Book of Dead Slot Review: RTP, Expanding Symbol & Free Spins

Book of Dead has one central question: when will the chosen symbol expand? The answer explains most of the bonus in this Play’n GO adventure, without needing a long list of modifiers or meters.

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Book of Dead at a glance

Provider	Play’n GO
Genre / theme	Ancient Egypt
Reels / grid	5 reels × 3 rows
Reference RTP	96.21%
Volatility	High
Payout mechanic	10 adjustable lines
Maximum win	5,000x the bet
Release date	14 January 2016
Main features	Book Wild/Scatter; 10 Free Spins; selected expanding symbol; non-adjacent special-symbol wins; retriggers

RTP and stake limits can vary by version and market. Check the information screen in the game you open. Maximum win is a ceiling, not an expected result.

When does the special symbol expand?

Three Scatters award ten Free Spins. Before they begin, one regular symbol is randomly selected as the special expanding symbol for the sequence.

The game first evaluates ordinary winning combinations. The chosen symbol then expands to fill its reel when doing so awards an additional winning combination on an active payline. The expanded symbols do not have to be on adjacent reels. Seeing one chosen symbol is therefore not, by itself, a promise of an expansion.

Gaps can matter differently during the bonus

An ordinary line result and an expanding-symbol result answer different questions. The first uses the normal combinations; the second asks whether the chosen symbol can form an additional award after filling its reels. Because those expanded reels need not be adjacent, an interruption that looks unhelpful during ordinary play does not necessarily rule out the special-symbol payment.

That freedom still has boundaries. The expansion must produce the required additional combination on an active line, so scattered appearances of the selected symbol cannot simply be counted as a win. A retrigger extends the time available to find those arrangements while keeping the same symbol in focus. It does not turn every appearance of that symbol into an expansion. This is why the bonus is readable without being automatic: one target remains constant, but its arrangement still decides the result.

What stays the same on a retrigger?

Landing another three or more Scatters during the feature adds ten Free Spins. The selected expanding symbol remains the focus of the sequence, so the extra spins extend an already recognisable target.

The expanding-symbol rule is separate from an ordinary base-game line win. Keeping those two evaluations distinct helps explain why a bonus combination can pay across gaps that would not work like a normal left-to-right connection.

Why compare it with a grid slot?

A useful contrast is Reactoonz, another Play’n GO game in our catalogue. Book of Dead gives you one selected symbol to follow; Reactoonz builds its identity around clusters and a charging feature. That comparison says more about the experience than simply putting both games under the same provider.

Strengths

One selected symbol gives the bonus a clear focus.
Non-adjacent expanding-symbol wins distinguish the feature from ordinary line play.
The focused ruleset is easier to unpack than a long collection of modifiers.

Weaknesses

The selected symbol expands only when the qualifying payout conditions are met.
The game offers fewer separate feature systems than many newer releases.
High volatility means a clear bonus concept does not produce predictable session results.

Our Editor’s View

Book of Dead’s focused design is its main appeal. Once the expanding-symbol condition is explained correctly, the reader knows what to watch and why a result pays. We prefer that clarity to describing it as a generic classic. Its limitations follow from the same design: someone looking for constant changes of mode may want a different kind of game.