Rich Wilde and the Tome Of Dead

Rich Wilde and the Tome of Dead

Play’n GO struck gold with their 2016 release Book of Dead, the third to feature adventurer Rich Wilde, which has spawned a whole genre of ‘Book’ slots. Nearly a decade and 14 games later, the franchise is still going strong, with the release of Rich Wilde and the Tome of Dead, a sequel (of sorts) to last year’s Tome of Insanity and the 2019 release Tome of Madness.

Tome of Madness and Tome of Insanity drew heavily on the Cthulhu mythos created by HP Lovecraft, but for the third edition of the series, Play’n GO have reverted to a more familiar theme, and we once again find ourselves in Egypt. At first glance it might seem that they’ve simply swapped ‘Book’ for ‘Tome’ but this slot is a very different animal to the 2016 classic.

How to Play Tome of Dead

Comparisons to Book of Dead are inevitable, but nine years and a host of slot innovations separate the two games, so you won’t see the traditional five reels here.

Like both of the previous Tome games, this one is based on a 5×5 grid and employs the Cluster Pays mechanic, so you’re aiming to line up groups of four or more symbols that are horizontally or vertically adjacent to each other. Tome of Dead also employs a wandering Wild, who functions like Yog-Sothoth from Tome of Insanity, as well as discoverable eye symbols and a chargeable portal as seen in the other Tome games.

Three Wilds

The game features three Wilds. The standard Wild is a golden altar, and the Rich Wilde character is a multiplier Wild, so if it forms part of a winning combination, it will boost the payout by x2, x3, x4 or x5, though in the Banishment Round, those figures are x2, x3, x5 and x10.

Ammit the Devourer is the third Wild you’ll see, represented by a 2×2 symbol depicting a crocodile head. It only appears during the Banishment bonus round, where it walks across the game grid three times, contributing to winning combinations as it goes.

All-Seeing Eyes

Tome of Dead reproduces the discoverable eyes feature from the other Tome games. These eye symbols appear at random on the game grid and if a winning combination is formed over them, they release between two and four regular Wilds.

Ritual Charge

While you’re playing the main game, you’ll have one eye on the Ritual Meter on the left hand side. Landing winning combinations charges the meter and unlocks these features:

• Protection (8 charges): releases up to four Wilds
• Devour (16 charges): releases Wilds and if they form a win, nearby symbols are destroyed and replaced, potentially triggering more wins
• Judgement (30 charges): upgrades all the low value canopic jar symbols to high value statue icons

Banishment Free Spin

The big wins (up to the maximum of 5,000x the bet) are to be found in the Banishment bonus round, which is just one spin, but with several Ritual features which trigger in succession after winning combinations are resolved. To trigger that, you’ll have to fill the Ritual meter with 48 or more charges. That also guarantees that all three Ritual features will trigger during the Banishment round, and you can overcharge the Ritual meter to generate an additional four features for the Banishment round.

At the start of the Banishment round, twelve regular and six special All-Seeing Eye symbols will be placed on the grid. If you successfully open all of the regular eyes by making matches over them, the Ammit the Devourer Wild will appear and if you can activate at least four of the six special eyes, a multiplier will be added to the Ammit Wild.

Our Verdict

Tome of Dead is a medium volatility slot, playable for as little as 10p a spin, so may have a wider appeal than some of the high volatility Wilde titles. The default RTP of 96.2% is a little lower than Tome of Madness or Tome of Insanity (which both came in at 96.59%) but the maximum win is much higher than the 2000x figure for those games.

It’s a satisfying game to play, thanks to the memorable soundtrack and the rich graphics, and there is enough going on to keep you interested even if you don’t trigger the Banishment round.

One thing to remember is to always check the RTP figure on the particular version of the game being used at your casino. While the default RTP is respectable, there’s a 94.2% version, a 91.2% version and even some editions of the game with RTPs under 90%, which are obviously to be avoided.

Where To Play

Most UK online casinos have the RTP of Tome of Dead set at 94.2% (or lower). Here are a couple where we’ve verified that it is set at the highest available level of 96.2%.