Tomb of Akhenaten

Tomb of Akhenaten: Slot Overview

Developer Nolimit City returns to Ancient Egypt and keep it in the family as they follow on from Tomb of Nefertiti, a slot that was based on one of the most famous dynastic queens. The follow-up, Tomb of Akhenaten, which comes with several new features to freshen up the Egyptian gaming scene, focuses on her hubby who also happens to be the father of Tutankhamun. In a twist, Tutankhamun's parents were actually siblings, as was established using genetic analysis in 2008. In other words, Akhenaten had a child with his sister, which wasn't unusual at that time, as royalties wanted to keep the blood line pure. Unfortunately for king Tut, his incestuous origins left him sick and disabled and likely contributed to his death only 19 years old.

Akhenaten was undoubtedly an interesting sort. For one, if you've seen his statues, he has a very otherworldly look, as if he had access to secret knowledge, denied the normal ranks of humanity. Partly through his establishment of Atenism (single god), he also attracted several titles, ranging from 'the greatest idealist of the world' to 'insane', and 'heretic'. Whatever his belief on religion or the afterlife, it's unlikely even he would have predicted 3,000 years after his death he'd be headlining a Nolimit City slot.

Played using a default layout of 5 reels in combination with 243 win ways, each new spin starts by using 3 rows but expands when wins hit. There is a link between the two Tomb games when it comes to graphical quality and the presentation of the symbols, but other than that they have their differences. The action here takes place in (we assume) the Royal Tomb of Akhenaten, with the game area set against a rather plain background of a couple of pillars while rope pulley contraptions in the corners animate every so often. On an aural level, the music has a dramatic Jaws feel to it - low and lurking when the pace slows, increasing to frenetic when the action heats up.

Offering the standard Nolimit bet range from 10 p/c to £/€100 per spin, Tomb of Akhenaten comes with a hit rate of 26.22% which is actually pretty high considering every win kicks off a chain of features. Reining things in is high volatility (9/10), ensuring not each trigger results in a landslide of coins. As to RTP, it has taken a slight drop since Tomb of Nefertiti, though not by much, coming in at 96.09% on the default setting.

Busting open the paytable, Ancient Egypt divinities are represented at the upper end where we find Bastet, Thoth, Sobek, Anubis, and Ra. Five of a kind premium wins are worth 1.5x to 5x the bet. The remaining symbols include 10-A card royals. Lara Croft fans will be happy to know the Tomb Raider lookalike returns as one of the wild symbols, the other being a Pyramid Wild. Both substitute for any regular symbols to make a winning combination. The explorer wild may land at any time, while the Pyramid is trigged as part of certain features, covered next.

Tomb of Akhenaten: Slot Features

Tomb of Akhenaten is primarily built around its Sticky Win Spins, available in both the base and bonus game. Spinning off this mechanic are the two wilds mentioned above, Akhenaten Spins, and a bonus buy.

Any win triggers the Sticky Win Spins feature. The first respin adds another row to the grid, increasing win ways to 1,024. If the win is improved, another row is added in the second respin, bringing win ways up to 3,125. During reel expansions, random symbols may be turned wild when rows are being added. The third respin is where Pyramid wilds may be added to the reels. Meters above the reels spin, and if the red bar lands at the top, a Pyramid Wild is added to the respective reel. All regular pay symbols sitting above the pyramid symbol are turned wild. If a wild symbol is already there, it becomes a double wild, counting as 2 symbols. After the third respin, the game returns to its regular mode.

Landing 3 or more scatter symbols triggers the Akhenaten Spins - 3 scatter symbols get you 8 free spins while any additional bonus symbols are worth an extra 2 spins each. Akhenaten Spins use a win multiplier, starting at x1, rising by +1 for each Sticky Win Spin. Landing a scatter symbol during the feature adds 1 extra spin to draw out the round. Akhenaten Spins are theoretically triggered once every 189 spins.

Lastly, is the Nolimit Bonus feature buy functionality for those who can't be bothered to wait for the bonus to drop organically. There are two options available here; 8 spins at a price of 65x the bet, or 12 spins for 105x.

Tomb of Akhenaten: Slot Verdict

In many ways, Tomb of Akhenaten picks up where Tomb of Nefertiti left off as the two share some similarities. In saying so, there are more than enough differences to set the two games quite far apart. Both use a respin type of feature following wins, and it's a personal preference over which one is better since they can both be effective in the right situations. Tomb of Akhenaten's respins provoke the more drastic changes due to the extra rows and ways to win though. Yet, in many ways, the two games are about as enjoyable to play as each other. However, if its big volatile effects or going large you're after then this one is the clear choice.

One aspect of Tomb of Nefertiti which let it down was potential. Rest assured, lack of massive wins is not an issue when playing Tomb of Akhenaten. It's interesting that on paper, the two games are kind of similar. Math model stats might not officially have changed much, though volatility is clearly higher. The glaring difference is max win where the riches in Tomb of Akhenaten make his wife's game look like a humble goat herder living in a mud hut on the banks of the Nile river. Now players are spinning for a considerable amount of 26,261 times the stake.

Despite what it does, not to mention the big potential, Tomb of Akhenaten probably won’t go on to dominate the Egyptian slot genre. Whether it does or not, Tomb of Akhenaten is another well-built Nolimit slot possessing a refreshing number of original elements to make it stand out in a category rife with imitators. The question now is, we've had mum and dad, who's betting Tutankhamun might be next?