Book of Dead is a waiting game with one roll of the dice at the end. The base reels mostly tick over, the free spins hold the return, and the symbol picked at the start of those spins sets the tone for the whole round. Playing it offshore lifts the stake cap. Your chances of a good pick stay exactly where they were.
What Book of Dead Is
Rich Wilde's ten-payline book slot from 2016. One symbol is picked before the free spins and expands over whole reels, and that pick stands between a flat bonus and the 5,000× top prize.
The UK Build Against The Offshore One
On a UK-licensed site Book of Dead runs under the £5 per spin cap (£2 if you are 18 to 24) and the loaded RTP must be on display. Offshore sites set their own stake limits and have no duty to say which of Play'n GO's RTP builds they run.
Play'n GO certifies Book of Dead at more than one return. 96.21% is the top setting; slot databases and operators also report versions near 94.25% and 91.28%. Those two lower figures come from third-party listings rather than a Play'n GO document, so read them as a rough range. A gap of about five points never shows on the reels and only appears in the info panel, which is why our RTP explainer begins with where to find it.
How Book of Dead plays from the first spin
The grid is five reels by three rows with ten fixed paylines. The book symbol does two jobs: it substitutes for other symbols as a wild, and three or more of them anywhere on the reels start ten free spins.
Before those spins begin, the game picks one regular symbol to act as the special expanding symbol for the round. Whenever that symbol lands on enough reels to form a win, it grows to fill every position on those reels and pays across all ten lines.
Outside the bonus there is very little going on. Small line wins keep the balance ticking down slowly, and the base game exists mainly to deliver the three books. If you want a slot with base-game features to keep you company between bonuses, this is the wrong title.
Why the picked symbol matters more than the ten spins
Players tend to judge a Book of Dead bonus by how busy it looked. The better question is which symbol was picked before the first free spin, because that pick sets the size of every expanded win that follows.
Rich Wilde sits at the top of the paytable. Pick him and land him on three or more reels and a single spin can pay a large multiple of your stake, which is the only realistic route to the 5,000× maximum. The pharaoh and the other Egyptian figures are solid middle picks. The five card ranks pay so little per reel that a round built on them often finishes below the stake that triggered it.
A retrigger is possible when three more books land during the round, which adds spins with the same special symbol. That helps a good pick and does little for a poor one.
Nobody outside Play'n GO knows the pick odds. The selection is weighted by the studio rather than spread evenly across the paytable, and the weighting is not published. Treat any quoted chance of getting Rich Wilde as a guess.
Putting the bonus wait into pounds
The trigger rate most often quoted for this game is one bonus every 150 to 200 spins. Spin counts are easy to shrug off, so here is the same wait expressed as money put through the reels, alongside how many spins a £500 balance buys before any wins come back.
| Stake per spin | Turnover for one average bonus wait | Spins from £500 with no wins |
|---|---|---|
| £1 | £150 to £200 | 500 |
| £2 | £300 to £400 | 250 |
| £5 | £750 to £1,000 | 100 |
| £10 | £1,500 to £2,000 | 50 |
Base-game wins stretch those spin counts in practice, but the pattern holds: at £10 a spin a £500 balance can run out well before the average trigger point, while at £1 it comfortably covers several bonus waits. The RTP is identical in every row. Only your exposure changes. The bankroll simulator lets you try your own stake and balance first.
Checking which Book of Dead you have loaded
The art, the paytable and the free spins look identical across every RTP setting, so you cannot spot a lower build by playing it. You have to read the number. Tap the information or menu icon inside the game, page through the rules, and look for the line giving the theoretical return.
Here is what the reported settings mean for 1,000 spins at £2, which is £2,000 of turnover. These are long-run averages, so a single session can land far above or below them.
| RTP setting | Average cost of 1,000 spins at £2 | Extra cost against 96.21% |
|---|---|---|
| 96.21% | £75.80 | None |
| 94.25% (reported) | £115.00 | £39.20 |
| 91.28% (reported) | £174.40 | £98.60 |
Plug in your own stake and spin count with the RTP cost calculator. If the info panel shows a figure well under 96.21%, the same game is usually available at a different casino on a better setting.
Book of Dead at casinos not on GamStop
The main practical change offshore is the stake ceiling. UK rules cap online slot spins at £5, or £2 for players aged 18 to 24, while offshore casinos set their own maximums. The game underneath is the same Play'n GO title, with the same 5,000× ceiling and still without a bonus buy.
Offshore sites still check who you are, typically before a larger withdrawal or when your deposits trip a review. Our guide to KYC at offshore casinos explains what gets asked and when. For a wider list of titles you can play outside the UK scheme, see slots not on GamStop.
If you signed up to GamStop because your gambling was getting out of hand, keep that exclusion in place; GamCare offers free, confidential help on 0808 8020 133.
Other Rich Wilde games run on their own maths
Play'n GO has put Rich Wilde on a whole run of follow-ups, and the shared character makes it easy to assume the numbers on this page carry over. They do not. Each sequel is certified separately, with its own return settings, feature rules and maximum win, and some (Tome of Madness is the clearest case) drop the book format altogether for a different grid.
If you search the lobby for Book of Dead, check the title bar once the game loads. The figures above describe the 2016 original only.
What A Lower RTP On Book of Dead Costs You
Book of Dead is advertised at 96.21%. Casinos can load a lower configuration of the same game. Set the stake and session length to match how you play and the difference comes out in pounds.
These version figures are reported by operators and databases; we have not read them off a studio document, so treat them as orientation.
Worked example. Book of Dead at £1 a spin, 500 spins an hour for 10 hours is 5,000 spins and £5,000 staked.
| RTP version | Expected loss |
|---|---|
| 96.21% | −£190 |
| 94.25% | −£288 |
The lower version costs £98 more over the same play.
What A Session On Book of Dead Looks Like
Expect long quiet stretches: the bonus is commonly reported to land about once per 150 to 200 spins, and that one round carries most of what the game pays back.
Worked example. £200 played at £1 a spin for 1,000 spins is £1,000 of turnover, more than the bankroll, because winnings are staked again.
| Starting bankroll | £200 |
| Turnover if the money lasts | £1,000 |
| Expected cost of that turnover | −£38 |
Enable JavaScript to run ten thousand sessions and see the spread of outcomes rather than this single average.
Where To Play Book of Dead Not On GamStop
- Welcome packs with no wagering
- 15+ provably fair Originals
- Rakeback and weekly cashback via loyalty
- Sportsbook on the same balance
- Originals with seed verification
- Large sportsbook
- Daily races and weekly raffles
- Very wide coin support
- Originals and lottery games
- Sportsbook
How this list is ranked: licence and transparency, UK access, bonus terms, cashier, games and track record. The full method.
Book of Dead: Questions Players Ask
Does Book of Dead have a bonus buy anywhere?
Which symbol do I want picked for the free spins?
Why do some free spins rounds pay almost nothing?
Is the RTP lower at casinos not on GamStop?
Play with money you can afford to lose. Casino games are built to return less than is staked over time. Set a budget and use your account's deposit limits. Free, confidential support is available from GamCare on 0808 8020 133. More on staying in control.