Cleopatra Megaways

Cleopatra Megaways: Slot Overview

When you start roaming around the Ancient Egypt online slot section, it quickly becomes apparent that there is a lot, like, a lot of Cleopatra games. We're not just talking about slots that feature a female ruler in them, but actual games with the word 'Cleopatra' in the title. One of the most infamous of the lot is simply titled Cleopatra and comes from software provider IGT (now owners of iSoftBet). It spawned Cleopatra 2 a little while back and has now fed into Cleopatra Megaways, a Megaways-spinoff from iSoftBet. Naturally, having Big Time Gaming's engine onboard means a certain level of modernisation, but Cleopatra Megaways manages to squeeze in one or two relatively classic elements as well.

Visually, Cleopatra Megaways is an upgrade over its older siblings, but not drastically so. It's got those classic-looking columns holding up each end of the gaming grid, the recognisably fonted game title up top, and loads of Egyptian-inspired icons littered about the place. Fans of the older games should feel pretty familiar with the surroundings, while those newer to the scene get the chance to fire up a slot with historical pedigree and a fairly modern, upgraded look.

To get the ball rolling, gamblers get to pick a suitable stake from options ranging from 20 p/c to $/€20 per spin. Beneath the cultural shimmer lies a highly volatile math model doling out 96% theoretical return to player. Structurally, the game has a standard Megaways set up, which means 6 reels holding 2 to 7 symbols each - the precise amount can vary on each spin. Depending on how many symbols land on the reels determines the number of ways to win. At most, there can be 117,649 active ways.

Winning symbols are removed from the reels when they hit by the cascading wins mechanic. Symbols tumble down to replace them, and if a new win forms after the symbols drop, the tumble sequence repeats. When matching symbols land from reel number 1 onwards across adjacent reels, players collect a monetary reward. The amount, when landing a 6 OAK winning way, works out at 0.8 to 1.5 times the bet for the 9-A card royals or 1.75 to 50 times the bet for the 4 theme-based premium symbols. The logo eyes symbol is wild and appears on reels 2 to 5. Wilds substitute for any pay symbol, and when they are part of a win, the payout value is doubled.

Cleopatra Megaways: Slot Features

Cleopatra Megaways' focal feature is a Hold & Win Respins extra and is complemented by Cleopatra Modifiers.

Cleopatra Modifiers

Any scatters which land are added to the Offering Brazier and may trigger one of 4 modifiers on any spin. These are:

• Wild Add – adds 2 to 5 random wilds to the grid.
• Mystery symbols – a random number of mystery symbols are added to the reels. All mystery symbols in view transform into the same symbol.
• Max Megaways – the maximum number of ways are produced on the gaming grid.
• Bonus Add – a random number of scatter symbols are added to the reels, increasing the chance of triggering Hold & Win Respins.

Hold & Win Respins

Landing at least 5 scatter symbols awards the Hold & Win Respins feature - 3 respins are awarded with just scatters and boosters able to land. Landing a symbol sticks it in place while resetting the respins count. Regular cash scatters have values of x1 to x10, and it is also possible to land Mini, Minor, Major, or Grand symbols worth 20x, 100x, 500x or 2,000x the bet, respectively. Filling a reel with symbols activates the reel multiplier, which multiplies all scatters on the respective reel.

Keep an eye out for reel boosters as well. The x2 multiplier symbol applies to prizes on adjacent reels; the collector sums up all landed values, the extra life adds an extra life at the end of the round (up to 3 lives may be stored at once), while the expander adds an extra row to its reel. When boosters have activated, they transform into a cash scatter.

Cleopatra Megaways: Slot Verdict

The first Cleopatra slot came out quite a while ago, so it was something of a surprise to see the franchise go through a Megaways conversion under iSoftBet's watchful gaze. Less surprising was to see the studio has bolted on their favoured Hold & Win gaming mechanic. Hold & Win is a feature iSoftBet has really gone to town on, though the team had been somewhat quiet with it around the time of writing. Still, there are loads of iSoftBet slots bearing the Hold & Win logo, so much so that it feels at times like the studio is trying to compete with Megaways itself in terms of sheer numbers.

Okay, it's not quite so numerous just yet, and in Cleopatra Megaways, it's been put to decent use. Here players get to uncover cash scatter symbols, reel multipliers, and a few jackpot symbols on top for good measure. The studio has also branched out by throwing 4 special symbols into the bargain, but Cleopatra Megaways isn't exactly squaring off against highly sophisticated hold 'n win games like Money Train 2 or Money Train 3. What it does do fits with the Cleopatra slot concept as a whole, being a somewhat retro-style gaming event. It would've been odd to see loads of special symbols mushrooming up all over the place, like the Ancient Egyptian version of snipers, Gatling guns, and high explosive devices. Max win is more modest by comparison, too, though not exactly deal-breakingly so at 10,000x the bet.

For big win chasers, this figure is a fifth of what is up for grabs in Cleopatra 2, too, whether that influences your decision to play Cleopatra Megaways or not; just saying. Fans of the series may be curious to see what a Megaways conversion looks like, though if you've played a few iSoftBet slots before, there probably won't be a whole lot here that makes for essential viewing if you're not smitten by the Cleopatra slot legacy.