Oasis of Dead Slot Review

15/08/2024 | Categories: Play'n GO Slots | Published by: Joe | Last updated: 15/08/2024

When you read the title of this review, we assume that most of you went – oh, no, another book slot. What will this piece of content talk about? Expanding symbols, and the other same-ole, same-ole spiel. As you probably know, Play’n GO is the king when it comes to online book mechanic games. In the press release for this one, Play’n GO’s Games Ambassador, Magnus Wallentin, mentioned that this title represented a testament to this supplier’s dedication to its Dead series and that this product adds new tricks to classic features. Hence, that last part intrigued us, and we said, let us give this release a go and see if it does bring anything novel to the genre.

Oasis of Dead initially showed up on the World Wide Web in mid-June, the 14th of that month, and then got global distribution in the first week of July 2024. In the first three weeks following its worldwide debut, Oasis of Dead is doing decently for such a high-profile game virtually everywhere. At the time of writing, it ranked among the top two hundred most-played online slots in Finland, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, Brazil, Denmark, South Africa, and a few other regions. Naturally, this means little regarding the quality this reel-spinning pick carries, and that is what we will examine below, where we will look into these claims that this Book Of slot brings something unique to the table.

Theme & Design

Veteran online gamblers know all about the history of Book slots, which started with Novomatic’s Book of Ra game, which gained sizeable traction in the land-based sphere before moving to the Internet. It introduced the free spin bonus with expanding tokens and the book symbol carrying a dual role, acting as both the wild and scatter. Most online slots following the formula that Book of Ra pioneered also have high variance, no bonus modes outside the mentioned one, only maybe a gamble feature. Of course, Play’n GO’s Book of Dead is the primary Web-based Book spinner, and it is the title that established this set of elements as a distinctive genre in the remote sector.

Loads of other providers have their takes on Book titles. Doing a quick search. We discovered that around six hundred gaming products can be classified under this label. That is a stunning number. Aside from Play’n GO, Spinomenal has gone heavy on this game type, as they have loads of book releases. Pragmatic Play also has a few, including two John Hunter picks, a character that many consider Rich Wilde’s (Book of Dead) main competitor.

As far as the presentation of Oasis of Dead goes, it is about what you would expect from an entry in the Book Ancient Egypt category. You get nice Egyptian-inspired visuals here, paired with a cliché soundtrack, line-win animations, and the standard Play’n GO button configuration, their interfaced matched to the presentation style here. We like the overgrown foliage setting in Oasis of Dead, and we think the graphics are pretty polished in this slot, whose overall look is nice but feels pretty run-of-the-mill, both for Play’n GO and the genre.

Specs & Gameplay

Regarding game specs, we must tell you that this game comes in five RTP versions. You can find this slot boasting a return-to-player setting of 84.55%, an 87.56% one, and 91.51%, 94.51%, and 96.58% variants. The last one is the iteration of Oasis of Dead you are most likely to stumble upon. There is a high variance math model in play here, and you win prizes by landing two to five matching symbols in this reel-spinning title’s 5×3 token layout on one of its ten paylines. The maximum win you can hope for in this game is a prize worth 5,000 in your bet, and the wagers you can make in Oasis of Dead range from a penny to one hundred big ones per spin.

Wins pay left to right, and it is mandatory for identical symbols to hit on adjacent reels for this spinner to produce any payout. For five-a-kind-combos consisting of its five low-pay royals, Oasis of Dead generates wins from x80 to x120 coins. The image premiums carry wins from x600 to x5,000 for five-of-a-kind combinations, and they can generate wins even when two same-type premiums land on a payline. The royals require three or more for a win combo to get created.

The golden table is the wild scatter here, and it can pay out x2,000 for five matching ones, with your scatter wins multiplied by your total wager size, then added to your payline reward.

Bonus Features

Now, we come to the thing that most interests us. What does Oasis of Dead offer in the bonus department? Three scatters, or more, get you access in this slot’s free spin round, where a special token gets chosen as the expanding one. You can retrigger this feature and activate up to nine such tokens. If the special symbols can form a win, it will expand to cover its reel, paying all active paylines. Expanded symbols do not need to be on adjacent reels to create wins, and landed a minimum of three scatters reactive this feature, giving you eight new on-the-house spins. You will see a meter above the game grid that keeps track of which tokens are expanders.

Following the base game and bonus round wins, you get presented with a chance to double your reward by trying to correctly guess the color of a face-down card. You can repeat this up to five times if you are successful.

GOSU Verdict

Play’n GO lied to us. Where are those cool new tricks its Games Ambassador promised? To us, this is a standard Book slot that does not include anything unique. We see that Play’n GO is proud of the maximum win potential of Oasis of Dead, which is good but nothing out of the ordinary. If you have a fondness for the book mechanic and have gotten bored of playing Book of Dead or Legacy of Dead, then maybe consider Oasis of Dead. Otherwise, stay away. This is a case of been there done that, with a slightly different façade.