Book of Atem

The Book of Atem is the latest release in the “Book Of” series from the young Estonian outfit All41Studios that are working in partnership with Microgaming. Currently they have a small catalogue of slots on offer, but this is growing steadily with Book of Atem being their fourth release. The first three games were good but never made that much of an impact which is something that they are trying hard to do with this game. To help them create a slot that will draw in the players they have chosen to model their game on the Book of Ra slot, and although it has been upgraded it does have more than one similarity and it is whether the creator throwing in the tower and providing an imitation will bring them the glory that they are looking for, keep reading to find out.

Book of Atem Slot Overview

If you forget the copycat style gameplay you will see that the graphics are very inventive (far more so that you would imagine). The background has been well put together and resembles a theme that you would not expect to see in slots. Atem who is the god Atum who was known as the finisher of the world. Everything was created using his flesh which included other deities, and once this work was done, he returned to create havoc with water. There is no doubt that this is one intense chap! Therefore, the backdrop for this game is a peaceful pool situated behind a palace or temple, a place where he can entertain people and really chill out. This backdrop makes a really pleasing change from the dark caverns and temples or torch lit processions that you would usually come across in an Ancient Egyptian scene. The overall ambience is surprisingly intimate, but you need to make the most of this as it is one of the last original aspects you will come across.

Game Play & Symbols

When playing this slot on your mobile the first thing you will come across is that the controls are tiny and to begin play you need to select the wee coin button. When it comes to placing your bet, you can select from a minimum of 10p per spin up to £25 per spin, whilst this is not the biggest bet range it will appeal to a wide variety of players. Next to the bet button is the option to use the Auto spin, settings and pay table.

On opening the pay table, you will see that there are nine symbols in the base game and a further bonus symbol. The base symbols include the usual card playing symbols which are complete with led design flashes and make up the five lowest playing symbols. These are followed by the higher paying symbols that are represented by striking cobras, lanner falcons, pink lotuses and the Pharaoh who is the main character and will pay out 500x your stake if you get lucky and land five of them.

In keeping with the early 'Book of' games, the list of statistics is minimal but most satisfying. For starters there is the 10 fixed pay lines and the 5x3 grid the game plays out on. Whilst the volatility is set high this is complimented perfectly with the solid return to player of 96.45%, and in the same vein the book symbol is the one that you will want to land as this is key to activating the best parts of the slots however thanks to the hit rate of 29.8% and the above average symbol values the base game can also prove to be lucrative too.

Features

Players that are au fait with the Book of Ra will already know what is to come, but for anyone that is playing this series for the first time you want to keep on reading. There is one additional symbol in Book of Atem is the supersized book, but the best thing about this is that it has two separate roles as it acts as both the wild and the scatter. The supersized book can land anywhere on your reels and when you land three in view on your screen you are rewarded with 10 free spins.

Prior to the free spins starting the book symbol opens and one symbol is selected at random to be the special symbol. When you land two or more of the premium symbols or three or more of the lower paying symbols land on a free spin they expand and cover the entire reel that they are on. The reason these symbols are special is that the expanded symbols can be anywhere and do not need to be next to one another to provide wins, and whilst this sounds basic the overall gameplay it creates is compelling and when the expanded symbols are in play you can create some awesome winnings.

During the bonus rounds the book symbol can land and this allows your free spins to be reactivated and as the book is also the wild it means that is can substitute for all of the symbols with the exception of the expanding symbols to create more winning combinations.

Conclusion

Probably the best way to sum up this slot would be awesome, whilst the first three free slots from All41Studios were good but nothing special they have certainly ramped up the gameplay with this stunning slot. Technically, if you forget the other “Book” slots this would be the ultimate on gaming, however as it is the slot is a carbon copy. Due to this I find it hard to provide a verdict either way. The “Book of” series of slots have dazzled and enchanted players since they were first released and therefore you cannot really dismiss the game because of this. Everything there is to love about a “Book of” slot is offered, with the design top notch and the graphics aesthetically pleasing and due to the completely different background I would say that this could be labelled as original to a certain degree.