Charlie Chance and the Curse of Cleopatra

Charlie Chance and the Curse of Cleopatra: Slot Overview

Ah, Charlie Chance, we meet again. You have to feel for the guy or even wonder why he keeps on bothering. Then again, if life knocks you down, you've just gotta get up, dust yourself off, and keep on livin' - like our man Charlie. This time he's out of the underworld at least, yet he hasn't completely turned his fortune around. Now, he's traipsed off to Egypt for some tomb raiding in the hopes of stumbling across Pharaohs' riches. This being Charlie, though, he's woken up Cleopatra, who really isn't too happy about the turn of events. Let's not fret over exactly how she reawakened, to instead help Charlie return Cleopatra to her former non-mummified glory and hopefully pick up a few coins along the way.

Curse of Cleopatra differs radically from the previous two games in the series in terms of gameplay, yet much of what made Hell To Pay and the XREELZ unique remains. Basically, this means a 1930s animated Betty Boop vibe, which Play'n GO has recaptured for Curse of Cleopatra. In the middle of the tomb lies a 6x6 grid, which pays when clusters of at least 5 matching symbols land adjacent to each other. The rest of the visuals depict riches, chests, mummies, and skeletons, all with a lean toward the comedic rather than the spooky. In fact, the game isn't a million miles away from the Asterix and Cleopatra film, the Belgian animated one that is, released in the 1960s, possessing a similarly fun attitude.

Playable on any desktop, tablet, or mobile device, Charlie Chance and the Curse of Cleopatra comes with stake levels of 20 p/c to $/€100 per spin. Be on the lookout for RTP values which vary depending on the market. The one you want is 96.25%, dropping to 94.27% or lower in the less desirable options. If you prefer playing the most volatile grid slots on the market, you better look away now because Curse of Cleopatra's math has a medium setting, rated at 6 out of 10. However, winning potential is quite comparable to the best that Play'n GO has to offer in this slot category.

When winning clusters hit, they are removed from the grid by the cascade system, refilling the empty positions with batches of new symbols. This can cause other clusters to form, repeating the cascade process until no new wins hit. Consecutive wins not only pile on coin wins, they lead directly into several of the features. The pay symbols include 8 hieroglyphics of varying descriptions, ranging in value from 20 to 500 times the total stake for clusters of 15+ premium symbols. Charlie actually helps you out here, as he appears on the Charlie Mega Wild to replace any other pay symbols. He only appears via one of the modifiers; let's check it out.

Charlie Chance and the Curse of Cleopatra: Slot Features

The end goal of Charlie Chance and the Curse of Cleopatra is triggering its free spins bonus round, which is supplemented by a win multiplier plus three side modifiers. The win multiplier is active in both base and bonus games. It starts on x1, and for every 3 consecutive cascades, it increases by +1. In the base game, the multiplier maxes out at x3, while in free spins, it can go higher.

Randomly, on any spin, the Flying Scarab Wilds feature may trigger. When it does, 5-8 flying scarabs float around the screen then land on the grid. These wilds substitute all other symbols except the scatter.

On any random non-winning spin, the Serpent's Trail feature may activate. When triggered, a snake appears on the grid and creates a chain of symbols. This chain of symbols is either destroyed from view or transformed into the same matching symbol.

The third modifier is Cleo's Columns which also triggers on random spins. When activated, a pair of reels land displaying matching symbols – new symbols that land on these reels via cascades do not synchronise. This is how the Charlie Mega symbol may appear, which locks in position through the cascade sequence, then any low-value symbols connecting are removed, and new symbols fall into the gaps. Charlie Mega symbols then turn wild, and any wins are paid.

Landing 3 scatter symbols awards 8 free spins, while any additional scatters in view award an extra +4 free spins each. Any current win multiplier is carried over. In free spins, the win multiplier increases every 3 consecutive cascades like the base game, but now it can go as high as x10 and does not reset between free spins. Cleo's Columns is also active on every free spin, with the chance of activating the Charlie Mega symbol. Lastly, each scatter that lands awards +1 additional free spin, up to a cap of 150.

Charlie Chance and the Curse of Cleopatra: Slot Verdict

They might all share a parallel look, yet Play'n GO takes the Charlie Chance series on a satisfying new tangent in Curse of Cleopatra. So far, we've gone from pacey 3-reel gaming to 5-reel multiplier mayhem, and now to a full-blown grid slot replete with cascades alongside all the trimmings typically associated with this style. Through it all, two things have tied the series together – the attractive 1930s visuals and Charlie Chance's vacillating fortunes.

From a monetary standpoint, if you could pick one game to maximise Charlie's luck on, it wouldn't be this one. Of the three, Curse of Cleopatra offers the lowest potential in the range so far. It's not exactly a pinchfist, though, offering top rewards of 5,500x the bet, which compares favourably with Play'n GO's big grid slot hits, Reactoonz or the follow-up Reactoonz 2, for example. The gameplay isn't a paradigm shift over what Play'n GO has released before, but there are no issues over what Charlie Chance and the Curse of Cleopatra does either.

Unless you're a grid slot bruiser who requires an ultra tightly wound math model capable of producing monumental wins, there's a lot to like about Curse of Cleopatra. Its combination of flowing gameplay, positive off-beat visuals, and intermeshable features make it easy to just go along with Charlie on his search for riches to see where he ends up.