I’m sticking to the shortened title for this new Pragmatic Play game – the full title is Emilia Lionheart [and the] Diamonds of Egypt, a possible reference to the famous American aviator Amelia Earhart, perhaps? This is a curious release in some ways – it’s a high volatility 243-way slot with a much higher-than-average minimum bet, yet the developer has capped the maximum jackpot at just 2,500x the players’ stake. That’s a disappointing start, no question – at least the 96.49% RTP is somewhat above average, although not enough to compensate for the small jackpot in my eyes.
The feature list starts with a treasure chest multiplier wild symbol, which is much more valuable than you might expect. Rather than just having its 5x multiplier value applied to winning combinations that intersect with it, the treasure chest will actually multiply the total return of each round when it appears on the playfield. There’s also a jackpot bonus game with four fixed prizes to be won, ranging between 10x the bet for the MINI up to 1,000x the bet for the GRAND. As for the main bonus round, this is a free spins affair that uses alternative reel strips that do not include any low-paying symbols.
I’m unsure how many diamonds could be left in the pyramids after centuries of them being plundered by invaders. I mean, they even stole the stones from the outside of the things .. anything valuable left inside is surely hidden behind a layer of booby traps! Still, the brave amongst you can go ahead and join Emilia on her quest via our free demo slot of Diamonds of Egypt – available to play below:
diamonds of egypt slot THEME, STAKES, PAYS & SYMBOLS
Diamonds of Egypt slot paytable
I almost don’t want to add this game to our review library right now – our Egyptian slots category currently includes 243 unique games, which feels like a perfect number to stop on – don’t you think? But, alas, I have no doubt that the developers have other ideas! It seems not a week goes by without a new Egyptian-themed game being released – we recently reviewed a crossover title named 4 Fantastic Fish in Egypt! If that’s not proof enough that developers simply love creating games of this genre, I don’t know what else could be!
This game is full of strange numbers; it seems – the highest-paying regular symbol on the paytable is the King Tut mask, offering returns of 7.727272x the total bet for a full payway of five of a kind. The stack of amulets will get you 4.3181818x your bet back for all five symbols, whilst the snake's head is worth 3.1818182x for a five of a kind winning combination. The final high-paying symbol is a goblet, this time paying 2.0454545x for a complete payway. Why are all the numbers in strange recurring sequences? It’s the result of a very strange minimum bet – see the next paragraph for details on that! Just before we get there, though, all five low-paying royals share equal returns of 0.170454545x for a full payway of five symbols. No, I’m not even joking!
Almost every other Pragmatic Play game is very sensible regarding betting rules and conventions, so I’m not entirely sure what went wrong with Diamonds of Egypt. It’s not unusual for 243-way slots to enforce specific bet sizes – early examples such as Thunderstruck 2 asked you to be in multiples of 30 credits, which was easy enough to understand. This game, however, has a minimum bet of €0.88 per round, which may be too much to ask of those with smaller bankrolls. Furthermore, the maximum permitted wager has been set at an equally odd value of €140.80 per spin. On the bright side, at least you can choose any multiple of the minimum bet you wish, with no arbitrary restrictions.
base game & modifiers
Diamonds of Egypt slot base game
Immediately after loading up Diamonds of Egypt, you’ll be faced with a familiar sight – a five reel, three row playfield. This is the most common size used by video slots, and the 243-way payout mechanic is also likely to be extremely familiar to all players. This means that any three or more matching symbols on adjacent reels starting from the left will award a win, but the downside to that simplicity is that the size of those wins is certain to be smaller than a game that uses pay lines instead.
multiplier wild symbols
Regular wild symbols featuring the game's protagonist Emilia appear on reels two, three, and four. The more valuable chest wild symbol is only present on reel three, but it always carries with it a 5x multiplier. This multiplier will be applied to every win during the round when it appears, including both during the base game and the free spin bonus round.
diamonds of egypt slot bonus features
Diamond of Egypt slot free spins feature
The main free spin bonus round is triggered by hitting three or more scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. There’s no benefit as far as the feature is concerned to hitting more than three triggering symbols, but you do at least get a small; cash premium of up to 50x your bet on top of the free spins should all five possible scatters land simultaneously.
free spins
In this mode, all five low-paying royal symbols are removed from the reels, leaving only stacks of the high-paying symbols, the regular and multiplier wilds, and extra scatters that can re-trigger the feature with eight more free spins should three or more land on the reels.
jackpot bonus game
The jackpot bonus game can trigger randomly on any spin where at least one wild symbol hits, whether the regular variety or the enhanced multiplier wild. If you are lucky enough to see the jackpot game appear, congratulations – you are now guaranteed to win one of the game's four possible jackpot prizes. These aren’t progressive jackpots, though, and are set at the following fixed values:
MINI – 10x Total Bet
MINOR – 20x Total Bet
MAJOR – 100x Total Bet
GRAND – 1,000x Total Bet
Pros
The jackpot bonus game seems relatively easy to trigger, although I never got anything but the MINI during my time testing the game!
Above average RTP of 96.49%
Multiplier wild applies its value to every win during the current round, not just the payways that specifically include the symbol.
Cons
The 2,500x jackpot cap is way too low for a game with a minimum bet of almost one euro per spin.
The free spins bonus doesn’t add much to the gameplay above and beyond what is already present in the base game.
Final Thoughts
For me, Diamonds of Egypt is a rare misfire by Pragmatic Play. The minimum bet is way too high, the jackpot is too low, and the bonus features don’t add much variety to an average online slot. Nevertheless, this one will get some play regardless of this developer’s reputation for high-quality games. Still, they’d do well remembering how hard that reputation was for them to build before pushing out too many more games like Diamonds of Egypt.