Links of Ra

Links of Ra: Slot Overview

Adding to the glut of Egypt themed slots comes Links of Ra from Microgaming partner Slingshot Studios. What's left to say about this part of the world that hasn't been said before in countless reviews? Slap on sunscreen and a hat to prepare for the baking hot desert in an ancient land? Prepare for a dose of exoticism as you solve riddles, climb pyramids, and raid tombs? Well yeah, we do get a lot of this in Slingshot's game Links of Ra whilst spinning for potential glory amidst Power Stacks, free spins, plus a Link&Win Feature boasting four jackpots.

Slingshot leaves no room for doubt as to where they have taken players in Links of Ra. Behind the game panel, the jackpot information, and miscellaneous UI pieces, the horizon is lined with big imposing pyramids. Since Giza famously has just three Great Pyramids, and a number of smaller ones, Slingshot has taken full use of its creative license to up the mystery. Perhaps this isn't Giza at all then, but some corner of Egypt yet to be discovered. The discovery of such an extensive ancient city laid out in the foreground would make any archaeologist famous for life, and one of the cool things about Egypt is driving around and seeing random pyramids in the middle of nowhere. That ramble is a roundabout way of saying Links of Ra is certainly a good-looking game that neatly captures Egypt's exotic nature.

Action takes place on the central 5-reel, 4-row game panel, where 40 paylines are provided to hit winning combinations. Winning lines pay adjacently, left to right from the leftmost reel. Players mesmerised by the gleaming Egyptian sunshine should keep at least one eye out for RTP, which is variable. The most optimal return rate is 96.20%, though it may be found at 94.23%, or even less. Volatility has been classified as 'very high', which pretty much means hit it big during streak respins or flounder since the base game is largely feature free apart from the occasional Power Stack. Any device is suitable to play Links of Ra on, while stakes can be set from 20 p/c to $/€20 per spin.

Links of Ra's symbols are mostly in theme and well-drawn as well. Four gems make up the low pays, then five gods as the highs. Apologies if we have misidentified them, but they look like Khnum, Sobek, Bastet, Anubis, and Horus, worth 5 to 7.5 times your stake for a line of five. The game's logo has been used as the wild symbol, which lands in any position. The wild substitutes any pay symbol to complete a win and is worth up to 25x the bet for five of them on a payline.

Links of Ra: Slot Features

We've hinted at most of the extras players will come across when spinning Links of Ra. These are Power Stacks, free spins, and the Link&Win feature.

Power Stacks

On any spin, there is a chance symbols will be randomly Super Stacked. These Super Stacked symbols are added to all reels, which could be anything except scatters or wilds.

Free Spins

Landing 3 scatters in view in the base game triggers 15 free spins. These are played out the same as the main game, except all wins are multiplied by x2.

Link&Win

Landing 6 or more coin symbols triggers this feature. The triggering coin symbols are locked in place, and 3 respins are awarded. Regular pays do not appear in the feature, but any new coin symbols lock to the reels and reset respins. When respins end, the values on all coin symbols in view are collected and paid.

When the Link&Win triggers from the base game, each coin may be worth 1-15 times the stake. Also, there are 4 jackpot coin symbols - the Mini, Minor, Major, or Grand, worth 20x, 100x, 500x, or 2,500x the bet. If you trigger the Link&Win from free spins, the prizes of all coins, including the jackpot coins, are doubled.

Links of Ra: Slot Verdict

Let's start by saying Links of Ra is a well-made slot, the graphics are top-notch, the UI is about as slick as it gets, and the whole thing feels very professional. That in itself might be enough to pull players in for a punt if they like the sweeping Egyptian theme. If not, Links of Ra probably won't stir up much interest. The issue is how commonplace the themes and features are. The view of Giza, the deity symbols do look nice – just as they do in countless other Egyptian games. Overindulgence can make anything trite, no matter how exotic it originally was. That is unless a game provider does something really special. As we said, while the execution can't be faulted, there's nothing majorly unique to attract players back to the hot sands of Egypt if they're over it.

The same goes for the features which function just fine but don't offer much novelty if you're after some. A simple doubling of win values in free spins and a samey, basic streak respin round. There's none of the sophistication some other studios are cramming into their hold & win games going on here. Hey, some may like the simplicity. One positive point is Link&Win values are doubled when triggered from free spins. That's a nice touch and can possibly lead to the 5k top prize. Interestingly, wins in Links of Ra are capped at $/€500,000, which would suggest 25,000 times the max bet. Not saying this is out of the realms of possibility, yet it's hard not to try and calculate how feasible that figure is - the actual xbet potential is likely significantly lower.

Maybe we were suffering from steak respin fatigue while reviewing Links of Ra, or maybe it's a case of a pretty game that's offering essentially more of the same. Whatever it was, Links of Ra ended up looking nice, playing okay, though it did little to command a repeat performance.