Cleopatra Megaways

When exploring the Ancient Egypt section of online slots, it quickly becomes apparent that there are numerous Cleopatra games available. We're not just talking about slots featuring a female ruler, but actual titles with 'Cleopatra' in them. One of the most renowned is simply named Cleopatra, developed by IGT (now under iSoftBet). It gave birth to Cleopatra 2 some time ago and has now evolved into Cleopatra Megaways, an iSoftBet spinoff featuring the Megaways engine from Big Time Gaming. While modernized to a certain extent, Cleopatra Megaways still retains some classic elements.

Visually, Cleopatra Megaways is an improvement over its predecessors, though not drastically so. It maintains the classic columns framing the gaming grid, the recognizable title font, and an array of Egyptian-inspired symbols. Fans of the older games will feel right at home, while newcomers get to experience a slot with historical significance and a modernized look.

To begin, players can select a stake ranging from 20 p/c to $/€20 per spin. Behind the cultural facade lies a highly volatile math model offering a 96% theoretical return to player. Structurally, the game follows a standard Megaways setup with 6 reels containing 2 to 7 symbols each, leading to up to 117,649 active ways to win.

Symbols forming winning combinations are removed via the cascading wins mechanic, with new symbols falling to replace them. Wins are awarded when matching symbols land from reel number 1 onwards across adjacent reels. Payouts range from 0.8 to 1.5 times the bet for 6 OAK of 9-A card royals to 1.75 to 50 times the bet for premium theme-based symbols. The logo eyes symbol acts as the wild, appearing on reels 2 to 5 and doubling the payout value when part of a win.

The focal feature of Cleopatra Megaways is the Hold & Win Respins, accompanied by Cleopatra Modifiers.

Cleopatra Modifiers:
Scatters landing are added to the Offering Brazier, potentially triggering one of 4 modifiers on any spin:

Wild Add: Adds 2 to 5 random wilds to the grid.
Mystery symbols: Adds a random number of mystery symbols, which transform into the same symbol.
Max Megaways: Produces the maximum number of ways on the grid.
Bonus Add: Adds a random number of scatter symbols to increase the chance of triggering Hold & Win Respins.

Hold & Win Respins:
Landing at least 5 scatter symbols triggers the feature, awarding 3 respins with only scatters and boosters able to land. Each symbol landed sticks in place, resetting the respins count. Regular cash scatters have values of x1 to x10, with Mini, Minor, Major, or Grand symbols worth 20x, 100x, 500x, or 2,000x the bet, respectively. Filling a reel with symbols activates the reel multiplier, which multiplies all scatters on the respective reel.

Look out for reel boosters such as the x2 multiplier, collector, extra life, and expander. When activated, they transform into cash scatters.

The transition of the original Cleopatra slot to a Megaways version under iSoftBet's direction may come as a surprise, but it's not unexpected to see the studio implementing their favored Hold & Win mechanic. While not as complex as other Hold & Win games, Cleopatra Megaways offers a somewhat retro-style gaming experience that aligns with the Cleopatra slot concept. The max win is more modest, but still respectable at 10,000x the bet.

• Title: Cleopatra Megaways
• Developer: iSoftBet
• Reels: 6
• Rows: 2-7
• Paylines: Up to 117,649
• Max Win: 10,000x
• Volatility: High
• Min/Max Bet: 0.20/20
• Release Date: December 7, 2023