Legend of the Sphinx Slot Review

When viewing Egyptian antiquities, nothing captures the imagination quite like the Giant Sphinx of Giza. It holds many conundrums that to this day remain unsolved. The monument courts controversy as a relic that has survived the sands of time and casts doubts on its true origin and appearance. Some say that the head of Anubis originally rested on the limestone shoulders, and conflicting claims of hidden chambers underneath the monument still rage on. Now, the mystery continues in Legend of the Sphinx by Novomatic wrapped within 5 reels to grant players passage to the golden sands of ancient Egypt.

The play area is a scene inside the chamber of the Sphinx. At the top is the drawing of the god Khepri with the head of a beetle and with wings spread out in all their magnificence. This is carved into the sandstone walls with the game’s title overlaying it so only the wings are easily seen. Along the walls are also many hieroglyphics. The reels are housed in a simple wooden frame with symbols drawn on parchment, and resting on top on either side of the frame are bowls of fire to light the chamber.

Lighting the Way

The overall design is bright and quite colourful for its being set in an underground chamber dedicated to the underworld. As to be expected the design has incorporated objects and images associated with Egyptian antiquities, and some that are more traditional to the world of casino slot machines, namely the playing card symbols. These are given an eastern font and coloured in pastel rather than bold colours.

The characters of Horus, Anubis and Hathor appear as Egyptian paintings to depict them. Horas, son of Osiris appears with a falcon shaped head. Anubis has the head of a canine, and Hathor, wife of Horus appears as the beautiful woman she was reputed to be. A golden scarab beetle and a barge sailing on the Nile complete the basic symbols.

The scatter is a spectacular view of the pyramids and besides triggering bonus games, it also has fairly good paying values. The image of the formidable sphinx is the wild symbol which will double up wins when used as a substitute for all but the scatter symbol. There are up to 25 paylines and any regular wins along them are rewarded by multiplying the number of coins per line. Scatter wins are multiplied by the total bet in play.

Questions and Answers

Getting three or more pyramid scatters will set the wheels of the bonus game in motion and players will stand before the mighty sphinx who grants the player the opportunity to ask one of two questions. Either ‘How many free games have I won?’ or ‘What is my free game prize multiplier?’ The answer to the first question will award 20 free spins and a multiplier of x3 and the answer to the second will award 14 free spins with up to x5 multipliers. During both plays, there is the chance of more free spins being triggered.

We played this slot using credits and as such decided on the number of lines to play between 1 and 25. The number of coins bet per line was between 2 and a staggering 400. Playing the full 25 lines and with a coin bet of 400 ramped up the total bet to a jaw dropping 10000 credits for the max bet. A game of chance gamble feature is included to give gamblers a 50/50 chance to double their prizes. This is by deciding if the next card uncovered will be a red or black card.

Cleopatra Is Wild

Another ancient Egyptian themed slot to peruse is Egyptian Treasures. An online slot by Mazooma, it has betting between 0.01 and 500 and 25 adjustable paylines. Adopting a cartoon design it doesn’t necessarily have the wow factor for appearances even though it uses 3D graphics, but it does have a very good pay table with opportunities for some really decent payouts. Cleopatra is the wild and she has some interesting multipliers up to x10 to boost wins along a payline.

A mystical book doubles as the scatter to trigger a number of free spins which will play at the current bet staked at the time of the trigger. Symbols are also used for more than just base game payouts; they can determine the number of spins, up to 50 and can also be used as wilds with multipliers.

Symbol of Infinity in Golden Sands

With high volatility and diverse betting range, Legend of the Sphinx is one for high rollers to indulge their time and credits on. For low rollers playing at the bottom end, the game can still be enjoyed as there is plenty to relish in this recent slot. Especially nice is the design and use of animated tiles such as the sun going down of the pyramids of the scatter, and the way the symbols shimmer along the win line like a heat haze reflecting off the sands.

It might have been nice to have made the gamble feature a little less generic by making it more ‘Egyptian’ instead of looking like an afterthought. That is only a nit-pick though. The game transfers rather well onto mobile as we also played it on an iPhone so no worries about the iOS system not having compatibility. Novomatic invites players on a special trip that compares well to some of the best ancient Egypt themed slots around.