Gameplay Features and Mechanics
Treasures of the Pyramids is a standard five reel, 40 payline video slot
machine by IGT. With four reel spaces on each of the five reels, you’ll have 20
symbols in play on each spin.
The game is classified as a penny slot, and indeed, you can spin the reels
for as low as $0.01 per play by activating only one of the 40 pay lines. As
experienced slot players can tell you, however, this isn’t a winning approach to
multiple pay line slots, because you’ll miss out on a ton of winning
combinations.
IGT allows players to toggle between 1, 10, 20, 30, or the full 40 pay lines
on a spin, and as always, sharp players are wise to bet the maximum amount of
pay lines at all times. Doing so activates a slot’s full range of bonus games
and features, while giving you a chance to cash in on any available winning
combination that appears on the reels.
So, assuming you play the full 40 pay lines, the minimum cost to cover per
spin for penny players is really $0.40.
In a departure from the IGT norm, coin denominations can only be toggled
through four basic levels: $0.01, $0.05, $0.25, and $1. Thus, Treasures of the
Pyramids can be played as a penny, nickel, quarter, or dollar slot only.
For nickel players, the minimum cost to cover per spin stands at $2, while
quarter players will be wagering $10 per spin, and $1 players up the ante to $40
at the minimum.
Additionally, this game allows you to select the number of coins applied per
line, which gives players a certain level of flexibility when it comes to wager
sizing. If the $0.40 per play is too low for your blood, but jumping to $2 per
spin is too steep, you can set the game for the penny coin denomination and
apply two coins per payline. This changes the minimum cost to cover per spin for
penny players from $0.40 to $0.80, while adding another coin per payline would
increase the bet to $1.20, and so on up the ladder.
You can up the coins applied per payline from 1 through 10 on an incremental
basis. Thus, the maximum wager one can make on the Treasures of the Pyramids
slot is $1 coin denomination, with 10 coins applied per all 40 pay lines, which
tops out at $400 per spin.
For the most part though, recreational players tend to stick to the penny or
nickel levels while applying just one or two coins per payline. The standard
play is always to activate all 40 pay lines, however, so don’t get so caught up
in toggling through the bet area that you neglect to put the game on top gear.
As we mentioned in the introduction, Treasures of the Pyramids is a classic
IGT slot design, so you’ll be spinning for wild symbols, scatter symbols, and
multipliers, all while trying to trigger the free spins bonus game. Despite the
title’s suggestion of a treasure hunt, progressive jackpot sharks will have to
seek their prey elsewhere, as this game isn’t connected to any wider progressive
networks. Even so, as you’ll learn a little later on, the base game jackpot
amount makes up for any absence of a progressive element.
For a more thorough set of game specifications for the Treasures of the
Pyramids slot, see below:
- Wilds: Yes
- Free Spins: Yes
- Multiplier: Yes, for 2x on
any free spin
- Bonus Game: Yes
- Progressive: No
- Return to Player: 94.18%
96.22%
That massive base game jackpot we’ve hinted at stands at a tremendous 5,000
credits, and it can only be earned by landing five of the black panther symbols
across an activated payline. When you see four of the black panther symbols on a
payline, the payout drops all the way to 150 credits, so jackpot hunting is
certainly the game’s goal. Finding three of the black panther symbols brings
back a reward of 75 credits, while a pair of them returns 10 credits.
For penny players applying one coin per 40 pay lines, that jackpot amount
equates to $50 in cash. But the jackpot increases commensurately as the amount
of coins per payline climbs, so by increasing to the maximum of 10 coins per pay
line $4 cost to cover per spin, the jackpot amount jumps to $500.
The lucrative black panther symbol also serves as the wild symbol in
Treasures of the Pyramids, so it can replace any other symbol except the Great
Pyramids scatter symbol in the game to help you create winning combinations.
Moving down the pay table, the next highest paying symbols in the game are
the emerald Eye of Horus symbol and the amethyst Phoenix symbol each of which
pay out 500 / 75 / 30 in credits for landing five, four, or three of them,
respectively.
From there, the both the red ankh symbol and the ruby ring symbol offer a 250
/ 50 / 20 pay scheme. The sapphire ring symbol and the green and gold coin
symbol each pay out on a 150 / 30 / 10 scale. As for the card rank symbols,
landing five of the As or Ks is good enough for 100 credits, while five of the
Qs, Js, or 10s will put 75 credits back in your pocket.
