Egyptian slots

What counts as an Egyptian slot

An Egyptian slot borrows its look from ancient Egypt: hieroglyph card symbols, golden sarcophagi, scarab beetles, the Eye of Horus and jackal-headed Anubis. The theme is pure decoration. It doesn't change the maths, and two games with identical artwork can behave completely differently because of their RTP, volatility and reel layout. That is why this page sits in our wider slot themes hub alongside a numbers-first comparison rather than a gallery of pictures.

Studios keep returning to the setting because it suits treasure-hunt bonus rounds and the 'book' design, where one symbol is both wild and scatter and a randomly picked symbol expands during free spins. Many of the best-known book-style slots are set in tombs for exactly this reason. Others use the theme for very different engines: Megaways reels, cluster grids and hold-and-win collectors all appear below.

Whatever the artwork, every game here is a long-run loss for the player on average. The RTP tells you how much of each pound staked is returned over millions of spins, and the rest is the house's margin.

Egyptian slots compared: RTP, volatility and max win

The table lists Egyptian-themed games from our checked slot data. RTPs are the developer's top published figure unless noted; where a lower version exists, we say so, because a casino can legally offer any certified version. Where a max win isn't confirmed, check the game's help screen.

Read across a row rather than down a column. A higher RTP is cheaper on average, but volatility decides how bumpy the ride is, and the max win only tells you the ceiling, not how often anything near it lands.

The book-style Egyptian slots: Book of Dead, Legacy of Dead and Book of Ra

Three games set the template. Book of Dead from Play'n GO uses 5 reels, 3 rows and 10 paylines, with a 96.21% RTP and a 5,000x cap. It stars Rich Wilde, the studio's recurring treasure hunter. Legacy of Dead keeps the same 5x3, 10-line shape and 5,000x ceiling but publishes a slightly higher 96.58%, the best figure in our Egyptian table.

Book of Ra Deluxe is the Novomatic original that much of the genre copies. It also runs on 5 reels and 10 lines, is rated very high volatility, and publishes 95.1%, with a 94.26% version also in circulation. On RTP alone it is the most expensive of the three.

What that RTP gap costs

Expected loss is simply the amount staked multiplied by the house edge (100% minus RTP). Over £100 of total spins, Legacy of Dead's 96.58% means an average loss of £3.42, Book of Dead's 96.21% means £3.79, and Book of Ra Deluxe at 95.1% means £4.90. If a casino runs the 94.26% Book of Ra version, that rises to £5.74. The differences look small per spin but add up over a long session of recycled winnings.

Egyptian Megaways, cluster and grid slots

Not every pharaoh game is a five-line book clone. Blueprint Gaming has put the theme on Megaways reels twice. Legacy of Ra Megaways has 6 reels, up to 15,625 ways and the biggest listed ceiling here at 50,000x stake, with a 96.01% RTP. Eye of Horus Megaways has the same 15,625-way maximum on 6 reels showing 2 to 5 symbols each, which is 5 x 5 x 5 x 5 x 5 x 5.

Hacksaw Gaming's Hand of Anubis drops paylines altogether for cluster pays on a 30-position grid, needing groups of five or more symbols. Its sister game Le Pharaoh (September 2024) uses a 6x5 grid with 19 paylines and is one of the few medium-volatility titles in the list, yet it carries a 15,000x cap. Valley of the Gods from Yggdrasil sits on a 5x5 grid that starts at 45 ways and can grow to 3,125.

Lower-volatility Egyptian slots for longer sessions

If you'd rather see smaller wins more often, look at the handful of games not rated high. IGT's Pharaoh's Fortune dates from 2006, is rated medium, and publishes up to 96.52% across 15 lines that become 20 in its free spins. IGT's Cleopatra is also medium, with 20 paylines, though its 95.02% is the lowest RTP in our table.

