures of Ra actually boasts a much higher winning potential of up to 20,000x the bet, possibly making it a more tempting proposal for players with a bigger is better mentality. Getting there would be fun, too, not only due to the expanding symbols but chucking in semi-sticky multiplier Countdown Wilds adds a new dimension to the regular expansion procedure.

Add it all up, and there is a definite level of entertainment to be uncovered in Treasures of Ra for the right player. It's not a game that is likely to shock prospective users with outrageous visuals nor drag them into highly atmospheric environments like Hand of Anubis did, for example. Instead, it brings together a selection of features which have the ability to be quite potent, while acknowledging the past and looking to the future, a bit like a piece of uncontroversial historical revisionism.