John Hunter and the Book of Tut Pokie

It is amazing how the pokie fits into the overall framework of Ancient Egypt! The kingdom grew into the strongest empire of the ancient world because of the art of irrigation and the network of channels delivering water to remote fields. Fixed paylines of the pokie work just like those channels and deliver wins to the most adventurous players. There are 10 paylines; they are always on. To start the game a player needs to place a bet and press the Spin button. A bet starts at NZ$0.01 per line (NZ$0.10 per spin) and may be increased to NZ$10 per line (NZ$100 per spin). This broad selection of acceptable bets makes the pokie an interesting online casino game for all kinds of players including high rollers. At the same time the pokie machine is perfect for players on a budget as well. Treasures are discovered and fetched with the help of symbols including nine non-feature images and the Book of Tut acting in two ways, as a wild and scatter. Regular icons are five playing cards from 10 to A and four most valuable items found in the tomb of the Boy-King. Cards pay when at least three of the same land on any line and award between x5 and x150 a line bet (NZ$1,500 at the maximum stake). Egyptian items pay out when at least two of a kind land on any line and award between x5 and x5,000 (NZ$50,000 at best). This is a huge award by standards of any online casino; moreover, it may grow times bigger when a bonus feature triggers (reviewed below). The Book of Tut works as a wild and scatter. Serving as a wild, it substitutes for any card or artefact. As a scatter, it pays between x2 and x200 the total bet or up to NZ$20,000 if the game is for real money. Besides, three or more Scatters on the reels start a bonus feature. Naturally, when there are five Books on any line, they have no icon to substitute for, so they simply pay x200 the total bet. A small downside is an irritating sound heard when the reels are spinning. That sound would be a better match for some unsophisticated 3-reel fruit machine then for a modern Egypt-themed video pokie. If that sound is a problem it can be switched off.

Tut was Egypt’s youngest and probably richest king, judged by the treasures found in his tomb. This is why free spins in Tut’s style are much better than ordinary free spins offered by any other pokie available in online casinos accepting players from New Zealand. Tut awards players an expanding symbol. Hitting three or more scatters during the base game triggers a free spin feature. It starts just the way it does in some other slot machines belonging to the John Hunter series: the Book selects any non-feature icon to become a special expanding symbol. When the Book finally selects the icon, ten free spins begin. When the special symbol hits the reels, the game pays the award earned by other icons and then the special symbol expands vertically to cover the entire reel. The best thing about the expanding symbol is that it pays in any position. It does not need to appear along a payline from left to right or without a gap between matching icons. Whatever order the special symbols follow, they do pay as soon as there are enough symbols for a win (3 cards or 2 artifacts). If a player is tired of waiting for the bonus to get triggered, he may consider purchasing it by clicking a Buy Free Spins button to the left-hand side of the reels. The price that has to be paid is variable and makes up x100 the total bet. When bought, free spins start immediately, preserving the same bonus features as reviewed above. Although the pokie machine may look a bit monotonous in terms of gameplay, free spins (whether unlocked in a normal course of the game or bought) do make up for that shortage.

John Hunter and the Book of Tut by Pragmatic play is a 5-reel 10-line mobile-friendly pokie accepting bets between NZ$0.10 and NZ$100 per spin and awarding wins up to x5,000 a line bet and x200 the total bet during the base game and times more during retriggerable free spins running with an expanding symbol that pays in any position like a scatter.