Introduction
Book of Dead is one of Play'n GO's longest-running and most recognisable titles, built around a classic Egyptian adventure theme and centred on a single, highly effective mechanic: an expanding book symbol that transforms the odds of its free spins round. Its structure represents a useful counterpoint to the tumbling-grid mechanics common in much of Pragmatic Play's catalogue covered elsewhere on this site.
Quick game overview
The game uses a traditional 5-reel, 3-row grid with 10 fixed paylines. Its central character, an explorer navigating an ancient Egyptian tomb, frames a symbol set built around Egyptian mythology and funerary imagery. The defining bonus mechanic is a free spins round in which a randomly selected symbol becomes an expanding wild for the duration of the feature.
Developer and provider
Book of Dead is developed by Play'n GO, a studio known for narrative-led adventure slots with a strong sense of place. See our Play'n GO provider profile for more on the studio's broader design approach.
Theme and visual design
The visual presentation draws on ancient Egyptian mythology and tomb-exploration imagery — hieroglyphics, sarcophagi, scarabs, and a central explorer character searching for lost treasure. The art style leans toward a slightly more grounded, illustrative treatment compared to the brighter, more saturated visual language of many candy- or cluster-focused slots, giving the game a stronger narrative identity. See our Mythology Slots category page for a comparison with other ancient-world themed titles.
Gameplay
The base game plays out as a standard payline spin across the 5x3 grid, with Egyptian-themed symbols providing the mid-to-high value wins layered over standard low-value symbols. All 10 paylines are active on every spin, with stake adjustments made through bet size.
Reels, paylines and ways to win
Book of Dead uses a fixed 10-payline structure across its 5x3 grid — a traditional format rather than a tumbling grid or cluster-pays system. This distinguishes it structurally from many of Pragmatic Play's more recently released titles covered on this site. See our Paylines and Ways to Win guide for how fixed paylines compare to other systems.
Symbols
The symbol set includes standard low-value card-rank symbols alongside higher-value Egyptian-themed icons (such as an explorer character, a golden mask, and other tomb-related imagery). The book symbol serves a dual role: as a scatter that triggers free spins, and — once selected as the round's special symbol during the bonus feature — as an expanding wild.
Wild and scatter mechanics
The book symbol functions as a scatter in the base game, paying based on how many appear and triggering free spins when enough land in a single spin. During free spins, a symbol is randomly chosen at the start of the round to become the feature's special symbol; if that symbol is the book, it takes on an expanding wild role, filling the entire reel and substituting for other symbols whenever it lands.
Bonus features
Book of Dead's headline bonus is triggered by landing enough book scatter symbols in the base game. Once free spins begin, one symbol from the game's set is randomly selected to become the round's special expanding symbol for its duration. Whenever this symbol lands during the feature, it expands to cover the full height of that reel, substituting for other symbols in the process. Because the selection happens fresh at the start of each free spins trigger, the specific symbol chosen (and therefore the exact win potential of that particular round) varies from one triggering to the next.
Free spins
The free spins round awards a fixed number of spins upon triggering. Because the round's special expanding symbol is randomly selected once at the start of the feature and then applies for its full duration, the overall value of a given free spins session in Book of Dead depends heavily on how favourably that selected symbol interacts with the rest of the reels across the awarded spins.
Multipliers
Book of Dead's core design does not rely on an accumulating multiplier system in the way that Gates of Olympus or Starlight Princess do. Its win potential instead comes from the combination of the fixed-payline structure and the expanding wild mechanic during free spins, which can produce multiple large simultaneous wins across several paylines when the expanding symbol appears on more than one reel within the same spin.
RTP
Book of Dead has a published RTP of 96.21%, according to Play'n GO's official game information. See our RTP Explained guide for what this theoretical figure represents.
Volatility
Book of Dead is generally categorised as a high-volatility game, reflecting how its win potential is concentrated in free spins sessions where the expanding wild symbol lands favourably, rather than distributed evenly through the base game. See our Slot Volatility Explained guide for more on what this means in practice.
Demo gameplay
Book of Dead is available in a free demo mode using virtual credits, running on the same mathematical model as real-money play, making it a useful way to observe how the randomly selected expanding symbol behaves across different free spins triggers before forming expectations. See our Demo vs Real Money Slots guide.
What makes this game distinctive
Book of Dead's enduring popularity stems from the elegant simplicity of its core mechanic: a single expanding symbol, randomly selected per free spins trigger, that can transform an otherwise conventional payline structure into a genuinely high-variance bonus round. Its Egyptian adventure framing gives that mechanic a memorable narrative context that has helped the game remain a reference point within the genre years after release.
Similar games
For a different structural approach to a related ancient-world theme, see Gates of Olympus, which uses a scatter-pays tumbling grid rather than fixed paylines. Within a similarly classic payline structure, Wolf Gold and Big Bass Bonanza offer comparable base-game formats with different bonus mechanics layered on top.
Book of Dead is developed by Play'n GO. See our provider profile for more on the studio's catalogue.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Book of Dead's RTP?
Book of Dead has a published RTP of 96.21%, according to Play'n GO's official game information.
How does the expanding book symbol work?
During free spins, one symbol is randomly selected as the expanding symbol for the round. Whenever the book symbol lands during those free spins, it expands to fill the entire reel, and it also acts as a wild that can substitute for other symbols.
How many paylines does Book of Dead have?
Book of Dead uses 10 fixed paylines across its 5-reel, 3-row grid.