Throne of Egypt Pokie
It seems hardly a month goes by without yet another online pokie themed around ancient Egypt being released, but hold on, as Throne of Egypt, from Microgaming has a couple of extra delights which allow it to poke its head above the sand.
At first glance, it’s a fairly conventional looking game for this overdone genre, with the Eye of Horus, Scarab Beetle, Queen and Pharaoh all making their customary appearances, but players who trigger the bonus rounds will be treated to free spins, stacked wilds and a 3-level pick a prize type game that can lead to some pretty big payouts.
Off To Egypt
Bright gold dominates this game, with lashings of the stuff decorating symbols such as treasure chests, statues and Gods. There’s 5 reels and 25 paylines to play, with a bet range that runs from just 0.01 up to 5.00 per line for an overall maximum stake of 125.00 a spin. Clearly, the more lines that are activated, the more winning combinations will count, but there’s also scatter wins that pay out in any positions even if just a single line is in play.
Surrounding the reels, we see ornate columns that also act as payline indicators, with players winning whenever 3 or more of the same symbol land on adjacent reels, on an active line running form the left side.
The paytable lists how much each symbol is worth and all are related directly to the Egyptian theme, with the Scarab, Isis, Embalming Jars and Treasure Chest making up the lower end of the scale and Anubis, Horus, the Queen and Pharaoh filling out the upper end.
Throne of Egypt
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Bonus Features
There’s a load of bonuses to enjoy with this game and these are what sets it apart from many others. The one that players are most likely to encounter is the stacked wild, which fills entire reels and substitutes for the base symbols to help complete winning lines. As it appears stacked, it’s quite easy to score multiple wins with a single spin, while up to 10,000 coins are won for getting a full line of wilds across the reels.
A couple of scatter symbols will trigger different bonus games, with a Flame and Cobra symbol being one of them, and this will trigger 15 free spins whenever it lands on reels 1 and 5 at the same time, although it’s got no value of its own. All wins are doubled in value during the free spins and they can be retriggered by more scatters, with a further 15 added to the end of any still left to play.
A second scatter symbol is the Eye, which will unlock the Bonus Chamber when at least 3 land in any positions. This is the highlight of Throne of Egypt and takes players through several levels of the Chamber to some potentially huge prizes. Each level is beautifully designed, with lots of detail that shows how much care has been taken in the development of this game.
It starts with a room filled with 12 Scarabs and all that’s needed is for the players to click on them in turn, uncovering prizes until a key is found. This key takes them through to the second part of the bonus game and it also has a value attached to it, so players are guaranteed to win something once they have entered the Chamber.
The second stage see 9 Eagles and players are asked to click on 3 of them. Each has a prize hidden within, but some have keys and finding one of these takes players through to the next level. Even if no keys are found, players will still keep any winnings made so far.
On the third and final level, they will see 3 princesses lined up and by picking 1 of them, they will be given a multiplier amount that will be applied to all winnings so far gathered in the Bonus Chamber.
The Verdict
Throne of Egypt would be a hit even if it had no bonus features at all, as players tend to flock to just about any pokie that covers this hugely popular topic. Fortunately, this one has so much in the way of extra features that even players who think they have seen it all with Egyptian themed games should find something new here.
The whole game is well designed and colourful, even if the choice of symbols is pretty predictable, all that’s missing is a pyramid.