According to the marketing literature released by IGT, the level of
volatility offered by Treasures of the Pyramids is classified as medium. This
means you can expect to endure a few fruitless spins in a row from time to time,
with slightly higher payouts serving to balance those steady losses.
Another gameplay feature to keep an eye out for is called the Gamble game,
which is offered to players following any payout. Say you’ve just collected a
small payout of 100 credits for landing five K card rank symbols. At this point,
you can simply keep spinning the reels, or respond to the “GAMBLE” prompt lit up
at the bottom of the game screen.
Pressng the Gamble button will activate a side screen bonus game, one that is
common to many slot designers, including IGT and Aristocrat Leisure. This game
is a simple guessing contest, using traditional playing cards. By electing to
take the Gamble option, you’re putting the last payout collected at risk based
on the result of the guessing game.
You’ll see a graphic representing a deck of face down playing cards, along
with two buttons; one labeled Gamble 2x and the other Gamble 4x. The first
button, which will double your current stake if you guess correctly, involves
guessing only the color of the next card, so you can choose between black or
red. Any spade or club will win for a black guess, while hearts and diamonds are
good for the red side.
You can also try to guess the exact suit of the next card dealt, and if you
nail it perfectly, your stake will be quadrupled. You can cash out after any
successful Gamble and add those winnings to your slot game bankroll, or keep
guessing and press the action. After five consecutive correct guesses, however,
the machine will boot you back to the main Treasures of the Pyramids base game.
As stated earlier, the black panther symbol serves as the game’s wild symbol,
so it can replace any other symbol in the game except for the Great Pyramid
scatter symbol to create winning combinations. Even better, the black panther
wild symbol always appears as a “double stacked” symbol, meaning it covers two
of the four spaces on a reel whenever it appears. Even so, both spaces showing
the black panther wild symbol act independently, so you don’t need to have
matches on both reel spaces to trigger winners.
Speaking of the Great Pyramid scatter symbol, they can generate winning
combinations from anywhere on the reels, rather than from the usual left to
right alignment. And when you happen to land five of them on the screen, you’ll
even earn a modest reward of 50 credits, but just like in real life, the Great
Pyramids hold even more valuable treasures to be discovered.
Triggering the Bonus Round
Landing five of any other symbol on an activated payline offers more than the
50 credit payout you’ll get for a five pack of Great Pyramid scatter symbols, so
you may be wondering what all the fuss is about.
In this game, seeing five of the Great Pyramid scatter symbols on the screen
might not pay all that much, but it actually represents a jackpot scenario for
players. That’s because you’ll earn an incredible 100 free spins whenever you
can land five of these crucial symbols.
Boasting one of the most generous free spins bonus round allotments in all of
slot gaming, Treasures of the Pyramids finally lives up to its grandiose title
here. Enjoying even 10 free spins is a treat for any slot player, so receiving a
bonus round that spans 100 free spins is simply a windfall that one must
experience to believe. Just imagine yourself sitting and spinning 100 times in a
row, collecting payouts the whole time, while never spending a single cent.
And the free spins bonus round isn’t top heavy either, so even if you only
land four of the Great Pyramid scatter symbols, you’ll still get 15 free spins
to work with. Landing three of them is also good for 8 free spins, so the goal
of this game is definitely to line up as many Great Pyramid scatter symbols as
possible.
You can even retrigger the free spins bonus round by landing the right
combination of Great Pyramid scatter symbols during any free spin. In this
fashion, you could conceivably earn up to 600 free spins in a row.
And you’ll want to take advantage of every free spin you can earn, because a
multiplier of 2x will be applied to double any and all payouts you collect
during a free spin. With the game already offering payouts that tilt toward the
higher end the IGT slot spectrum, this 2x multiplier on free spin payouts can
quickly lead to an avalanche of additions to your bankroll.
Conclusion
Treasures of the Pyramids takes the classic IGT slot design template and
combines it with an interesting, if not played out, thematic element. Fans of
ancient Egypt, aspiring archeologists, and desert denizens will appreciate the
game’s visual commitment to the age old idea of ancient Egyptian culture.
The game suffers from a lack of any themed sound effects or music though, so
consider bringing a par of headphones on your next trip if the “merry go round”
tunes of old school slots aren’t your thing. But all in all, a massive base game
jackpot of 5,000 credits, the potential to earn 100 free spins whenever the
reels whirl, and a 2x multiplier on free spin payouts combine to make Treasures
of the Pyramids an exciting game that lives up to its billing.
