Ankh of Anubis Awakening: Slot Overview

Anubis, among the most significant Gods of Ancient Egypt, is also a familiar face in online slots, and the jackal-headed deity takes centre stage in Play’n GO’s Ankh of Anubis Awakening, which follows on from the 2019 title Ankh of Anubis. This time there’s a notable spin on the theme. Rather than placing the action in a world from millennia ago, Play’n GO drops Anubis into a futuristic setting, not unlike what Big Time Gaming explored in Book of Gods. Blending Ancient Egyptian motifs with sci-fi styling is an appealing, even if not entirely original, direction, and the game backs it up with a set of equally tempting mechanics.

In this slot, Anubis isn’t portrayed as a quiet observer. Alongside being tied to wild symbols, the Egyptian God provides spoken lines throughout play and generally feels like a character eager to be involved. Figuratively, of course—there’s no promise regarding how often or how impactful the Anubis-driven moments will be. Still, Play’n GO’s world-building lands well again, presenting a dark, futuristic vista under a looming circular sky. It’s not totally clear what’s happening, but it looks threatening and is presented nicely on-screen.

Set in a 3-4-4-4-3 formation, Ankh of Anubis Awakening uses a 5-reel grid. Wins are paid left to right across 576 ways to win. Scoring 6 out of 10, Ankh of Anubis Awakening is classed as a medium volatile slot, and among the multiple RTP options, 96.2% is the one players will want. With no additional gamble features on offer, the only choice before spinning is selecting a stake, with bets available from 10 c to $/€100.

The paytable in Ankh of Anubis Awakening includes 9 standard paying symbols. Five are 10-A card ranks, while the remaining four are jewellery-style icons. A 5-of-a-kind win with royals returns 0.3 to 0.8 times the bet, while landing five premium symbols pays 1.5 to 10 times the bet. Anubis appears on the wild, which is present on all reel strips. Wilds replace any symbol except the scatter to help form winning combinations. Five wilds on a winning way award 25x.

Ankh of Anubis Awakening: Slot Features

On the features side, players get the Anubis Wild feature, Anubis Respins, and free spins.

Anubis Wild Feature

The Anubis Wild feature activates randomly on any base game spin. When it hits, 4 to 8 wild symbols are placed onto the grid while the reels are in motion. This feature does not guarantee a win.

Anubis Respin

Scatter and wild symbols that land in non-winning payways set off the Anubis Respin feature. While it runs, all wild symbols stay on the reels and spread vertically up and/or down until they fill the entire reel. A fully stacked wild symbol is removed on the following respin. No new wild symbols can land during the feature. Up to 3 respins are awarded, depending on where the wild lands. The feature finishes once every wild symbol is fully shown on the reels.

Free Spins

The Ankh scatter symbol can appear on any reel. Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatters awards 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. Collecting 5 Ankh symbols on the collection meter during free spins adds wilds to the reels, triggering the Anubis Wild feature. Collection carries over between free spins. Landing the wild symbol during free spins triggers the Anubis Respin feature. Ankh symbols do not appear during the Anubis Respins feature, and free spins continue again once Anubis Respins end. The free spins round can be extended by +3, +4, or +5 free spins when 3, 4, or 5 scatters land, respectively, up to a cap of 500 free spins.

Ankh of Anubis Awakening: Slot Verdict

It’s been said before and it’ll likely be said again: Play’n GO really can’t resist Ancient Egypt. This time, though, the studio steps away from dusty temples and dunes for a moment and leans into another future-facing take. Moving Ancient Egypt into a sci-fi era is more widespread than it might seem, with Thunderkick and Pragmatic Play also exploring similar territory through Pyramyth and Rise of Pyramids, respectively. The idea works here, and it’s hard not to imagine how history might have looked if the Egyptian Dynasties had overcome the Romans and continued to thrive for thousands more years.

Maybe it would resemble the setting in Ankh of Anubis Awakening—at least it’s entertaining to think about. The features in Ankh of Anubis Awakening have their enjoyable moments too. They aren’t as high-tech as the backdrop, but they do feel refreshed, with spreading wild respins and up to 8 wilds being dropped onto the reels offering useful boosts. Anubis Respins in the base game stand out because they’re triggered by wilds and scatters that appear on non-winning ways. That can mean the wilds begin in less-than-ideal spots, although the ways format helps offset that somewhat. Anubis Respins also show up during the bonus, which—thanks to the cap of 500 free spins—sounds wildly excessive (even if it’s still fewer than Ankh of Anubis’ ‘indefinite’). You might be in the future yourself by the time they all finish. A strong moment in the bonus is when 5 Ankhs are collected and wilds are randomly added to the grid, triggering Anubis Respins. In one instance, 4 wilds landed on the leftmost 4 reels, which turned out very nicely.

With 500 free spins available, you’d think there’s a fair shot at reaching Ankh of Anubis Awakening’s 15,000x the bet max win (the same as last time). Considering Play’n GO’s reputation, maybe that many spins are needed to get there? Jokes aside, Ankh of Anubis Awakening is a solid entry that pulls off some clever wild and respin play inside a compelling neo-cyber-techno-Ancient Egyptian setting.