Anna the Explorer Returns as Quickspin Unleashes Its Own "Book" Style Slot in the High Variance Book of Duat!
Anna the Explorer, a character from previous Quickspin slot titles such as Dinosaur Rage and Ark of Mystery, is swinging back into action in an Ancient Egypt setting of tomb exploration in the Book of Duat slot.
With a conscious move towards releasing much more volatile slots, how will Quickspins "Book" slot compare to rival titles? Quickspin has adopted the standard and very generic "Ancient Egyptian theme" for this release, with Book of Ra Deluxe and Book of Dead being the benchmarks for any comparisons.
Whilst the slot's theme is about as generic as you could make it, it is a very safe option. Quickspin has made an excellent attempt to inject some novel, exciting and highly potent features into this slot while retaining that core "Book" expanding symbol feature players love.
With a release date currently set to the 9th of November 2021, Mr Green Casino and many of our other recommended online casinos will have the Book of Duat slot live and playable on release day.
Book of Duat - Base Gameplay
The Book of Duat slot uses a standard 5x3 reel set and comes with the familiar ten fixed paylines you would expect on a classic Book slot. The premium symbols are all based on ancient Egyptian themes, with gods such as Anubis (God of Death) and Sobek (God of Crocodiles) and Anna the Explorer taking the role of the highest paying Explorer symbol.
The Scatter/Wild symbol is the familiar book icon with a scarab on it, so for players familiar with the classic book slots, everything is easy to understand from the offset.
The base gameplay retains the classic "Book slot" gameplay. There is some excellent line hit potential, especially with wilds. Still, realistically these are generally welcome balance boosts whilst hunting for the main bonus round triggers.
The most significant change here is that landing 3 of the Book symbols doesn't instantly trigger the bonus round. Instead, there is a Pick and Click feature. Selecting various tiles in a simple picking round rewards you with a combination of free spins, multipliers and extra Expanding symbols before the bonus round begins.
Trigger the main bonus feature with additional Scatters, and you can look forward to starting the picking round with even more picks and an even more powerful bonus feature.
Gameplay and Special Features
Book of Duat - Technical Summary | |
---|---|
Paylines | 10 Fixed |
Variance/Volatility | Very High (5/5) |
Free Spins | Yes |
Multipliers | Yes |
Re-Trigger Bonus Round | Extra Spins |
Special Features | Multipliers Free Spins Expanding Symbols Bonus Buy Extra Spins |
Max Win | 32,760.5x bet |
Win 100x bet | 1 in 657 spins |
RTP (Return To Player) | 96.27% Default 94.19% 90.12% |
Min Bet | 0.20 EUR |
Max Bet | 100 EUR |
Game Provider | Quickspin |
Release Date | 09/11/2021 |
Book of Duat - Free Spins and Special Features
Key Symbols
Book of Duat has two main symbols to be aware of: the Scarab/Book wild symbol, which acts as the wild substitute, and the scatter symbol, which is key to triggering the bonus round.
Landing 3 or more of these scatter symbols in a spin triggers the Pick and Click feature. Once all of your picks are used, you start the main free spins bonus round.
The notable point here is that four or even 5 scatter triggers provide you with additional starting picks. Bonus re-triggers in the bonus feature provide just +2 extra spins and additional picks from this feature which can unlock multipliers, different expanding symbols or additional spins.
The Explorer (Anna the Explorer) is the highest paying symbol on this slot. Landing just one complete line of these in the base game rewards a win of 500x stake. Factor in these can act as expanding symbols during the bonus round, and you are looking at a very nice 5000x win for a full screen.
In Book of Duat, it doesn't end there, though, as multipliers are one of the critical picks which can multiply all these wins to crazy levels!
Wild Scatter Symbol
Explorer Symbol
Expanding Symbol Feature
When you start the free spins bonus round, at least one symbol will have been selected as an Expanding Symbol, highlighted around the edges, additional symbols can be revealed from the Pick and Click bonus feature, and even from subsequent bonus re-triggers and extra picks.
When enough of these symbols land in view during the bonus feature, generally 3, but for premiums, this can be two symbols, the reels will expand and fill with these matching symbols.
The winning pays are evaluated on an almost scatter like nature and paid out on all ten paylines.
