Pyramid King

Calling all fans of old-school classics, the Pyramid King title by Pragmatic Play has something new to offer. 

This is an Ancient Egypt-themed 5-reel 3-row 25-pay line game that still relies on the familiar Book Mechanics but comes with 3 Jackpots, Free Spins, and the unique Money Respin feature.

Travel to the Egyptian desert to visit the ancient pyramids and enter the mysterious world of the Pharaoh by joining this colourful game offering you a jackpot of 1,000x your stake! 

Get ready to experience the sandy dunes, prehistoric pyramids and shiny golden attributes of the famous ancient civilization one more time!

And What About The Theme?

Pyramid King is set in the Egyptian oasis, which calls for reiterating the standard tropes of the theme such as pyramids, ankh symbols, scrolls and lots of gold all around the reel-set.

With pyramids, desert sands and the mighty Nile in the background, the reels are enclosed within a stone, pyramid-style structure.

The symbols are beautifully drawn and packed full of detail. They’re bright and colourful but still super sharp.

The regal purple reels feature A to J royals as well as a selection of symbols relating to the Egyptian theme. 

In order of value are a gem-encrusted ankh cross, a golden serpent and a ruby ring. The most rewarding standard symbol is the jackal god Anubis. 

The Tutankhamun-style burial mask is the game’s Wild. This can appear on all 5 reels and substitute for all the standard symbols in a winning combination. 

The music is a highlight, jamming a jazzy Arabic tune through the base game, reaching a crescendo during the bonus round.

What Betting Options Can We Expect?

Start your walk through the ancient Egyptian obelisks by simply pushing the spin button, but first, you need to set your bet.

On both sides of the spin button, you can find the minus and plus buttons, which open up the setting for the bet amounts. 

The bet amount is displayed in the bottom left area, and the range of available bets begins with 25p and a maximum bet of £125 per spin. Regardless of the size of the bet, the game will always play across all 25 pay lines.

Pyramid King has a classic setup of 5 reels by 3 rows.

This game is low variance due to the set RTP of 96.5%, and max win capped at 1,000x. 

There are 11 symbols in total, that include 4 low paying symbols, represented by J, Q, K and A.

There are also 4 premium symbols, represented by ankhs, snakes, green rings and Anubis. 

The jackal-headed god is the most valuable at 20 times the stake for five of a kind.

In addition to these regular symbols is a Tutankhamen wild, a scroll bonus scatter and money symbol. 

What About The Special Features?

The first thing that catches your eye is a jackpot amount table above the reels.

This Ancient Egypt-themed game features 3 kinds of jackpots, which are fixed and have corresponding values of 30x, 100x and 1000x of the current bet. 

The prizes can be earned by landing the camel symbols on the reels. 

These are money symbols and at least 6 in view trigger the Money Respin feature. 

This feature starts when all win combinations from the lines are paid out. Then, normal symbols fade away, leaving the money symbols that triggered the feature, locked in position. 

Players get 3 respins and if a new money symbol lands then respins are reset back to 3!

Money symbols have random cash values attached or the Minor or Major Jackpots on them. When respins run out, the total of the money spins in view plus any Minor or Major Jackpots are paid. 

If you manage to fill the grid with 15 money symbols, you will be awarded the Grand Jackpot!

Instead of a book symbol, the bonus symbol is a scroll which appears on reels 1, 3, and 5. 

When all 3 are in view, they pay 1x the stake and award 10 Free Spins. 

Before the round begins, one special expanding symbol is selected at random from the 8 regular pay symbols.

Whenever this symbol lands, after the payout of regular symbols, it expands to cover the full reel. The special symbol pays out anywhere, even on non-adjacent positions. 

Should players land three or more scrolls during the round, then 10 more free spins are awarded – with no limit!

What Is Our Take?

Taking everything into consideration, it looks like the developer used 'Book of' games as a source of inspiration while creating their own game.

This comes as no surprise as creating another Egyptian-themed game that stands out in such a crowded market can’t be easy.

The overall vibe Pyramid King gives off is a classic, physical machine one. But the gameplay and features are excellent.

Reel respins, jackpots, and free games with expanding symbols certainly lift this Egypt-themed game above many others.