The Asp of Cleopatra

Legend has it that the great queen Cleopatra committed suicide by allowing herself to be bit by an asp, in order to follow her love, Marc Antony, to the grave. Red Rake Gaming takes this premise and runs with it in Asp of Cleopatra, a five-reel slot with a new take on well-travelled the Ancient Egyptian theme.

Theme

This slot gleams with the gold of Cleopatra’s queendom. Gaming symbols include the top-paying red asp, a golden ankh, bejeweled scarab, statues of a feline deity, a sphinx statue, scrolls, cups, and an ornate eye of Horus. Cleopatra herself acts as wild, and pays out a whopping 240 times the per-payline bet for five-of-a-kind wins. She may also appear stacked, taking up an entire reel. The game screen are set against a rich background of blue sky, pyramids, and an ornate temple, while rolling music lends an epic feel to gameplay. The visuals themselves are a little choppy, but that won’t have any impact on profits.

Betting Options, Functions, and Features

Acolytes of this particular temple can choose their bet size simply on the order of 0.25–200.00 times the betting currency per spin. 25 paylines are fixed in place, all paying from left to right only. Autoplay is available for up to 100 turns of the reels at a time, and a detailed pay table is available as well. The theoretical return to player ratio is quite strong at 95.3%.

Red Rake Gaming has built a unique and clever bonus feature directly into base play. After every win, all winning symbols disappear: in Tetris-like fashion, the symbols above them fall into their former places, allowing for the possibility of a second win on the original bet. When this process repeats for four times in a row, free spins are awarded, during which the red asp gaming symbol acts as an additional wild. Should symbols continue to fall in the right way, the cycle of free spins can be repeated many times in a row. The upper limit is an astonishing 1000 free spins.

The Wheel of Gods mini game is essentially a divine version of Roulette. Players choose between two gods, Anubis and Horus, who are assigned green and red colors, respectively. A roulette wheel spins, with each section containing a win multiplier: wherever the real stops, that number is applied to players’ original bet. If the chosen number matches the chosen color, the win multiplier is applied and the roulette wheel spins again, with the next win multiplier added to the total, and the chance for yet another turn of the roulette reel. When the reel lands on the opposite color, the win multiplier is applied, players receive their prize, and the feature ends. Wins are capped at 100 times the total initial bet.

Our Take

Red Rake Gaming does a lot right in Asp of Cleopatra. Between the Wheel of Gods mini game and the opportunity to win over and over again on a single base play spin, players will seldom find themselves bored while playing this slot. A little more subtlety on the visual and sound design would have taken this game to another level, but many players will find this title to be a favorite.