Book of King Arthur

Book of King Arthur: Slot Overview

Proving that there is plenty of life left in the 'book of' genre, or at least plenty of developers willing to rehash the format, comes another entry from Microgaming partner Just For The Win. This one’s not coming quietly either, but bounding over rolling hills on horseback, through mystical woods straight from legend. Book of King Arthur shifts the action away from the hot dust of Ancient Egypt to the cooler, damper lands of Ye Olde England. Despite the popularity of both theme and mechanic, it's a combo rarely seen. As with most competently designed 'book of' slots there are no major surprises, yet the studio has added a couple of extras to provide a dash of originality. Fear not Ra fans, the core gaming remains unchanged, so free spins with special expanding symbols remain the star attraction.

A rousingly regal soundtrack sets the mood, where we find a 5-reel, 10-payline grid designed in the same barrel-like shape as seen in the studio's early hit Deco Diamonds and follow up release Deco Diamond Deluxe, which gives it an almost physical slot appearance. Our location is a hall in Camelot, though the only other visuals are a red carpet and a few columns. It’s bright though, making it easy to visualise King Arthur and his knights doing noble deeds, or at least planning noble deeds at their round table. Graphically, Book of King Arthur isn’t quite the ocular feast Just For The Win games tend to be, though what’s here is positively upbeat and suits the old school influenced theme.

Book of King Arthur is available on any device producing stats that indicate it would suit harder-edged 'book of' players. Offering bets between 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin, the game possesses a theoretical RTP value of 96.1% along with a highly volatile math model. Like all 'book' slots, free spins is where the major thrills are found, yet Book of King Arthur’s base game ticks along quite nicely as well. This is partly due to a relatively high hit frequency of 30.8%, meaning around one in three spins coughs up a payout of some description. It helps that Just For The Win has populated the paytable with high-value symbols too which is something of a tell in these sorts of games.

Making up the lower end of the table are colourful 10-A card royals, deepening the physical slot feel. These are followed by high pay shields, Grails, Excalibur, and King Arthur himself. When five premiums land on a payline, they produce wins of 75 to 500 times the stake. Low-value symbols need at least three of a kind to win, while the highs payout for two or more.

Book of King Arthur: Slot Features

Bets come in two ways – default, from 20 p/c to $/€50 per spin, or double the cost at 40 p/c to $/€100 when the Boost feature is enabled. For doubling the base bet, the Boost feature changes the standard wild from a 1x1 tile into a full reel 1x3 wild which always covers the reel when it lands. Wilds of all types replace regular pays to complete a win.

The dragon covered book is both wild and scatter, so as a scatter, 3 or more in view award 10 free spins. Books also provide a payout of 2x, 20x, or 200x the base bet when 3, 4, or 5 appear anywhere on the reels. In a nice thematic touch, instead of flipping through the pages of a book, a round table spins to randomly choose a special expanding symbol. This can be anything except the Book symbol. During the round, after prizes for any regular winning combinations have been paid, if the special symbol can form a win, it expands to cover all positions on its reels. These symbols pay all lines, from any reel, and do not need to be adjacent. Landing 3 or more book symbols during the feature awards 10 additional free spins.

For players who want to skip the base game and just get on with free spins, Book of King Arthur may ship with a bonus buy feature. It costs 80x the current bet and delivers at least 3 scatters on the next spin. On a technical note, you cannot buy free spins if the Boost mode is enabled.

Book of King Arthur: Slot Verdict

If you’re looking for a 'book of' slot that breaks with tradition, then there is nothing to prevent Book of King Arthur from scratching the itch. It feels like this genre gets bigger by the day, and Just For The Win has crafted one of the better ones. The studio might not have explored the theme as thoroughly as they often do, but players get a fine Medieval look along with an arcade vibe rolled into one.

Knowing if the Boost feature effects RTP would be useful for players unsure whether to activate it as doubling the bet is a significant increase. Though if it helps you crack Book of King Arthur’s potential, it’ll be well worth it where max win is 5,000 times the bet – the value of a full screen of Arthur symbols. Since this is only likely to happen in free spins, it’s good to have the option of skipping any base game drudge by engaging the feature buy.

Not long ago a figure like 5,000x would automatically qualify Book of King Arthur as a top tier 'book' slot in regards to potential. In the bigger is better race, there is a selection of expanding special symbol slots offering much larger payouts than this now, Book of Shadows being one good example. However, for a solid, classical rendition of this type of gaming with a couple of interesting features in a new setting, you really can’t go wrong with Book of King Arthur.