Book of Dead: how its expanding symbol pays
Book of Dead gives one randomly selected ordinary symbol the chance to expand throughout 10 free spins.
Its 5-reel, 3-row layout has up to 10 active paylines; the interesting part is that qualifying expanded symbols can pay across separate reels, even with gaps between them.
The original Play'n GO slot is also called Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead. Rich Wilde, a gold pharaoh mask, Anubis and a winged emblem share the reels with A, K, Q, J and 10. The Book has two jobs: it substitutes as a Wild and triggers free spins as a Scatter. This combination suits players who want a straightforward line game with a feature built around one selected symbol.
Book of Dead demo
Practice balance only. Demo credit cannot be withdrawn.
Play Book of Dead at a casino
Casino overviewBook of Dead is listed in this casino’s game catalogue.
Exact title listedPlay'n GOCasino review
Casino overviewBook of Dead is listed in this casino’s game catalogue.
Exact title listedPlay'n GOCasino review
Casino overviewBook of Dead is listed in this casino’s game catalogue.
Exact title listedPlay'n GOCasino review
No matching offers
Try another name or reset your filters.
- Reel layout
- 5 reels × 3 rows
- Active paylines
- 1 to 10
- Initial free spins
- 10
Triggered by 3 or more Books
- Expanding symbol
- One ordinary symbol
Randomly selected for the sequence
Start with the stake on each line
Book of Dead allows 1 to 10 paylines, activated in numerical order. Selecting four means lines 1, 2, 3 and 4 are active. An ordinary line prize follows the game's left-to-right winning pattern, and only the highest qualifying win on that selected line pays. A winning combination on an inactive line earns no line prize.
The ordinary paytable uses the stake per line. To calculate the cost of a paid spin, multiply the coin value by the number of coins per line and the number of active lines:
Total stake = coin value × coins per line × active lines.
In a hypothetical example, a €0.10 coin value, one coin per line and ten lines cost €1 per spin. Each line carries €0.10. Keep the coin value and coin count unchanged but select one line, and the cost becomes €0.10. You have changed which line prizes are eligible as well as the total cost.
The Book's scatter prize uses the total stake. At a hypothetical €1 total stake, three Books pay €2 for the scatter component and trigger ten free spins. That calculation is €1 × 2. It does not add a separate Book line prize to the scatter award.
Book of Dead paytable: match the number to its stake
Multiply each ordinary-symbol or Wild value by your line stake. Multiply each Scatter value by your total stake. The two Book rows describe the same artwork in different roles. A dash means that no award is listed for that number of symbols.
Book as Scatter
Multiply by total stake
- 5 matching
- 200×
- 4 matching
- 20×
- 3 matching
- 2×
2 matching: -
Book as Wild
Multiply by line stake
- 5 matching
- 5,000×
- 4 matching
- 1,000×
- 3 matching
- 100×
2 matching: 10× line stake
Rich Wilde
Multiply by line stake
- 5 matching
- 5,000×
- 4 matching
- 1,000×
- 3 matching
- 100×
2 matching: 10× line stake
Gold pharaoh mask
Multiply by line stake
- 5 matching
- 2,000×
- 4 matching
- 400×
- 3 matching
- 40×
2 matching: 5× line stake
Anubis
Multiply by line stake
- 5 matching
- 750×
- 4 matching
- 100×
- 3 matching
- 30×
2 matching: 5× line stake
Blue-and-gold winged emblem
Multiply by line stake
- 5 matching
- 750×
- 4 matching
- 100×
- 3 matching
- 30×
2 matching: 5× line stake
A
Multiply by line stake
- 5 matching
- 150×
- 4 matching
- 40×
- 3 matching
- 5×
2 matching: -
K
Multiply by line stake
- 5 matching
- 150×
- 4 matching
- 40×
- 3 matching
- 5×
2 matching: -
Q
Multiply by line stake
- 5 matching
- 100×
- 4 matching
- 25×
- 3 matching
- 5×
2 matching: -
J
Multiply by line stake
- 5 matching
- 100×
- 4 matching
- 25×
- 3 matching
- 5×
2 matching: -
10
Multiply by line stake
- 5 matching
- 100×
- 4 matching
- 25×
- 3 matching
- 5×
2 matching: -
The premium ordinary symbols start paying with two matches; the card symbols start with three. Rich Wilde leads the ordinary table at five matches. The pharaoh mask pays 2,000 times the line stake for five, while Anubis and the winged emblem pay 750 times the line stake. A and K share one payout row; Q, J and 10 share another, although each remains its own symbol.
