Rich Wilde is a recurring adventurer character who appears in a number of Play'n GO pokies — Book of Dead, Pearls of India, Tome of Madness, Wild Falls and others. He's the studio's signature protagonist, an explicit Indiana Jones analogue.

Is Book of Dead a bonus buy pokie?

No. There's no bonus-buy option in Book of Dead. Free spins can only be triggered the conventional way — three or more Book symbols on a qualifying base-game spin.

Book of Dead — Play'n GO's Modern Book Pokie with a 96.21% RTP

Q: What is the RTP of Book of Dead?

Book of Dead runs at approximately 96.21% RTP — one of the higher figures among mainstream high-volatility pokies and a full percentage point above the Book of Ra Deluxe build.

Book of Dead pokie by Play'n GO — Rich Wilde Egyptian adventure reels

Book of Dead is the pokie Play'n GO built in 2016 when they looked at Book of Ra's continued popularity and asked: what would this game feel like if the studio that invented it weren't burdened by a decade of legacy mobile ports? The answer was a near-identical mechanical core — 10 paylines, Book scatter that also serves as wild, expanding symbol on free spins — wrapped in modern art, a higher RTP, and Rich Wilde, the studio's recurring adventurer protagonist. It took one year to become the most-played pokie in Play'n GO's catalogue. It's never relinquished the position.

The two headline numbers: 96.21% RTP, putting it above almost every competing Book-style pokie in the market; and 5,000× max win on a single spin, producing dream-ticket outcomes that are rare but meaningful. Volatility is high — dry stretches on the base game are common, and feature triggers are where almost all session-defining wins come from. But when the feature hits with a high-paying expanding symbol, Book of Dead can produce the kind of session that keeps players coming back for months.

At a glance

Highest-RTP mainstream Book-style pokie in the market. High volatility means patience — feature triggers drive the session, not the base game. Modern presentation and Rich Wilde's continuing-character appeal make it the default Book pokie for anyone who hasn't formed a nostalgic attachment to the original Novomatic build.

How Book of Dead plays

Five reels, 10 fixed paylines, left-to-right wins. Rich Wilde himself heads the paytable, followed by the Pharaoh's Mask, Anubis, the Scarab, and the A, K, Q, J, 10 royals. The Book of Dead serves as both scatter and wild — substituting for all regular symbols and triggering the free spin feature when three or more appear anywhere on the reels.

Bet range is unusually flexible — A$0.01 per line minimum (A$0.10 per spin total) up to A$10 per line maximum at most casinos. Low-stakes sessions are viable; high-roller sessions also work. The flexibility is one of the pokie's quiet strengths.

Bonus features

Book scatter (also wild) — the Book symbol acts as both a scatter and a substitute. Three or more trigger free spins regardless of line position, and the Book also counts as any regular symbol for line wins.
Free spin feature (10 spins with expanding symbol) — the headline mechanic. At the start of the feature, one regular symbol is randomly picked as the expanding symbol. When that symbol lands during free spins it expands to fill the entire reel, paying on all active lines.
Retriggers — three more Books during the feature add 10 more free spins with the same expanding symbol still active. Retriggers can stack across a session.
Gamble feature — red/black or suit-guess after any base-game win. Can be used up to five times consecutively to compound a win.

Theme, graphics and sound

Warm sand-tone palette, tomb-depth shadows, hand-drawn symbol art with modern vector cleanness. Rich Wilde animates at the side of the reels — he tips his hat on wins and reacts with increasing excitement as the feature progresses. Sound design is polished tomb-adventure: distant cavern ambience, a satisfying book-pages-turning effect on scatter landings, and a swelling orchestral sting when the expanding symbol fires on a big feature spin. It's thoroughly modern and thoroughly on-brand.

Mobile play

The HTML5 build is among the best-optimised pokies on mobile. Fast load, clean symbol art at any screen density, and the expanding symbol animation works equally well in portrait and landscape. Play'n GO builds all their games mobile-first and Book of Dead shows the polish. Autoplay is fully configurable including win/loss limits.

Where to play Book of Dead with PayID

Book of Dead has universal distribution — it's rare to find an AU-facing casino that doesn't carry it. Current PayID-friendly picks:

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Welcome bonuses at AU-facing casinos often include free spins on Book of Dead specifically — one of the most common pokies for bonus-package free spins.

Similar pokies worth trying

Book of Dead is the modern Book-mechanic standard. Natural companions:

FAQ

What is the RTP of Book of Dead?

96.21% — published and audit-verified. One of the higher figures in the mainstream high-volatility pokie category.

Is Book of Dead the same as Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead?

Yes. The full title is "Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead" — most casinos shorten it to Book of Dead in the lobby. Rich Wilde is Play'n GO's recurring adventurer character, and this was his debut appearance.

Can I buy the free spin feature directly?

No. Book of Dead predates the bonus-buy era and doesn't offer that option. Free spins only trigger via three or more Books on a qualifying base-game spin.

What's the best expanding symbol?

Rich Wilde himself — he's the highest-paying regular symbol at 5,000× stake for a full five-of-a-kind. When he's chosen as the expanding symbol and fills multiple reels during the feature, you get the session-defining wins Book of Dead is famous for.

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