The Great Pyramid Slots
The Great Gig in the Sky is a terrific song by Pink Floyd, but The Great Pyramid is a half-decent video slot back here on Earth. Brought to you by Realistic Games, the UK-based syndicate behind such popular titles as Go Wild On Safari, It Came From The Moon and Randall’s Riches, this 3-reeler is yet another with an Egyptian theme. Available on mobile devices and also desktop, The Great Pyramid features a grand prize of 200x total stake, ‘nudges’ and an innovative note trail bonus round.
When the game launched in the first quarter of 2015, the commercial director at Realistic Games rather disingenuously stated that “slot fans have always loved the ancient Egyptian theme”. Who knows, perhaps cold, hard stats bear this out, but believe us, plenty of slot fans have played enough Egypt-themed slots to last them a lifetime! Whatever – the game’s here, let’s review it on its merits.
The Set-Up
The Great Pyramid has three reels and a single pay-line, meaning the pace is swift, given there’s a limited number of winning combinations to shoot for. The grid sits within a gold-and-red border in the foreground of a typical beach scene characterised by sandy dunes and palm trees. So far, so good – we’re not treated to the ubiquitous sight of a pharaoh’s tapestry-strewn, hieroglyph-daubed tomb. This is more like an Egyptian beach resort, a la Sharm el-Sheikh.
At the bottom of the screen, there’s the usual RG control panel containing adjustable buttons which allow you to determine your bet parameters. There’s also an Info tab, three Hold Nudge tabs (more on them later) and a button to activate automatic spins.
Amusingly, the design of the game is such that it mimics a slot machine in a bricks-and-mortar casino; beyond the reels and control panel, you can see a worn carpet and a couple of other machines. The effect is such that you could be forgiven for thinking you’re down the local casino, and not playing on your tablet, PC or mobile device.
The stakes that gamers are permitted to select include 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20 or 50. Via the autoplay, you can pre-programme the reels to spin as many as 500 times, or as little as ten times. You can halt the auto function whenever your win has reached a specific amount, when a feature is won or when nudges are proffered. The game’s return-to-player percentage is 95.20%, which is standard for titles of this nature.
Familiar Icons
The game’s symbols are traditional, and include both red and blue 7s and single, double and triple colour-coded BARs. The bonus symbol, meanwhile, is a golden pyramid. Triple red 7s are the best-paying regular icons, at 20x. Three blue 7s pays x10, and three of any colour pays x2. Three red BAR symbols, meanwhile, pays x5.
The Great Bonus
Players able to line up a trio of gold pyramid symbols will activate the bonus round. You’ll be shown a pair of pyramids. Each structure is filled with a trail of ten notes, the first holding x2 notes and the second comprising x20 notes. During the round, the aim is to make every note from the bottom of the trail light up. You get three opportunities to do this, but if you fail, the round is over – although you get to keep the cash you’ve earned thus far. If you’re successful, you’ll get to play the next pyramid, which contains 20x. Advance to the final stage and there’s a bumper prize of x200 to be claimed.
During the bonus, between one and three ‘nudges’ might be given at random at the conclusion of any spin resulting in a non-win. Manually move the reels one spin along to find a winning combo, or hit auto-nudge instead to use slot game nudges automatically. If you fail to find the best combination possible, the game will take over and find it for you. Reels can also be randomly held after a successful spin, providing another guaranteed win. A maximum of nine are possible.
The Super Spin, meanwhile, supplies winning re-spins when lit. It randomly kicks in after losing nudges. The Super Spin win can also include a trio of pyramids, which triggers the bonus round.
Do we Sphinx it’s Good Enough?
The Great Pyramid isn’t worthy of a certain word in its name, but it’s OK in the context of three-reel penny slots. Hey, at least it has a bonus game.