The Book can complete an ordinary combination by substituting for another symbol. Its separate Scatter role also starts the feature. Read the role and payout basis together when inspecting a result: 5,000 times a line stake and 200 times a total stake are different calculations.
A 5,000× line prize at a €1 total stake
Suppose €1 is divided equally across ten active lines. The line stake is €0.10. Five Rich Wilde symbols on one paying line produce €0.10 × 5,000 = €500. This hypothetical calculation covers that one line only.
If Rich Wilde is the selected expanding symbol and fills all five reels during free spins, each of the ten active lines has the same five-symbol combination. The expanded award becomes €0.10 × 5,000 × 10 = €5,000. That is 5,000 times the €1 total stake for this expanded combination. It is a mathematical example of a qualifying result, with no promise about how often it occurs or what a whole feature will return.
Three Books choose the symbol for ten free spins
Three or more Books trigger ten free spins. Before that sequence starts, the game randomly chooses one ordinary symbol as the special expanding symbol. You do not select Rich Wilde yourself, and the Book is a separate Wild/Scatter rather than an ordinary selection candidate.
Each free spin first recognises regular winning combinations. The selected symbol can then cover all three positions on its reel, but expansion occurs only when it creates an additional prize on an active payline. Finding the selected symbol once on the screen is not enough to promise an expansion or a prize.
Premium symbols can expand from two matches
The paytable explains the different thresholds. A premium ordinary symbol has a two-match award, while A, K, Q, J and 10 need at least three matches. The selected symbol and its paying threshold therefore matter more than the size of its artwork on the reels.
The expansion also changes how reels connect. Expanded symbols do not have to occupy adjacent reels. Gaps that would interrupt an ordinary combination can remain between the selected symbol's expanded reels. This exception belongs to the special-symbol award during free spins; ordinary line wins still follow their normal winning pattern.
The selected ordinary symbol applies throughout the free-spin sequence. Landing three or more Books during the feature adds ten further spins. Count the new spins separately from the award on the triggering screen: the Books extend the sequence, while the qualifying combinations determine the money paid.
These ten triggered spins are part of the slot. A casino's advertised 50 or 100 free spins are a separate promotion with its own stake value, game eligibility and withdrawal conditions. The wagering requirements guide explains how an offer can attach turnover to the money won from promotional spins.
RTP choices change the model, not the next spin's promise
The original Book of Dead version 1.0 model uses 96.21% RTP for its default and configuration labelled 96. It also has lower RTP configurations. The casino can choose different settings, so the game's name alone does not identify the RTP you are playing.
Default and configuration 96
96.21% theoretical RTP
Alternative configurations
- Configuration 94
- 94.25%
- Configuration 91
- 91.25%
- Configuration 87
- 87.25%
- Configuration 84
- 84.18%
RTP describes the theoretical share of aggregate stakes returned over the long run. It is not the chance that a spin wins, the share of players who profit or a refund you receive after a session.
For a hypothetical mathematical illustration, €1,000 in aggregate wagers multiplied by 96.21% gives €962.10 theoretical return, a difference of €37.90. The same €1,000 calculation differs by €19.60 between the 96.21% and 94.25% models. These figures explain the percentages; they do not forecast the result of placing €1,000 in bets. Aggregate wagers also differ from the amount deposited, because money returned by a spin can be wagered again.
VERY HIGH is the game's volatility label
Play'n GO's original model labels volatility VERY HIGH, with a displayed value of 10. Treat that as the game's own volatility label, without converting it into a hit rate or a score comparable with every other provider. The expanding-symbol feature explains why the size of a qualifying result can change sharply; the label does not supply the probability of getting that result.
To choose between copies of this slot, start with the RTP printed in the particular game's help screen. Then look at the cost and active-line controls. A higher advertised payout multiple is hard to compare until you know whether its basis is the line stake or the total stake.
Small coin values and ten-line costs
The original stake model uses 1 to 5 coins per active line and the following coin values: 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.06, 0.07, 0.08, 0.09, 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40, 0.50, 0.60, 0.70, 0.80, 0.90, 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00. The model amounts apply to EUR, USD and GBP at a currency multiplier of one; the casino's available menu can differ.
Its 0.01 minimum total stake uses one coin on one active line. At the same 0.01 coin value with all ten lines active, the total cost is 0.10. In a hypothetical euro configuration, that means €0.01 for one line or €0.10 for ten lines. Compare the total stake shown by the game when changing lines, rather than treating the coin value as the price of the whole spin.
