Book of Dead GO Collect: Slot Overview
The word iconic might get thrown around a lot, but it's an apt word to describe the Play'n GO classic Book of Dead. Released in 2016, it was a rock-solid Book of Ra-type slot that, in ways, managed to transcend the original. Since then, the studio has squeezed the 'book of' stone till every last drop of blood has been wrung out of it. Or so we thought. Make way for Book of Dead GO Collect, a Book of Dead re-release with PnG's new GO Collect jackpot concept and a graphical overhaul attached. Bold move, or a desperate one? Time to saddle up once more with explorer Rich Wilde for another adventure to find out.
Play'n GO has seen fit to give Book of Dead GO Collect a graphical makeover, meaning it does and doesn't look like the original. It feels familiar, but the background imagery is more elaborate, though everything remains steeped in ancient Egypt. From the columns, the stonework, and the foreground items, it seems like exploration is just about to begin. Or end, and Rich is symbolically wrapping things up? Either way, the visuals provoke a measure of anticipation to see what else might be on the way.
Classically set up, Book of Dead GO Collect plays out on a 5x3 grid with 10 paylines evaluating winning combos. Coin and line numbers cannot be tinkered with, so all players have to do is pick a stake of $/€0.10 to $/€50 per spin before giving the game a crack. It's highly volatile, and maxes its five RTP configurations out at 96.2%.
Paytable symbols are made up of 10-A playing card ranks, bird jewellery, Anubis, a pharaoh, and Rich Wilde. Royals pay 10x to 15x for 5-of-a-kind; premium symbols pay 75x to 500x for 5 in a win combination. Full-screen wins are a possibility, too, thanks to the expanding symbols feature.
Book of Dead GO Collect: Slot Features
Book of Dead GO Collect adds GO Collect and Treasure Vault features to the original's round of free spins with expanding special symbols.
Free Spins
Tomb scatters can land on any reel. They are wild, so they substitute for all of the other symbols. Hitting 3, 4, or 5 Tomb scatters pays 2x, 20x, or 200x the bet, and also grants 10 free spins up to a cap of 80. When triggered, a pay symbol (not the scatter) is randomly selected to become the Expanding symbol. Expanding symbols pay anywhere, even if there are gaps between them. Hitting 3 scatters retriggers +10 free spins.
Go Collect & Treasure Vault
Gold Staters may appear attached to all symbols except Tomb scatters, though only in the base game. They are collected when they land. The more Gold Staters collected in the base game, the higher the chance of triggering the Treasure Vault. When triggered, this feature starts with 3 respins. Landing new Staters resets the respin count. Regular Staters have values of x1 to x5 of the bet, while the Bonus Staters are the 10x Mini, 20x Minor, 100x Major, and the 500x Grand.
Treasure Gamble
The Treasure Gamble provides a chance to double the winnings up to four times. When participating in the gamble, a round occurs where players must land more Brilliant Staters than Broken Staters. Do so, and the win is doubled. Fail, and the win is set to zero.
Book of Dead GO Collect: Slot Verdict
Book of Dead GO Collect is a slot you hope will be good, but fear deep down that it just isn't going to be. And, after a brief amount of play time, the result was… predictable. Book of Dead is a bona fide classic, yet did it really need to be re-released, 10 years later? Perhaps, if Play'n GO had really revamped the gameplay and added in something wild, something shocking, something that had been cooking in the ideas oven for the past decade and was set to revolutionise everything we knew about 'book of' slots, maybe even slots in general. Instead, it's got a minor hold'n win round, and four modest jackpots. It's a letdown, no doubt.
On the bright side, the graphical refresh isn't bad, and a certain amount of nostalgic warm fuzzies might be had. On the numbers side, winning potential has been expanded to 10,000x the bet, double the original's 5,000x, which was equal to a full screen of Rich Wildes. Maybe this time, it's possible to land two full screens of Rich Wildes in a bonus round. Something to keep in mind for motivation. Otherwise, where Book of Dead was a red-hot release, Book of Dead GO Collect is a lukewarm revisit, tough to discern exactly why it was made. Perhaps the studio wanted to attach a big name to its GO Collect concept. That it's achieved, but as well as adding gravitas to the feature, Book of Dead GO Collect arguably also tarnishes the original's good name.
Book of Dead GO Collect gives the classic a light facelift and a small hold’n win twist, but the timid changes make it feel like an unnecessary and underwhelming revival.
