Book of Relics: Overview

If you’ve spent any time browsing casino lobbies for something worthwhile, you’ll know there’s no shortage of Book-slots—nearly all of them taking their cues from Novomatic’s holy grail Book of Ra. A few attempt to put a fresh spin on the concept, like Big Time Gaming did in Book of Gods, or Microgaming in Book of Oz, but most are simply direct copies of the original. On the SG Digital platform alone, you’ll find multiple takes such as Lady of Avalon, Mermaid Queen, and the exceptionally awful Pyramids of Giza, where they couldn’t even be bothered to include expanding symbols. And as if that lineup wasn’t crowded enough, there’s now another entry on the list courtesy of SD Digital’s in-house studio Red7.

Book of Relics, as it’s been so “cleverly” named, follows the original blueprint to the letter, so you’re getting the familiar setup of 5 reels, 3 rows and 10 paylines. A quick glance at the paytable shows an RTP of 95.25% which, while a touch higher than Novomatic’s version, still sits well below the 96.21% available in Book of Dead (assuming you’re playing the highest RTP setting). If you’re craving classic Book gameplay, it’s generally wise to steer clear of the 95% versions, since even a 1% RTP drop hits harder than most players expect. Either way, Book of Relics runs smoothly on all devices and allows stakes from 10 cents to 200€ per spin.

The setting is, unsurprisingly, ancient Egypt, and the presentation is exactly what you’d expect from the genre, complete with the familiar Egyptian soundtrack looping behind the reels. Executed with solid attention to detail, the reels sit inside a stone chamber watched over by two shredded Anubis statues. On the reels you’ll find low-value 10, J, Q, K and A royals, along with daggers, Horus falcons, Cleopatras, and Pharaohs. The Pharaoh is the top payer, awarding 500 times your stake for 5 across a payline. The book acts as the wild and matches the payout of the highest paying regular symbol.

Book of Relics: Features

Like most games in this category, everything revolves around the Free Spins round, which starts when 3 or more book symbols land in view. Unlike the classic setup, you’re awarded extra spins for landing more than 3 books—4 or 5 books grant 15 or 20 free spins respectively. The feature can also be retriggered for the same amounts.

Before the bonus kicks off, 1 of the 9 regular symbols is randomly chosen as the special expanding symbol. Whenever it lands, it expands to cover the entire reel, effectively boosting your base-game payouts by up to 10x (10 paylines).

There’s also a jackpot mechanic called the Mega Drop feature. When enabled by the casino, these jackpots are fixed and are guaranteed to drop before reaching a specified amount.

Book of Relics: Verdict

Book of Relics is good-looking, runs smoothly, and delivers exactly what you’d expect from a Book-slot. The issue is that entering the Book arena means your game needs to be close to flawless, because it will inevitably be judged against the original’s high bar. As a result, even minor irritations—like the on-screen count-up after every single win—start to wear thin.

Book of Relics is perfectly serviceable, but it doesn’t bring enough to the table to stand out from the crowd and, for reasons we can’t quite put our finger on, it doesn’t light up the brain in the same way Book of Ra does. Because of that, Book of Relics seems destined to remain largely overlooked.