The largest documented coin and line settings are 2.00 × 5 coins × 10 lines = 100 total stake. That is a model ceiling for EUR, USD and GBP, with operator settings able to change the available range. The model uses SEK with a multiplier of ten as a separate currency example. This is an internal currency setting, not an exchange rate; those amounts do not define a PLN stake range.
What the 5,000× figure actually describes
A full five-reel Rich Wilde expansion pays 5,000 times total stake when the same combination pays across all active lines. The model also pairs a maximum total stake of 100 with 500,000 maximum exposure. Dividing those model figures gives 5,000. Its stated maximum includes the originating stake, and changing the default settings or bets changes the cash maximum.
Keep the calculation tied to the result it describes. The single expanded combination in the worked example does not define a universal accumulated limit for every retriggered free-spin sequence. A game's total-feature limit is a separate rule from the amount paid by one particular combination.
The optional card Gamble has its own limits
The original version includes an optional Gamble round after a prize. A correct prediction of the face-down card's colour doubles the prize; a correct suit prediction quadruples it. The documented limits are five successive attempts and 2,500 coins. Coins use the selected coin value, so that limit is not a fixed €2,500.
For a hypothetical existing €5 prize, a correct colour choice gives €10 and a correct suit choice gives €20. Those are conditional multiplications, not odds or expected returns. Availability and the full rules of the Gamble option belong to the particular game configuration. An ordinary line prize or triggered free-spin feature does not require treating those hypothetical multiplications as an extra guaranteed award.
Try the original demo and keep casino offers separate
Play'n GO provides practice links for the original Book of Dead on desktop and mobile. The provider's practice game is an entertainment mode without real-money cash prizes. It can introduce the layout and controls; a practice result does not show what a later real-money session will pay.
Desktop: Open demo page
Mobile: Open demo page
For real-money play, the slot and casino answer different questions. The exact title in the casino catalogue identifies the edition; the game's help identifies its RTP, paytable and stake settings. The casino's bonus terms tell you whether this title is eligible and which bets count towards wagering. A Play'n GO provider filter on its own does not identify every game in that catalogue.
The Vavada casino review covers its game catalogue, account choices and bonuses. Compare those account and offer conditions alongside the game's own rules when choosing a casino.
Vavada
Slots and live games from Pragmatic Play, Evolution Gaming and Hacksaw Gaming, with monthly cashback and six account statuses.
- Cashback
- 10% of cumulative net losses, less prior cashback; x5 wageringCalculated from account debits minus credits, less cashback already paid.
- Featured slot
- The Dog HouseOriginal game by Pragmatic Play.
- Live game
- Crazy TimeEvolution Gaming.
GO Collect adds a different reason to watch the reels
The original Book of Dead launched on 14 January 2016. Book of Dead GO Collect, released on 26 February 2026, is a separate edition that adds Gold Staters and a GO Collect meter leading towards the Treasure Vault. The name is close, but the collecting feature changes the task on the reels.
The GO Collect edition specifies a maximum of 80 free spins. Its Treasure Vault starts with three respins, and a new Stater resets that counter to three. Those are GO Collect rules. They do not set an 80-spin limit or add a Treasure Vault to the original game's ten-spin expanding-symbol feature.
Choose the original for its line stake, shared Wild/Scatter Book and one selected expanding symbol. Choose a GO Collect explanation when you want the coin meter and vault mechanics. Check the full title before applying a paytable or feature rule: the edition determines which mechanics and payout values apply.
Compare another slot's rules
Use the slot reviews to compare the game's payout basis and feature mechanics before applying the same figures to another title.
Questions and answers
When does the selected symbol expand in the original Book of Dead?
Three or more Books trigger ten free spins with one randomly selected ordinary symbol. Each spin recognises regular wins first; the selected symbol expands only when it creates an additional prize on an active payline. For that special award, the expanded reels can have gaps between them.
Does every Book of Dead game use 96.21% RTP?
No. In the original version 1.0 model, 96.21% is the default and configuration 96 value. Alternatives are 94.25%, 91.25%, 87.25% and 84.18%, and the casino can choose different settings. RTP describes theoretical long-run returns on stakes, not the chance that one spin wins.
Is Book of Dead's 5,000x figure a limit for the whole free-spin feature?
The 5,000x total-stake figure describes a full five-reel Rich Wilde expansion paying across all active lines. A normal five-Rich-Wilde line pays 5,000 times the line stake. That expanded combination does not establish a universal accumulated limit for a retriggered free-spin sequence.
