Updated
Lisa Michaels
Reveal the treasures of The Ancients in Games Global and Circular Arrow’s Ark of Ra Slot, a 5x3 reel, 20 payline, medium volatility title. Visit an extravagant Ancient Egyptian scene, with reels bordered by ornate pillars and guarded on either side by imposing statues. Egyptian gods and artifacts flash across the grid as special coins transform reels into potential-boosting towers. The game’s bonus features include free spins and wilds, and you can enjoy this title across all your devices.
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You only need an intermediary knowledge of online slots to fully enjoy Ark of Ra. The gameplay is straightforward, with easy betting, autoplay and a quick spin option. Things get a bit more advanced when you trigger free spins with different volatility options.
All the game’s controls are found across a panel directly below the 5x3 playing grid. In the centre, you can find the spin button while the autoplay and max bet buttons are on either side. To the right of the control panel, you’ll see your total playing credits as well as your current win.
On the left-hand side of the controls is where you’ll find the buttons to increase and decrease your bet, with the total bet shown next to this. There’s also a lightning icon, which activates quick spins when toggled and a speaker icon, which mutes or unmutes the game’s sounds. Finally, the information button is in the far left corner, which reveals the paytable when opened.
If you press the information icon, you’ll get to see all of Ark Ra’s symbols, payouts and bonus features. In total, there are ten regular symbols and three bonus symbols that can appear on the reels as you play. Starting at the bottom of the paytable and working our way up, J and Q pay 1.5x your stake for five on a payline. Meanwhile, the A and K symbols will pay out up to 2x your stake.
The next highest-paying symbols are powerful Egyptian symbols, the Ankh and the Eye of Ra. These will pay up to 2.5x and 3x your stake, respectively. Next up are two gold figurines of Ancient Egyptian gods, Anubis and Ra. The Anubis figurine pays up to 3.75x your bet for five of a kind, while the Ra statue pays up to 5x.
Ra and Anubis themselves will also appear on the reels, with Anubis paying up to 10x your bet and Ra paying an impressive 15x if you land five of a kind. These two symbols will also expand to cover the reels, increasing your chances of a win.
Lastly, the three bonus symbols are the wild, the scarab coin and the scatter. Wilds will substitute for other symbols on a payline while also paying out the highest amount of up to 50x your bet. Coins are collected in a meter above the reels to trigger the wild reels feature. Scatters pay from anywhere on the reels, offering a payout of 2x your bet, on top of triggering the free spins if you land three on a single spin.
In this slot, you can win by matching three or more symbols along any of the game’s paylines. There are twenty paylines in total, and your wins have to start from the left-most reel. The value of your win is determined by the value of the symbols multiplied by your stake.
The wild symbol is present on all reels in the game. Not only is it the highest-paying symbol, it will also help you form winning lines by substituting for other symbols.
Coin symbols also appear on any reel, and they’re collected in the coin meter above the reel they land on. If you collect two coins and fill the meter, you’ll trigger the wild reels feature. The reel below will become fully wild for two spins, increasing your chances of landing wins for those two spins. This bonus is active during the base game and the bonus round.
If you land three scatters on reels 1, 3 and 5, you will be given three bonus round options to choose from. The high volatility option gives you two free spins and three guaranteed wild reels per spin. If you choose medium volatility, you will get eight free spins and two guaranteed wild reels per spin. Selecting the low volatility option awards you 25 free spins and one guaranteed wild reel per spin.
During the bonus round, the Wild Reels can land in different positions on each spin, and you can retrigger the feature if three more scatters land.
This slot has a maximum payout worth 1,000x your bet. When playing at the highest stake of $200 per spin, this means you could potentially win $200,000 if you get very fortunate. Your best chance of achieving this win is through the free spins round if you’re lucky enough to hit multiple wild reels on a single spin.
The RTP rate is a respectable 96.14%, although you should note that your rate may change depending on the free spins choice you make. The volatility of the base game is medium, so expect an average win size and frequency. Of course, the RTP and volatility make a difference to the gameplay, but they’re not a guarantee of how much you’ll win back.
Your success depends on luck, as the rating is measured over an extremely large number of spins. Over short playing sessions, the amount you win back can vary significantly. When I played, I managed to land some decent payouts and even unlocked some fortune wild reels that helped my win rate.
Slot providers have a fascination with Ancient Egypt, and players must love the theme too, or else these games wouldn’t become so popular. Even if the Ancient Egypt theme might be a bit tired and overdone, we have to credit Games Global for creating a well-polished slot with lots of original designs. It would have been easy for the developer to take shortcuts, but they’ve gotten creative with the backgrounds, animations and symbols.
The gods themselves look excellent whenever they appear on the reels, and the music helps to create an epic atmosphere as you play. Sounds, animations and music all bring the game to life and will have you feeling like one of the early explorers discovering the lost tombs of the Egyptians.
As with all the best games, you can play Ark of Ra for free or real money. The slot demo is available on this page, waiting for you to load it up and spin. Of course, it’s completely free to play, and it allows you to experience the same features, symbols and atmosphere of the real money version. You can test out the wild reels and free spins without risking your own money.
We always recommend giving the demo a spin before playing with real cash, as it’s a risk-free way to learn more about the slot. We write these reviews to give you the best idea of how a game is to play, but there’s no substitution for trying it out yourself.
We’ve played countless Ancient Egyptian slots over the years. There’s something so intriguing about the lore and history of this ancient civilization and the relics they left behind for us to discover. Some of the very best slots share this theme, and we’ve created a short comparison of the most popular Ancient Egyptian slots:
Ark of Ra is a solid slot, but it doesn’t make much of a splash for an industry debut. The game features striking visuals and an exotic soundtrack that sets the mood. The Wild Reels feature rescues the base game from mediocrity with occasional large wins, and it shows its full potential in the bonus round.
As Circular Arrow’s first title, this is a competent and enjoyable game, but if the studio plans on making an impact, it might have to be a bit more adventurous in future. If you’re after Ancient Egyptian slots with a bit more gameplay depth, you should check out Scarab Kingdom.
Lisa started off as a croupier at her local casino. However she found her niche in writing and has subsequently used her real-world gambling experiences to help produce and review the many online slots that are released monthly. Lisa also contributes to keeping you up to date with Canadian newsworthy stories.
