Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax: Slot Overview

Before this release, our most recent run-in with software developer Bang Bang Games came through the pirate-flavoured online slot Shadow Raiders MultiMax. This time, the studio returns with another title that leans on a familiar ingredient supplied by partner studio Yggdrasil Gaming. As the name makes clear, Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax centres on the DoubleMax mechanic, the same one that burst onto the scene in the ground-rattling Raptor DoubleMax. Here, Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax brings that system back and layers on its own twist, dubbed the Pharaoh’s Gaze. What exactly does it add? There’s only one way to see.

Thankfully, you won’t need to start excavating dunes to get answers—though if you want to roleplay a bit of archaeology, go right ahead. As you’d expect, Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax is an Ancient Egyptian-themed slot, pairing thematic visuals with a stern-looking ruler. The soundtrack blends styles as well, mixing Egyptian-inspired touches with a lively rock track that ramps up during free spins. The action unfolds in a torch-lit, stone-block setting, with statues standing watch over the reels. It may not be the most breathtaking Ancient Egypt presentation out there, but it has enough punch to make you want to dig deeper.

Next up, choose a wager from 20 p/c to $/€50 and decide if you want to switch on the Bonus Boost, which increases the stake by 25% while doubling the chance of the free spins bonus. With the win multiplier staying active throughout the bonus, free spins are especially appealing. The game is playable on any device, carries highly volatile behaviour, and is available in four RTP configurations, with 96% as the top option. Gameplay runs on a 5-reel, 3-row layout, using 20 paylines to form line wins.

Symbol-wise, Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax includes 8 pays, a bonus, and a wild. The pay set starts with J-A low symbols, which return 1x the bet for a five-of-a-kind line win, followed by three Ancient Egyptian god depictions plus a throne as the four premium icons. Hitting five matching high-value symbols pays 2 to 5 times the stake. Finally, wilds appear on all five reels and substitute for all symbols except the scatter.

Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax: Slot Features

On the feature front, Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax combines a Dropdown Feature, the DoubleMax, Pharoah’s Gaze Wilds, Scarab Free Spins, and a bonus buy.

Dropdown Feature

Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax runs a Dropdown mechanic where winning symbols are removed from the grid, allowing the remaining symbols above to fall into place as new ones drop in to fill the gaps. Whenever a Dropdown win lands, a wild symbol is inserted into one of the winning positions before the other empty cells are replenished. This setup can create multiple consecutive wins from a single spin, stopping only when no further wins appear.

DoubleMax

With every Dropdown win, the game also doubles the win multiplier. Once a spin in the base game finishes with no more Dropdowns, the multiplier is reset.

Pharoah’s Gaze Wilds

Above the reels sit 5 Pharaoh heads, and randomly, symbols can land showing small Pharoah Gems. These Gems are collected by the Pharaoh positioned above the reel. After a Pharaoh gathers 3 Pharoah Gems, it becomes activated, and its reel is highlighted for the next 3 consecutive spins or cascades. While active, Pharaohs can place 1 to 3 wilds on their reel on each spin or dropdown. Pharaoh Gems do not land on activated reels.

Scarab Free Spins

Triggering the bonus requires 3 or more scatter symbols in the base game, awarding 7 free spins. Any collected Gems are carried over, and when the feature begins, 6 Pharoah Gems are distributed into random empty collection slots. During free spins, the multiplier does not reset until the bonus round is complete.

Buy Bonus

Players may purchase 7 free spins for 100 times their stake. When the bonus is bought, there is also the option of gambling for more free spins. A winning gamble raises the spins from 7 to 10, and the next successful gamble increases them from 10 to 13. A losing gamble removes all free spins.

Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax: Slot Verdict

Hopefully this doesn’t come across as diminishing Bang Bang Games’ work, but while playing Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax, the DoubleMax mechanic felt a little less shiny than before. It was odd to repeatedly build up a hefty multiplier that didn’t always seem to connect with meaningful payouts. That was the case even with the extra wild help—sometimes including full reel wilds—coming from the Pharaoh’s Gaze Wild feature. Naturally, not every spin or bonus can be a show-stopper, and perhaps we’re reading too much into it, but it did underline the complex maths working in the background, juggling big modifiers without letting the game constantly erupt.

That said, Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax can still erupt when everything aligns. The multipliers it can stack become very large, and with wilds added through Pharoah Gem collections, it’s easy to see how a strong line win could be amplified heavily. Huge moments have definitely happened in Raptor DoubleMax more than once, so there’s little reason to doubt Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax can also deliver—up to a top prize of 15,000 times the stake. It may not be the most eye-catching of the DoubleMax line, but it’s still a notable ceiling.

Yggdrasil Gaming clearly struck gold when it launched Raptor DoubleMax, because the follow-up titles so far haven’t hit with the same force—whether they come from partner studios or Yggdrasil Gaming itself, with Neon Villains being one example. Pharaoh’s Gaze DoubleMax is another entry that’s perfectly decent to play, has the technical ingredients to raise the heartbeat, yet ultimately doesn’t shine quite as brightly as the original.