Pragmatic Play's John Hunter Scarab Queen is listed as low to medium (sources differ) with 25 fixed lines and a 96.50% RTP, which makes it the gentlest option here on paper. Lower volatility doesn't make a game cheaper; it only spreads the same expected cost more evenly across the session. Our guide to slot volatility explains the difference in more detail.

What £20 buys on an Egyptian slot

The stake decides how many spins your budget covers before any wins come back, and volatility decides how likely you are to run dry early. Here is the simple turnover maths for £20, using Book of Dead's 96.21% (house edge 3.79%).

On a high-volatility game the average hides a wide spread. At £1 a spin, 20 spins can vanish with nothing back, while at 10p the same £20 gives the game ten times as many chances to land a feature. If the aim is entertainment time, a lower stake on these games usually stretches the budget much further. Our page on how long £20 lasts on a slot runs the numbers in more depth.

These are long-run averages. Any single session can finish well above or well below them, and losses are the likely result over time.

Egyptian slot RTP versions: why the same game can cost more

Several games here are certified at more than one RTP. Eye of Horus Megaways publishes 95.49% but also exists at 93%, 92% and 90%. Over £100 of spins, the 95.49% version costs £4.51 on average and the 90% version costs £10, more than double. The artwork, reels and features look identical, so the help screen is the only way to tell.

1. Open the slot and find the information or paytable button, usually marked 'i' or with three lines.
2. Scroll to the game rules and look for the theoretical return or RTP statement.
3. Compare it with the top figure in the table above.
4. If the casino's version is lower, decide whether you still want to play it, or look for a similar game with a better published return.

UK operators must make RTP information available to players; our explainer on RTP information rules covers what they must show, and why RTPs differ between casinos explains the commercial side.

UK rules that apply to Egyptian slots online

All of these games count as online slots under Gambling Commission rules, so the same limits apply whichever tomb you're raiding.

• Maximum stake of £5 a spin for players aged 25 and over (from 9 April 2025) and £2 for players aged 18 to 24 (from 21 May 2025), as set out in the Commission's online slots stake limit guidance (opens in a new tab). See our slot stake limits page.
• No autoplay, no turbo or slam-stop, and at least 2.5 seconds between spins, under the game design rules in force since 31 October 2021.
• No celebrating a return that is equal to or less than your stake.
• Since a Gambling Commission warning in January 2020, feature buy-ins are not offered to British players. More on our feature buy rules page.
• Your age and identity must be verified before you can deposit or play, including in demo mode.

Law firm Paul Hastings summarised the 2021 game design changes (opens in a new tab), including the requirement to show net position and time played.

How to choose between Egyptian slots

Pick the engine first and the theme second. If you like simple lines and one big feature, the Play'n GO book games are the obvious starting point, and Legacy of Egypt adds 30 paylines for a busier base game. If you want lots of movement on screen, the Megaways pair or Hacksaw's grids deliver it. For a scatter-heavy design with 576 ways, Ankh of Anubis has the second-highest listed cap after Legacy of Ra Megaways, at 15,000x, shared with Le Pharaoh.

Fans of mythology settings might also like our Greek mythology slots comparison, and our Play'n GO studio page covers the developer behind four of the games above.

Where to play Egyptian slots in the UK

Our partner offers are slot offers, but none is tied to an Egyptian game. PlayOJO's 80 free spins on a £10+ first deposit are for Big Bass Bonanza at 10p each, with no wagering and winnings paid in cash (18+, new UK customers excluding Northern Ireland, can't be combined with other offers). Coral gives 100 free spins at 10p on selected games when you deposit and bet £10+ on slots, with 48 hours to accept, 7 days to use them and no wagering on winnings; some payment methods, including PayPal and Skrill, don't qualify.

Ladbrokes gives 50 free spins a day for 10 days (up to 500) at 10p on selected games after you deposit and spend £10+ on slots, each batch claimed by 23:59 and valid for 7 days, with no wagering. Coral and Ladbrokes are both run by LC International Limited, so you may not be able to open new accounts at both. 18+ and full terms apply. To find a particular Egyptian title, check each casino's game lobby.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.