10 Pharaohs

10 Pharaohs: Slot Overview

Two powerhouses of the ancient world with home bases on either side of the Mediterranean Sea were the Ancient Egyptians and the Ancient Romans. Rome came out on top following the battle of Actium, when the civilisations clashed, but it could be said that gamblers have been the real winners in the long run. The reason being Rome and Egypt are two popular themes that betting types come across when having a punt on the Net, and developer Push Gaming has married both civilisations to an instant prize win feature, aka 9 Masks of Fire, first in 10 Swords, and now in 10 Pharaohs - a reskin of 2024's 10 Flaming Bisons.

A cracked, sandy building is where 10 Pharaohs' base game grid has been situated, surrounded by 4 jackpot prizes at the top and a ladder of prizes to the left. Both prize types are winnable when certain linked symbols land, and the ladder indicates the quantity required for regular Pharaoh symbol wins. There's not much to say about the theme treatment. Push Gaming isn't famous for drawing ugly pictures, and 10 Pharaohs doesn't break with tradition. On the flip side, it also doesn't have much which is wildly new for gamblers to feast their eyes on, and a faint land-based effect permeates much of the game.

In the base game, and at the start of free spins, 10 Pharaohs' gaming grid consists of 5 reels in combination with 20 paylines. However, extra rows can be unlocked in the bonus round or by activating the Push Up ante bet. Base bets vary from 10 c to $/€100, increasing to 2.5x the bet when Push Up changes the reel configuration to 5x4 or to 5x the bet when the grid has been increased to 5x5 by the Push Up. Free spins begin with the corresponding number of active rows. Three RTP variants have been designed, and the highest is 96.26%, while the volatility is in the medium range.

From top down, 10 Pharaohs' symbol list has 3 characters, 3 Egyptian objects, and J-A card royals. Lines of 5 identical royals pay 1x the bet, mids award up to 6x the bet, and 5-character symbols pay 20 to 30 times the bet. The 'W' is the wild symbol, which substitutes for all other symbols except the Scarab, Pharaoh, and Jackpot Pharaoh symbols. Wilds have the same payout value as the highest-value pay symbol.

10 Pharaohs: Slot Features

On the features side of things, 10 Pharaohs has instant prize awarding Pharaoh symbols as well as Jackpot Pharaoh symbols, free spins with unlockable rows, and a bonus buy.

Pharaoh Symbol

During the base game and free spins round, Pharaoh symbols may hit on the reels. Landing 4 to 10 Pharaoh symbols awards players 2x to 1,000x the bet.

Jackpot Pharaoh Symbol

Jackpot Pharaoh symbols may land in all game phases as well. When a Jackpot Pharaoh lands at the same time as at least 3 other Pharaoh symbols (whether they are Jackpot Pharaohs or not), the Jackpot Pharoah symbol's instant prize is awarded. Jackpot Pharaohs also contribute to regular Pharaoh symbol wins. The 4 types of Jackpot Pharoah prizes are the 15x Mini, the 50x Minor, the 500x Major, and the 5,000x Mega.

Free Spins

Landing 3, 4, or 5 Scarabs award 8, 10, or 12 free spins, respectively. During free spins, landed Scarab symbols fill the Locked Row meter. Each locked row meter requires 4 collected Scarab symbols to unlock. Each unlocked row awards +3 free spins for the first unlocked row, +2 free spins for the second and third unlocked rows, and +1 extra free spin for the fourth unlocked row. The number of ways to win increases as the rows are unlocked, up to 60 on the 5x7 matrix.

Bonus Buy

10 Pharaohs has a single bonus buy, which is 75x the bet to buy the free spins round.

10 Pharaohs: Slot Verdict

Players drawn to the sort of slots which award cash money depending on the number of landed prize symbols were already spoiled for choice, as this format is a popular one. But, it should be said that Push Gaming has made positive contributions to the genre. 10 Swords was made special by the sweet symbol conversion feature, and 10 Pharaohs, via its conversion from 10 Flaming Bisons, has moments, too. However, it's not clear those moments will attract gamblers who prefer the studio's bitier work, such as Razor Returns et al., or Mad Cars for the real daredevils. As well as making slots for that gambling palette, Push gaming has for a while now cast its eye over other sectors of the market, those entertained by less brutal maths and mainstream features, of which 10 Pharaohs is one.

What 10 Pharaohs has which 10 Swords doesn't is Pharaoh Jackpot symbols, though these are divisive features in their own right. Where they sort of fall flat is that the game already relied on landing instant prize symbols to win rewards. The Pharaoh Jackpot symbols don't really add masses of stuff which 10 Swords and other similar slots don't already have. Maybe the fact that landing just 3 Pharaoh symbols and a Mega Jackpot Pharoah is enough to trigger a 5,000x payout instead of having to hit 12 symbols to do so might raise some players' hopes, though. Add a little more to the Mega prize, and you've barged into the game's 5,602x the stake win cap.

To sum up, even though 10 Pharaohs isn't packing major innovative heat, well none really, being a reskin and all, the extras it's got, such as the Push Up, a growing free spins grid, plus a jackpot element help the game stand out from the pack - to an extent. It's not the studio's wildest release by a long shot, but the mainstream gamblers 10 Pharaohs lines up in its sights should be pleased.