Book of Golden Sands Game Review
We regularly test many new Book of … mechanic releases, and some stand out more than others. This is definitely the case with Book of Golden Sands, even if it doesn't look like it at first glance. The depiction of ancient Egypt is hardly anything new, although the soundtrack is perhaps a bit unusual.
Look under the hood, however, and you'll soon discover some unorthodox elements. The 6×3 grid with 729 ways to win is one thing, but the symbol values are lower than usual to compensate for this. However, you will get up to x3 multiplier wilds in both the base game and the bonus round. The latter features a unique symbol expansion system that adds extra positions to future “Book of” mechanic triggers, and this can lead to payouts of up to 10,000 times your bet.
Bonus Features at Book of Golden Sands Slot
The premium symbols pay out between 2 and 5 times your bet for six wins, and the scarab wild appears on reels 2 through 4 to substitute for the payout symbols and help complete wins. The wild symbol comes with a multiplier of x2 or x3, and wilds thus boost all line wins to which they belong.
You need 3, 4, 5 or 6 book scatters anywhere in view to trigger the bonus round, and that gives you 10 free spins plus a scatter win upfront of 2x, 10x, 50x or 500x your bet. A random payout symbol is then selected to become the special expanding symbol that covers full reels and pays out regardless of whether the symbols are adjacent or not.
In addition, one instance of each expanding symbol is collected over each relevant reel. This will add an additional position to the expanding reels the next time. To be clear, you get the 3 regular positions plus one position per symbol you collected, up to a maximum of 10. This also increases the number of winning ways, and you can retrigger the bonus round indefinitely.
Retriggers do not change or add special expanding symbols, however, and players outside the UK and anyone living in an eligible jurisdiction can use the bonus buy option. This will give you back 100x your bet and you will get 3+ guaranteed scatters on the following spin. The bonus round has an organic hit rate of 1 in 204 spins.
The 200 Spins Book of Golden Sands Slot Experience
We had fun testing Book of Golden Sands and are always happy to see new twists in the never-ending saga of “book slots”. We've put together a short and edited highlight video for your viewing pleasure, as we usually do, and you can see for yourself how we fared by clicking the play button below.
Rating Conclusion
At first glance, we thought we were dealing with another typical Book of clone, but there's far more here than the fairly standard ancient Egypt presentation that appears at first glance. For starters, you get 729 ways to win, which is unusual, but the symbol values are also far lower than a typical Book slot. However, you also get x2 and x3 multiplier wilds, which spices things up, so the base game can deliver pretty decent payouts, at least in theory.
The main attraction is the bonus round, of course, and it comes with a highly unusual twist that we've never seen before. You're still somewhat dependent on which symbol is chosen to be expanded, but we really enjoyed the whole concept of adding positions to trigger each expansion more lucratively than the previous one. It builds the excitement to a climax/anti-climax ending, which can lead to a 10,000x payout at best.
Pros
Multiplier wilds up to x3 and 729 possibilities
FS with expanding symbol selected
Expanding symbol adds additional positions
Wins up to 10,000x (probability 1 in 1 million)
Cons
You have to pay attention to adjustable RTP ranges
Book of Golden Sands Slot FAQs
What is the RTP of Book of Golden Sands?
The highest Book of Golden Sands RTP of 96.46% is slightly above average. However, this release comes with customizable RTP ranges.
How volatile is Book of Golden Sands?
This is a high volatility episode from Pragmatic Play and scores 5 out of 5 on the volatility scale in the game.
What is the highest possible win?
You can win up to 10,000 times your bet on Book of Golden Sands, and the maximum win probability is a decent 1 in 1,069,518 spins.
Is there a free spins mode in Book of Golden Sands?
Yes, you will initially get 10 free spins and each instance of the expanding symbol will be collected over the expanding reels. This adds +1 position per collected symbol to the next expansion, with 10 positions being the maximum you can achieve.
How many winning ways are there?
You get 729 winning ways by default, but the number of winning ways increases when you stack expanding symbols above the reels in the bonus round. However, the increased winning opportunities only count during the triggering of expanding symbols.
Can I play the Book of Golden Sands slot for free?
Yes, you can try out the free Book of Golden Sands demo game at the very top of this page (UK players must confirm age first). You will also find casinos up there that our scan has confirmed contain this title.
