Book of Dead demo: Rich Wilde’s slot for UK players online
An archaeologist, a golden book and ten reels’ worth of hieroglyphs. Book of Dead is Play’n GO’s Egyptian slot from 2016: the book is both wild and scatter, three of them open 10 free spins, and one symbol grows to fill whole reels until the round ends.
Written by Sheldon Price using the game’s own rules screen. Updated .
Try the gamble card
After a base-game win Book of Dead lets you guess the next card. The colour doubles the win, the suit quadruples it, and a miss loses it. Pick a starting win and try a few guesses with play money.
Choose a colour or a suit, or collect the £2.00.
Play money on a £1 stake. In the real game you can gamble up to five times in a row, and the gamble cannot take a win past 500x your stake.
Where to play Book of Dead for real money
Book of Dead is in the lobby of almost every UK-licensed casino. The four below hold Gambling Commission licences and have welcome offers for new players; the free spins are for the games named, so Book of Dead itself is played with your own deposit.
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William Hill Vegas
200 free spins
- Stake £10 on eligible slots
- Spins on Big Bass Splash at 10p
- Enter the code shown on the promotion
Go to William Hill18+. New UK players. T&Cs apply. -
888casino
100% to £100
- First deposit of £10 or more
- Bonus for selected slots
- Wager the bonus 10 times
Go to 888casino18+. New UK players. T&Cs apply. -
Admiral Casino
100 free spins
- Deposit at least £10
- Feel the Flutter and Sizzling Hot Deluxe
- One-time wagering on spin wins
Go to Admiral18+. New UK players. T&Cs apply. -
BetMGM
200 free spins
- Deposit £10 and play it through once
- Big Bass Splash, 10p per spin
- Winnings paid without wagering
Go to BetMGM18+. New UK players. T&Cs apply.
Terms as published on 4 November 2026. UK bonus wagering has been limited to 10x since 19 January 2026. Always read the full conditions before signing up.
Book of Dead at a glance
- Studio
- Play’n GO
- Released
- January 2016
- Reels
- 5 × 3
- Lines
- 1 to 10, your choice
- Best RTP
- 96.21%
- Volatility
- Very high
- UK stakes
- 10p to £5
- Top win
- 5,000x stake
Behind the numbers is a simple game. There is one special symbol, the golden book, and one bonus, the free spins round. Everything that makes Book of Dead swing between long quiet spells and sudden big wins comes from how those two work together.
How a base-game spin pays
Wins pay left to right along the active lines, starting on the first reel. The four picture symbols, Rich Wilde, Osiris, Anubis and Horus, pay from just two in a row; the card ranks need three. Rich Wilde is the one to watch: five of him on a line pays 500x your total stake.
The book stands in for every other symbol to complete a line and also pays on its own wherever it lands. Two books pay nothing, three pay 2x your stake and open the free spins, and five pay 200x.
Free spins and the expanding symbol
Three or more books give 10 free spins. The book then flips through the symbols and stops on one, which becomes the expanding symbol for the round. Any symbol except the book itself can be chosen.
Whenever enough copies of it land to make a win, each one grows to cover its whole reel, and the result pays on every active line. The reels do not need to be next to each other. Card symbols need three reels, the pictures only two. If the explorer is picked and covers all five reels, that single spin pays 5,000x the stake.
Three more books during the round add 10 spins with the same expanding symbol. Wins from free spins cannot be gambled.
Paytable
Values are multiples of your total stake with all 10 lines active.
| Symbol | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Wilde | 1x | 10x | 100x | 500x |
| Osiris | 0.5x | 4x | 40x | 200x |
| Anubis | 0.5x | 3x | 10x | 75x |
| Horus | 0.5x | 3x | 10x | 75x |
| A, K | – | 0.5x | 4x | 15x |
| Q, J, 10 | – | 0.5x | 2.5x | 10x |
| Book (scatter) | – | 2x | 20x | 200x |
Choosing how many lines to play
Book of Dead is one of the few modern slots that still lets you switch lines off. Playing five lines instead of ten halves the cost of a spin, but it also halves what an expanded symbol can pay, because the full reels only count on lines that are switched on. That trade rarely makes sense, so the usual advice is to keep all 10 lines and lower the stake per line instead.
