Crown of Egypt

An Egyptian Themed Slot with Your Choice of Game Configuration

In many ways, IGT already dominate the Ancient Egypt themed slots with their range of Cleopatra games. With Crown of Egypt, they have introduced a lot of flexibility into how you play. You can choose 40 win-lines, or up to 1024 combinations via the ‘Multiway Xtra’ setup options.

This a colourful and polished production – with higher paying symbols showing the old Egyptian gods. Pyramids, which trigger the bonus game, look nothing like you will have seen before. Their glow looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. You will be pleased to see these on reel 3, as they can trigger the free spins bonus games.

Your Choice of Game Setup: Crown of Egypt Playing Options

On the left-hand side of the bottom control panel, you will see two arrows, with blue bars in stages between them. This is the control to choose whether to play with 40 win-lines, or go the whole hog and have all-ways over all 5 reels. At the lower end, you can play 40 lines. This plays like any other slot, and there is a pay table especially for this setup. If you want, you can go as low as a single line, though this would seriously limit the game play.

The Multiway Xtra setup lets you play a combination of 40 lines, plus 1024 ways. If you are not familiar with all-ways setups, this means symbols on consecutive reels from the left are always wins. In other words, it is impossible to ‘miss’ a win-line. There is a separate pay table for this setup. You will win more often, and create many multi-way wins. To balance this, individual wins are smaller.

What I like best about adding the 1024 ways is that you get paid for both the win-lines and all-ways after each spin!

Winning Symbols and Logo Wilds

Getting wild symbols is always a boost when you have all-ways wins. On Crown of Egypt, these show the logo of the slot. They substitute for everything except the glowing pyramid bonus symbols. Wilds appear on reels 2 through to 5 only – so you can’t create wins with just these symbols.

The highest paying regular symbol shows Cleopatra. This is worth 5,000 coins for 5 of a kind in the win-lines setup, and 500 coins in the all-ways. Remember, if you choose all-ways, and get 5 on a win-line, you get both prizes together.

Next comes a stern looking pharaoh, worth 2000 coins for 5 on the win-lines and 350 for 5 all-ways. Those gods come next, with a dog-headed on, bird-god and cow all in play. Playing card symbols are the fillers.

Glowing Pyramids on Reel 3 Only

On most games, bonus symbols are spread around the reels, with Crown of Egypt, they only appear on reel 3. These show pyramids, with a glowing white top. You only need 2 of them to start (or trigger) the free spins games. 2 bonus pyramids will get you 10 spins, 3 gets you 15 and 4 gets 20 free games.

Other than darker reels, the free spins are the same as the main game. If you had the all-ways add-on for the triggering spin, this remains in place throughout. I found that retriggers were frequent. You’ll see a balance of remaining spins, completed spins and wins so far under the reels. When you complete this game, you will see a detailed jewelled statue, before you return to the main reels.

Atmospheric Design

The reels have a crowded feel, with that extra row of symbols (4 instead of 3) fitting a lot of exotic creatures into your view. There are grid markers criss-crossing the reels, giving an impression that the symbols are separated, instead of being on longer reels.

All the graphics are detailed, with Cleopatra standing out. A haunting ambient sound track plays between spins. When you spin the reels, a livelier Arabic sounding tune starts, this fades away back into that haunting track after each spin. Those glowing pyramids bring to mind a recent Indiana Jones movie remake!

Will the Crown of Egypt Bestow Riches on You?

I like the flexibility of this slot. You can play win-lines or add on all-ways for some extra action. Note that you can’t play all-ways without the win-lines. Wild symbols and the bigger 5×4 setup mean you’ll often create multi-line wins. Things really move up a gear during the free spins bonus game. This is not just because of the exotic pyramids that trigger this game – there are multiple retrigger opportunities too.