For those of you new to the online slots arena, you might not be aware that the Egyptian theme is used regularly. To such an extent that most online casino sites could even have an Egyptian slots category for users to filter them out quickly. This isn't to say that all slots titles using this theme are rubbish. In fact, Scarab Kingdom seems to be a game with quite a few exciting features, including growing multipliers in a free spins feature as well as bonuses called Wild Scrolls and Cleo's Bonus. Could we finally see a game in this genre and using this theme that's a little different?
Scarab Kingdom makes use of 5 reels and 30 paylines, with the reel set located upon a beautiful oasis with a giant Egyptian sphinx-like sculpture to the right. We wouldn’t go as far as to say that the graphics match those of the best online slot games on the market, but they aren’t too bad. Just For The Win has been doing some good work lately with the release of Emerald Gold as well as Sherlock and Moriarty WOWPOT, all having a very capable look and feel. When starting the play, you'll notice a horizontal metre running across the top of the reels, which you'll see has a target of 100. Also, above every reel is a 'holder' containing three spaces. We’ll explain the function of these in more detail in the bonus section of our review.
You'll see when playing Scarab Kingdom that the volatility is relatively high, so wins might go away for a while at times, but when they come back, the size of them will be worth the wait. The most you'll be able to take off the game on any spin, with the assistance of bonus features, is 5,000x your bet, which is respectable given that the maximum bet is £25. The lowest you'll be able to wager is 20p, so the wagering window is quite accommodating. Also, you can play the slot on desktop, tablet and mobile devices to suit basically all players at our casino site.
This is where things get really repetitive for us because when you've played several slot machines online using the Egyptian theme, you can be fairly confident that you've seen all the slots symbols used in this genre. Regardless, the lower-paying symbols are playing card royals J, Q, K and A, with the king and ace carrying the joint higher value of the four. We then move to the medium paying icons, consisting of a flower, the eye of Horus and an ankh.
There are two symbols in Scarab Kingdom that will really bring the iGaming experience to life. The first is the wild, and this one substitutes all regular icons to create winning lines. The other is the scatter (scarab), a symbol the wild won't substitute but one that opens up bonuses.
By landing a scarab on reels 2, 3 and 4 on the same spin, you'll have triggered the free spins. The spins start with a multiplier of 1x, but every subsequent spin gains another 1x multiplier, and any win will have the multiplier applied that was in play on that spin.
Wild Scrolls is a feature that activates by a reel having collected three wilds, which displays in the 'holder' above the reels. This turns that reel into a stacked wild, while the following spins see the reel reduce by one wild until they are gone. In free spins, the 3rd reel is automatically Wild Scrolls.
The horizontal metre will collect 100 wilds, and when it does the Cleo's Bonus triggers. This is a feature that sees coins correspond with certain values to award you a cash prize of 15x, 40x, 200x, or 5,000x your bet.
There is definitely more added value in Scarab Kingdom than the average Egyptian slots game that drops in casinos online every two weeks or so. The free spins, Wild Scrolls, and Cleo's Bonus open up quite a few very realistic opportunities, not asking that you reach for the stars. You can try the game out in demo mode as you can play slots free here, so before taking to the reels for real thrills, you can get a better grasp for where the target lies.