A key feature of the Book of Duat is that you are not limited to just one expanding symbol. It's not unusual to start a bonus round with several symbols acting as expanders and through re-triggers unlocking even more of these symbols.
Book of Duat Expanding Symbols Feature
Free Spins Bonus Round
The free spins bonus round is where the full potential and excitement of this slot can be found. The starting setup can vary hugely depending on the Pick and Click feature, which offers a wide variety of options hidden beneath each tile.
When 3, 4, or 5 Wilds land on the reels, you will get 3, 6, or 12 picks respectively. In addition, 1 Expanding symbol and a Multiplier of 1x will be awarded.
Bonus Re-Triggers
During the Free Spins Bonus round it is also possible to re-trigger by landing three or more of the Book/Scarab Wilds, this awards +2 free spins and an additional pick. Landing further scatters awards, even more selections.
When 3, 4, or 5 Wilds land on the reels, you will get 1, 2, or 4 picks respectively.
The picks themselves can alter the starting set-up hugely with a wide variety of modifiers, including.
Pick and Click
- 6 tiles of +2 free spins
- 3 tiles of +3 free spins
- 2 tiles of +5 free spins
- 1 tile of +10 free spins
- 2 tiles of +1 expanding symbol
- 1 tile of +2 expanding symbol
- 1 tile of +4 expanding symbol
- 2 tiles of +1x multiplier
- 1 tile of +2x multiplier
- 1 tile of +5x multiplier
+10 Extra spins, +4 Expanding Symbols or a 5x Multiplier being the particular stand out rewards from this feature.
Win Probabilities
- Big Win 15x 1 in 134
- Super Win 40x 1 in 293
- Mega Win 70x 1 in 439
- Epic Win 100x + 1 in 657
Max payout times bet 32,657.5 x in 100 billion spins testing. (Game Sheet currently shows this as max win realised)
RTP Breakdown
- Base Game 56.69%
- Free Spin 39.59%
- Total: 96.27%
Bonus Buys
The Book of Duat slot has 3 different Bonus Buy options where allowed, and a word of warning and indication of the volatile nature of this machine is that they don't come cheap.
A regular guaranteed 3 or more scatter trigger costs 150x the current stake, with an option to guarantee a 5 Scatter trigger and the 12 picks that come from it costing an almost ridiculous 1600x stake to purchase.
- 150x Current Stake - Trigger the Bonus round with at least 3 Wild Scatter Symbols RTP 96.5%
- 500x Current Stake - Trigger the Bonus round with at least 4 Wild Scatter Symbols RTP 96.71%
- 1600x Current Stake - Trigger the Bonus round with 5 Wild Scatter Symbols RTP 96.91%
It's important to note that the guaranteed minimum number is the important value here. You could still buy a three bonus trigger and get a five scatter trigger. The chances may be very slim but it can occur!
Book of Duat Slot - FAQ's
Book of Duat Slot Review
Book of Duat Overall Opinions
The Book of Duat is undoubtedly an exciting take on the “Book-style” of slots from Quickspin. The core gameplay has been retained, so players familiar with the classics such as Book of Ra Deluxe and Book of Dead will instantly recognise the fundamental mechanics and how it all works. The introduction of a picking round feature is novel, and subsequent revisits to this via bonus re-triggers vastly increase this slot’s volatility to epic proportions.
The increased volatility is mainly due to the unlocking of extra expanding symbols revealed from lucky picks and, of course, the multiplier values that make these pays even greater in value. The number of free spins awarded is generally less generous than a regular bonus re-trigger. However, rare +10 extra spin symbols are also lurking there!
The negative side of this machine with all this volatility and potential on offer is that during the bonus rounds, it almost feels like it’s a requirement to have a multiplier value in play to boost the wins.
The highest paying Explorer symbol pays massively like every other Book slot. Other premium symbols are worth less than the regular book slot. In our playtests, it did also seem unusually difficult to land full screens of any symbols. At least it appeared to be way less frequent than a standard book slot, especially when you factor in multiple expanding symbols that can be activated!
Overall it would seem Quickspin has added enough new things to make this “Book slot” worth playing. Indeed, the most recent run of slot releases have all been of a much higher variance, with great slots such as Wild Harlequin, Big Bad Wolf Megaways and Cabin Crashers all worth checking out!
User Review
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