Book of Dead came out in January 2016, and ten years on it still sits near the top of the most-played charts at offshore casinos that accept Aussies. Not bad for a 5x3 grid with 10 paylines and a single bonus round. Play'n GO built the whole thing around one idea: land three Books, collect 10 free spins with an expanding symbol, and pray that symbol turns out to be Rich Wilde. The headline numbers hold up. Default RTP is 96.21%, volatility is high, and the top prize is 5,000x your stake. The catch is that casinos can run lower RTP versions of the same game, and a fair few of them do, so the info screen deserves a look before any real money goes in.
What Is Book of Dead?
It's an Egyptian-themed video pokie from Play'n GO, the Swedish studio that also holds licences from the Malta Gaming Authority and the UK Gambling Commission. Rich Wilde, the studio's fedora-wearing treasure hunter, fronts the game, and his name now runs across an entire series. This one is the title most players actually remember.
The mechanics are old-school on purpose. No cascades, no multiplier trails, no bonus buy button. You spin, you wait for scatters, and the math does the rest. Some players find that refreshing. Others find it slow, and both camps have a point.
Developer: Play'n GO, with games tested and certified by independent labs before release.
Availability in Australia: The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) prohibits licensed Australian operators from offering online pokies. Australians who play Book of Dead do it through offshore casinos licensed elsewhere, usually Curaçao or Malta. That's a grey area, and your decisions there are your own.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Play'n GO |
| Release Date | January 2016 |
| Layout | 5 reels, 3 rows |
| Paylines | 10 (adjustable) |
| RTP | 96.21% (default version) |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 5,000x stake |
| Bet Range | Typically AUD 0.10 to AUD 100 per spin, set by the casino |
| Wild / Scatter | Book symbol (does both jobs) |
| Bonus Round | 10 free spins with a random expanding symbol |
| Gamble Feature | Yes: colour (x2) or suit (x4) |
| Mobile | HTML5, runs in any modern browser |
| Demo Mode | Available at most casinos |
| Editor Rating | 8.6 / 10 |
Pros and Cons
What works:
- A 5,000x ceiling that's actually reachable, since Rich Wilde expanding across all five reels during free spins pays exactly that
- Free spins retrigger on three more Books, with a second expanding symbol added on top
- Rules you can explain in half a minute, which is rare among modern releases
- Loads quickly on mid-range phones and patchy 4G
- Demo version at almost every casino, so you can feel the volatility before paying for it
What doesn't:
- Lower RTP versions (94.25% and below) are common at offshore sites, and nothing on the reels tells you which one you're spinning
- Long dry stretches between bonus rounds come with high volatility. Budget for them
- The visuals look their age next to 2026 releases
How to Start Playing
Getting to the reels takes a few minutes. Pick a casino that lists Book of Dead, create an account with your email, password, date of birth and AUD as the currency, then confirm the link sent to your inbox.
KYC: Most offshore casinos let you deposit and play small amounts straight away. Larger withdrawals need a government-issued ID and proof of address, and checks usually take 12 to 48 hours. Upload documents early. Waiting until you've hit a big win on a Saturday night is how a two-day payout turns into five.
Before the first spin: Open the game's info panel and scroll to the RTP line. If it says 96.21%, good. If it shows a lower figure, you're on a reduced version, and another casino might give you better odds on the identical game. Then set your paylines (keep all 10 active, since fewer lines just cut your chances) and choose a stake.
Important: One account per person. Duplicate accounts get closed and balances confiscated, and the bonus terms at most casinos say so plainly.
The Free Spins Round, Explained
Three or more Book symbols anywhere on the reels trigger 10 free spins. Before they start, the game picks one regular symbol at random to act as the special expanding symbol. During the round, whenever that symbol lands in enough positions to form a win, it expands to fill whole reels and pays on all 10 lines, even on reels that aren't adjacent.
That's where the money is. A low-value 10 or J expanding across three reels pays modestly. Rich Wilde or Osiris across four or five reels is the reason people put up with the dry spells. Land three Books again inside the round and you get another 10 spins, plus a second expanding symbol.
The gamble feature appears after any base-game win. Guess the card colour to double it, or the suit to quadruple it, up to five times in a row. Fun for small wins. Riskier than it looks for larger ones.
Paytable
Payouts are multiples of your line bet, except the Book, which pays on total stake.
| Symbol | 2 of a kind | 3 of a kind | 4 of a kind | 5 of a kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rich Wilde | 10x | 100x | 1,000x | 5,000x |
| Osiris | 5x | 40x | 400x | 2,000x |
| Anubis | 5x | 30x | 100x | 750x |
| Horus | 5x | 30x | 100x | 750x |
| A, K | - | 5x | 40x | 150x |
| Q, J, 10 | - | 5x | 25x | 100x |
| Book (total bet) | - | 2x | 20x | 200x |
Figures can vary slightly by version, so check the in-game paytable at your casino.
Security and Responsible Gambling
Fairness: Book of Dead uses a certified random number generator. Each spin is independent, so there's no such thing as a machine being "due" a bonus, however long it's been.
Tools worth switching on: Any decent casino offers these from the account settings, no support ticket needed:
- Deposit limits (daily, weekly, monthly)
- Session time reminders
- Cool-off periods from 24 hours to several weeks
- Permanent self-exclusion
High-volatility pokies can burn through a bankroll faster than expected. Set a limit before you start rather than halfway through. If gambling stops feeling like entertainment, Gambling Help Online is free and open 24/7 on 1800 858 858.
Mobile Play
There's no standalone app, and there doesn't need to be. The HTML5 build runs in Safari or Chrome at full quality, switches cleanly between portrait and horizontal mode, and keeps the spin button where your thumb expects it. In our testing on a mid-range Android and an iPhone 15, load times stayed under five seconds and the free spins animations didn't stutter once. Add the casino to your home screen and it behaves much like an app anyway.
Final Verdict
Book of Dead doesn't try to impress anyone with features. It has one bonus round, one expanding symbol and one very good reason to keep spinning. Find a casino running the 96.21% version, size your bets for long gaps between features, and it still holds up against pokies released eight years later.