Play Rich Wilde and the Tome of Dead

Rich Wilde and the Tome of Dead sends Play'n GO's tireless explorer back to Ancient Egypt, because apparently retirement has never crossed the man's mind. This time, the familiar tomb-raiding theme is paired with a 5x5 cluster grid, cascading wins, Multiplier Wilds, All-Seeing Eyes and a Ritual meter culminating in the Banishment Free Spin. There are obvious echoes of earlier Rich Wilde adventures, but the grid mechanics give this expedition a noticeably different rhythm. 

Ancient Egypt and Rich Wilde have shared enough screen time by now to qualify as old colleagues, and Rich Wilde and the Tome of Dead doesn't attempt to hide that familiarity. The action unfolds inside a warmly lit tomb, with towering columns, hieroglyph-covered walls and plenty of gold lending the surroundings their suitably treasure-heavy appearance. 

Rich stands beside the grid clutching the titular tome, while the symbols draw on Egyptian mythology through canopic jars, Anubis, Ra imagery and pharaonic figures. Among similarly themed online slots, this one has the immediately recognisable Play'n GO visual stamp: clean character artwork, theatrical lighting and magical effects that become more noticeable as Wilds and Ritual features enter the grid. It isn't a radical visual reinvention of the Wilde universe, but at least nobody has inexplicably put Rich on a fishing boat yet. 

Potential wins use a cluster system rather than fixed paylines. At least four matching symbols need to connect horizontally or vertically, with larger clusters producing higher potential payouts. 

• Wild: The regular Wild substitutes for standard paying symbols and can help complete clusters. 
• Multiplier Wild: Rich Wilde appears as a Multiplier Wild. When involved in a potential win, it reveals an x2, x3, x4 or x5 multiplier, with a stronger possible range during the Banishment Free Spin. 
• All-Seeing Eye: Eye Marks sit beneath regular symbols. Forming a winning cluster over one can eventually release additional Wilds. 
• Ammit the Devourer Wild: This 2x2 Wild is exclusive to the Banishment Free Spin and moves across the grid during the feature. 

Cascading Wins 

A qualifying cluster removes its winning symbols from the 5x5 grid. Symbols above fall into the newly created spaces before fresh ones arrive, potentially creating another winning combination. 

Cascades continue until no new cluster forms. Winning symbols also contribute towards the Ritual meter, so longer chains can do more than generate additional potential payouts. 

Multiplier Wilds 

Rich Wilde's Multiplier Wild substitutes regular paying symbols and reveals a multiplier whenever it contributes to a win. The available base-game values are x2, x3, x4 and x5. 

If several Rich Wilde Multiplier Wilds participate in the same cluster, only the highest value is applied. Things work differently when the Multiplier Wild combines with Ammit during the Banishment feature, where the applicable multiplier values are multiplied together. 

All-Seeing Eyes 

Eye Marks can appear beneath positions on the grid. Creating a potential winning cluster over an active Eye opens it. 

Once the cascade sequence has finished, opened Eyes can add between two and four Wilds to the grid, creating another route into further cluster action. 

Ritual Meter 

Winning symbols charge the Ritual meter, and several milestones activate different effects: 

• Protection: At 8 charges, between two and four Wilds are added to the grid. 
• Devour: At 16 charges, two to four Wilds are added. If one participates in a win, surrounding symbols within the feature's defined range are removed. 
• Judgement: This modifier upgrades lower-paying canopic jar symbols into premium symbols. 

The combination gives the meter a clear sense of progression rather than making players wait for one distant trigger. 

Banishment Free Spin 

Filling the Ritual meter to 48 charges activates the Banishment Free Spin. The Ritual effects are then guaranteed to occur one after another once the current cascade sequence has finished. 

The meter can also be overcharged. Every four additional winning symbols adds another Ritual effect, up to seven effects in total. 

At the start of the feature, regular and special All-Seeing Eyes are placed beneath the grid. Opening all regular Eyes summons the 2x2 Ammit the Devourer Wild, which moves three times across the reels. Opening four, five or six special Eyes gives Ammit an x2, x3 or x4 multiplier respectively.

Rich Wilde and the Tome of Dead uses a 5x5 cluster grid, so there are no traditional paylines to follow. At least four identical symbols must connect horizontally or vertically to produce a potential payout. 

Once a cluster is removed, the cascade mechanic fills its spaces and checks the grid again. This process is also what feeds the Ritual meter, meaning the mechanics are tightly connected rather than functioning as unrelated extras. 

That makes the game quite different from the familiar expanding-symbol format associated with many Play'n GO titles found at online casinos. Here, momentum comes from keeping clusters alive long enough to trigger Wild additions, symbol upgrades and eventually the Banishment feature.

Egyptian tombs, mystical artefacts and Rich Wilde's apparently inexhaustible travel budget give us plenty of thematic neighbours to choose from. 

• Book of Dead: The obvious companion piece, following Rich Wilde through another Ancient Egyptian expedition with a far more traditional reel structure. 
• Rich Wilde and the Amulet of Dead: Another Egyptian adventure centred on Rich Wilde, mystical relics and supernatural tomb-raiding. 
• Oasis of Dead: Keeps the Ancient Egyptian setting but shifts the focus towards classic expanding-symbol gameplay and a lush oasis backdrop. 

Rich Wilde and the Tome of Dead feels more like Play'n GO revisiting a successful blueprint than tearing up the expedition map and starting from scratch. The Egyptian setting is familiar, and several mechanics clearly resemble those used in Rich Wilde and the Tome of Madness. That familiarity isn't necessarily a problem, but anyone hoping for Rich's great mechanical reinvention may want to lower the ceremonial trumpets slightly. 

What works rather well is the connection between cascades and the Ritual meter. Potential wins don't simply disappear and reset the board; they steadily push the game towards Wild additions, destructive effects and the eventual Banishment Free Spin. Ammit also gives the climax a suitably mythological centrepiece rather than leaving everything to another generic multiplier. 

For us, the game is strongest when several systems begin interacting at once. It may be borrowing from Rich Wilde's previous homework, but at least he's changed enough of the answers not to hand in exactly the same paper.