Kingdom of the Sun Slot
A beautiful Egyptian Queen, a Pharaoh, cats, cobras and hawks are some of the high-paying symbols that players will see landing on the 5 reels of Playson’s Kingdom of the Sun video slot. These symbols can only mean one thing, that we have travelled back once more to ancient Egypt, a land and a time so beloved by slot machine developers, although quite why this particular topic has become such a hot favourite is, like the tombs themselves, lost in the sands of time.
Kingdom of the Sun is a good example of this genre however and comes complete with a nice background image to help set the scene. There’s a slightly out of focus view of an Egyptian city behind the main part of the game, where huge pyramids can be seen in the distance, while a couple of palm trees sway in the breeze. It’s effective, without being over-powering and doesn’t distract from the action that takes place on the reels. As well as winning prizes whenever 3 or more of the same symbol type stops across any of the 15 paylines, special symbols will trigger bonus features like wild substitutions and a Spreading Wild can lead to lots more win-lines being created.
Playson develops online slot machines from their base in Malta and since their launch in 2012, they have gained an excellent reputation for fair play, high return to player percentages and reliability. Their range is fully mobile optimised and licensed by multiple jurisdictions, including the Malta Gaming Authority and UK Gambling Commission, for guaranteed trustworthiness. So, let’s travel back in time and review what their Kingdom of the Sun video slot has to offer at the many online casinos which feature the Playson range.
Royal Rewards
The high card symbols are used in a huge number of slot machines, creating the lower value winning lines, although as a result, they will tend to be the most frequently-occurring ones as well. Whenever the J or Q symbols stop on 3, 4, or 5 reels in an unbroken sequence from the left side, you win 3x, 5x, or 15x the coin value, while the K and A symbols pay out 3x, 6x, or 20x. While these may be standard symbols, they have at least been made to look vaguely Egyptian, designed to appear as if they are printed on papyrus, where even the edges are curled up a little, which is a good sign of the detail that’s been applied to the game.
The middle-value symbols are made to look like stylised animals, starting with a black cat that returns 4x, 9x and 24x the coin amount, and moving up, we see a cobra that pays up to 26x and the golden hawk is worth a high limit of 28x. Top of the table, there’s the Queen, who is worth a maximum award of 35 coins when she’s right across a line, and a smiling Pharaoh, who only has to land on reels 1 and 2 from the left to be worth a win of 3 coins, with full lines paying out 40.
A golden wild symbol is a useful icon to see on the reels, as it will be able to substitute for any others, with the exception of a bonus symbol, completing winning combinations, or stretching wins across extra reels. The wild doesn’t have any value of its own, unless it fills an entire payline, when you get a prize of 5 coins, so other than this, it’s just there to create extra combinations for you.
Spreading Wild Bonus Feature
That bonus symbol is another that’s not actually worth anything, but it triggers a special feature when landing on the left side reel. This symbol will firstly transform any connected J, Q, K or A symbols into more bonus icons and then all of them stay locked in place as the remaining reel positions spin again. If more playing card symbols are connected to any of the bonus ones, these will also transform, and so it continues until you get a spin where there’s no connected J, Q, K or A appearing.
Once this is done, all bonus symbols turn into wilds, which should complete multiple winning lines, and as the higher value symbols will fill most of any remaining spaces, those wins can be pretty substantial.
There’s a further in-game feature that doubles any wins when the wild symbol fills all 15 spots on the reels, returning 150x the coin value. There’s no separate free spins round, or mini-games in this slot, but the Spreading Wilds feature should more than compensate for this, as wins from it are all but guaranteed.
Betting Options
Free Kingdom of the Sun video slots have been made available by Playson, although most spinners play these games because they want to win real cash, so a low 0.30 is all that’s needed to get actual coin awards.
There’s a high limit stake of 105.00 per spin, which can result in some massive prizes when the right combinations appear, but there are plenty of options in between these values, so it’s a game that should suit just about every budget.
Up to 100 spins can play out on their own if you click the Autoplay button, and these will stop at any pre-set win or loss limits, leaving you able to just sit back and watch the games without having to click for each and every spin. The ancient Egyptian atmosphere is completed by a soundtrack that fits in perfectly with the theme.
Other Slots from Ancient Times
If you like the ancient Egyptian online slot theme, then you are going to be spoilt for choice, as it’s arguably the most popular topic, only challenged by Irish and Chinese-based slots. Cleopatra is the star of many of these games, and she lends her name to a couple of them, including the a Megajackpots progressive version from IGT. But the Cleopatra video slot from Gameplay Interactive is a newer game that has some more advanced graphics and comes with bonuses such as free spins, a pick-a-prize round and a wild symbol in the shape of the classic scarab beetle.
Kingdom of the Sun isn’t the only Egypt-set slot from Playson, as they also have the Treasures of Tombs game in their portfolio. This sets the action in the present day, where a beautiful female explorer is seeking riches in the ruins of a city, and comes with classic images of the all-seeing eye, winged gods and of course, the scarab beetle scuttles onto the reels once again, awarding bonus prizes to players and triggering a guaranteed winning feature.
A Desert Delight?
The Kingdom of the Sun video slot has some unique bonus features and of course, sticks to that hugely popular theme, making a certain hit at Playson-powered online casinos worldwide. Perhaps some of the symbol choices are a little unusual, but on the other hand, it can be seen as a refreshing change to find a game where the typical Egyptian icons are missing, and at least we still have a Pharaoh and Queen making an appearance.
Some punters may miss having a distinct free spins feature, but that will soon be forgotten once the Spreading Wilds come into play, as these can lead to not only a few extra spins, but also some huge rewards when wild transformations occur at the end.