RTP versions and volatility
Play’n GO certifies five versions of the game: 96.21%, 94.25%, 91.25%, 87.25% and 84.18%. Each casino chooses which to run, and the figure is listed in the game’s information screen. It is worth checking before you play, because the gap between the top and bottom versions is about 12p in every pound staked over the long run.
Volatility is very high. Long stretches without the bonus are normal, and much of the game’s return is concentrated in free spins with a premium expanding symbol. Odds of hitting the 5,000x maximum are about 1 in 3.75 million spins.
What changes in Great Britain
- Stake cap. £5 a spin at most, or £2 if you are aged 18 to 24.
- Manual spins only. You press spin yourself every time, with a minimum of 2.5 seconds per game cycle.
- Age check first. The casino verifies you before the demo or real game opens.
- Wagering. Bonus wagering cannot be more than 10x the bonus.
- Self-exclusion. Signing up to GamStop shuts you out of all British-licensed gambling at once.
Practice spins worth taking
Free spins can take a few hundred spins to turn up, so a short demo session can give the wrong idea in either direction. Play a few hundred spins at your intended stake and note how long your play-money balance lasts between bonuses. Open the paytable as well; it shows the RTP version that casino uses.
Demo credits have no cash value and cannot be withdrawn.
Rich Wilde’s other adventures
Book of Dead is part of a longer series about the explorer. Aztec Idols and Pearls of India came before it; Tome of Madness and Amulet of Dead followed, each with different mechanics. Play’n GO has also released Book of Dead GO Collect, which keeps the original reels and adds a jackpot wheel; its RTP range is slightly lower, so check which edition a casino lists.
Your first session
- Sign up with whichever casino from the table suits you.
- Upload ID when asked so the casino can confirm your age.
- Find Book of Dead in the slots lobby and run the demo.
- Check the RTP in the paytable and set a stake you are comfortable with.
- Deposit, keep all 10 lines on and stop when your budget runs out.
Is it still worth playing?
For
- Only one feature to understand
- Free spins that can pay on any reels
- Top-version return of 96.21%
- Low 10p minimum stake
Against
- Hundreds of spins can pass without a bonus
- Many casinos run a lower RTP
- Top prize smaller than newer slots
Before you open the book
Who makes Book of Dead and when did it come out?
Play’n GO released it in January 2016. It is the best-known game in the Rich Wilde adventure series and is still a fixture in British casino lobbies.
How do free spins start in Book of Dead?
Three or more books anywhere on the reels start 10 free spins. Before the first spin one symbol is picked at random to become the expanding symbol for the whole round.
Why does one symbol fill whole reels in the bonus?
When enough of it lands during free spins, it grows to cover its entire reel and pays on every active line, even if the reels it sits on are not next to each other.
Is it possible to win more free spins inside the bonus?
It is. Land three books again while the bonus is running and it is extended by 10 spins, still using the symbol picked at the start.
Which return-to-player figure does Book of Dead have?
The best version returns 96.21%. Play’n GO also offers 94.25%, 91.25%, 87.25% and 84.18% editions, and the casino picks one. The game’s rules screen shows which you are playing.
What are the stake limits for British players?
From 10p up to £5 a spin, or £2 if you are 18 to 24. These limits apply to every online slot at UK-licensed casinos.
Is the gamble feature worth using?
It changes how your wins arrive, not how much you can expect to win. Guessing the colour doubles a win and guessing the suit quadruples it; a wrong guess loses it. It is optional and not offered on free spins wins.
Do I have to play all 10 lines?
No, you can play 1 to 10. Fewer lines lower the stake, but the expanding symbol only pays on lines that are switched on, so most players keep all 10.
Safer gambling
A very volatile slot can empty a balance quickly. Decide on a budget before you start, use the deposit and time limits in your casino account, and treat any win as a bonus rather than money to play back.
Need to talk? The National Gambling Helpline answers 24 hours a day on 0808 8020 133, free of charge. GamCare and BeGambleAware offer advice online, and GamStop blocks access to all UK-licensed gambling sites with a single sign-up.
Open the book
Load the demo at a British-licensed casino, trigger the bonus and find out whether Rich Wilde turns up as your expanding symbol.
Start the free demo