Book of 99

One of the most famous works in the canon of epic poetry, The Odyssey by Homer, has been creatively brought to life in the form of a new online slot game by Relax Gaming: Book of 99. Whilst playing this game, brave players will be introduced to fierce monsters such as the cyclops and wicked Lamia (the female demon character). On the other side, players will also meet the brave and intelligent Odysseus and the fair Penelope. Will you be able to use the one-eyed beast’s strength against him and come home with treasures and gold? There is only one way to find out.

Overview Book of 99

When it comes to the features for Book of 99, Relax Gaming have designed this game to offer plenty of exciting bonus content without overpopulating the game with complex gaming dynamics, which can sometimes distract from the fun of the game. The main action for this slot comes via the free spins round, which can be triggered in two ways. The free spins have a helpful modifier of expanded symbols to spice the game up a little too.

Theme and Symbols

As we have covered in the introduction, the theme of this slot game is Ancient Greece, specifically the story of the Odyssey. Although considering the Book of 99 title and the cartoon graphics and symbols, the slot designers aren’t too worried about portraying an accurate version of the epic poem. Instead, the visuals look a little more like Disney’s Hercules, which for many people would have been their first introduction to the Greek Myths.

The background for this slot changes from the base game to special free spins round. For the base game, the setting is a dark wilderness somewhere on the fringes of society. That being said, the playing board is so wide that there is almost no background to be discussed. Things change a little when you are transported with the free spins bonus. Here the setting is one more akin to Mount Olympus with columned buildings basking in radiant sunshine.

The board changes too. In the base game, it is in shadow and has the free spins scatter collection gauge depicted on the left-hand side of the reels. However, when players move through to the free spins round, they have the same columned board, yet everything is cast in light with the free spins count replacing the meter that was there before.

The symbols for this game are split between normal and picture symbols. The lower value symbols are the A to 10 symbols in card suits. Above these are the four picture symbols. These comprise the Lamia (winged female demon) the cyclops, Odysseus and Penelope. Odysseus is the most valuable of these. If you manage to land 5 of him on a payline you will be rewarded with 500 x your total stake. The Book of 99 symbol in this game serves two purposes, being both the wild and the scatter.

Game Play

Book of 99 is played on a classic 5-reel, 3-row playing window with 10 available pay lines. To create a win in this game, players must match a minimum of 3 symbols across the board on a pay line, starting from reel 1. The betting range for Book of 99 is 10p to £100 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can use the bet changing tool located to the left of the spin button on the main screen.

Further information regarding the slot, including a display of the paytable, can be viewed via the menu button left of the betting change tool. The spin and auto spin buttons are located directly underneath the playing board. The volatility for Book of 99 is in the high range. The return to player percentage for Book of 99 is 99%, which is almost unheard of for an online slot game. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 5,000 x your total stake per spin.

Features

The first feature of this game is the wild bonus which is fairly straightforward. The wild for this game is the Book of 99 logo. It can substitute for any other symbol bar itself. In doing so it can help create more frequent wins. The other feature for this game is the free spins feature. There are two ways of activating this bonus. The first is that players can land 3 of the special scatter symbols on the reels at the same time. Doing so will award you with 10 free spins. However, before you start playing these spins, 1 of the standard symbols is randomly selected to be the expanding symbol for the round. Every spin has its own payout consideration. If one of these special symbols lands it will fill the entire reel on which it lands. This special symbol can payout across all pay lines.

However, the value of your selected special symbol does affect the maximum win size that you can gain from wins in the free spins round. These are explained below.

• Q, J or 10 =100 x stake max
• A or K = 150 x stake max
• Cyclopes or Lamia = 750 x stake max
• Female Character = 2,000 x stake max
• Male Character = 5,000 x stake max

Landing 3 more of the symbols whilst within the game will retrigger the bonus, granting players another 10 free spins. There is no limit to the number of times that this feature can be retriggered in this way.

The other way that you trigger the free spins feature is by filling a meter that can be seen on the left-hand side of the reels in the base game. Every wild that lands in the base game is added to this meter. When you have landed 99 wilds, the free spins will be activated. After the feature is finished, the meter will be reset to zero.

Conclusion

Book of 99 is a classic slot with a great theme. However, the most amazing thing about this slot is that unbelievable RTP of 99%, which is unbelievably good and a great show of commitment to the whole 99 thing. In addition, the dual ways of triggering the free spins either by luck or by accumulation, is a nice detail Relax Gaming have included to give players a feeling of chance that they don’t necessarily have when playing other slots.