Golden Scrolls

Golden Scrolls: Slot Overview

Rewind the clock a couple of years to the balmy days of 2021 when one of the earlier Slotmill slots crossed the Bigwinboard desk. Going by the name of Sands of Eternity, it was a sun-baked feature fest of an Egyptian-themed slot helping pop the studio up on the radar. From there, the developer has gone from strength to strength, taking on player feedback and releasing some of the most exciting games going. Like a blast from the past, Slotmill has returned to the sandy lands of Ancient Egypt for a repeat visit to catch a few rays, experience one of the oldest civilisations on earth, and come up with a new game, Golden Scrolls.

Visually, Slotmill's two Egyptian slots are rather comparable, though Sands of Eternity had a slightly more exaggerated look about it, what with those vibrantly coloured symbols it had. Golden Scrolls is more subdued, more realistic, and looks heavy, too, as the gaming grid has been erected next to epic slabs of hieroglyphed stone. Pyramids make up the background, as an evocative tune simmers in the distance, like a snake charmer raising their cobra from a basket. It's not the most detailed of Ancient Egyptian slot scenes, but it's understatedly pleasant to behold.

Golden Scrolls being a Slotmill release means it's got a multitude of ways of being played. The default way is picking a bet of 20 c to $/€80 per spin and going for it in an attempt to get the parchment flying. Other options are available from the Fast Track menu, plus Burst Mode, all covered below. The default RTP comes in at 95.2%, and the other values will be disclosed soon. Don't be fooled by the relaxed environment either, since Golden Scrolls' math model comes with a rating of 'very high' to describe its volatility.

A 6x5 gaming grid combined with 20 paylines is where the action takes place. Wins occurs when matching symbols land on at least 3 adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost side of the matrix. Flowing J-A card ranks start the paytable off on the lower side, followed by 3 Ancient Egyptian-inspired symbols, then three character symbols - also theme-based. Landing 5 matching royals pays 4 to 4.5 times the bet, 5 mids are worth 7 to 12 times the bet, and 5 character symbols pay 14x to 20x.

Golden Scrolls: Slot Features

Golden Scrolls counts not 1 but 3 wild scroll types in its features as well as free spins, super free spins, Fast Track buys, and Burst Mode.

Wild Symbols

First and foremost, each reel can only have one wild symbol at a time. The regular wild does nothing more than substitute for any of the pay symbols – as do the other two wilds. However, when the Expanding Wild symbol hits, it expands downwards to the bottom of the grid, counting as a wild on each position it covers. For each position it expands over, the multiplier increases by +1 up to a maximum of x6. The Golden Expanding Wild expands both ways, up and down, when it hits to cover the whole reel. It always has an x6 multiplier. If a winning combination has more than one expanded wild, the multiplier values are added together then applied. All three wilds have the same value as the top-paying symbol when wild winning lines occur.

Free Spins

Landing 3 scatter symbols in the base game awards 8 free spins. During free spins, there is a higher chance of hitting wild symbols. The feature is extended by +1 free spin for each +1 Spin symbol that lands.

Super Free Spins

Should the Super Bonus scatter symbol land during free spins, the remaining free spins are upgraded to super free spins, and +2 extra spins are granted. Alternatively, landing 2 scatters and a super scatter in the base game awards 8 super free spins. In the super free spins feature, all wilds are Golden Expanding Wild symbols. As above, the feature is extended by +1 free spins for each +1 Spin symbol that lands.

Fast Track

From the Fast Track, players may activate these feature buy options:

• 3 Wilds – 20x the bet buys a game round, guaranteeing 3 wild symbols (RTP 96.15%).
• 5 Wilds – 60x the bet buys a game round, guaranteeing 5 wild symbols (RTP 96.22%).
• Free Spins – 100x the bet (RTP 96.32%).
• Super Free Spins – 400x the bet (RTP 96.33%).

Burst Mode

Burst mode is where players can pick a bet, a number of spins and let the math model do its thing with little in the way of graphical overlay.

Golden Scrolls: Slot Verdict

Golden Scrolls should be an intriguing option for players who have enjoyed what Hacksaw Gaming has been doing in slots like Cursed Seas and Stormforged. That is, the way wild symbols expand up or up and down to cover positions on their respective reels. Or not, if it's the regular wild, which can be a cruel occurrence at times. For instance, when buying the 3 or 5 wild feature buys from the Fast Track menu. Forking out 60x the bet for 5 non-expanding wilds can be a kick in the pants. On the flip side of fortune, shoot, 5 Golden Expanding wilds might hit; who knows, then the results could be positively ace.

The other path to take is to let Golden Scrolls unfold organically since free spins technically drop wilds more frequently, and super free spins, whether initially triggered or upgraded from the regular round, lay on only Golden Expanding Wilds. A highly desirable situation. One possible concern may be over the bet lines to reels and rows ratio. Hacksaw Gaming slots, which use a similar expanding method, tend to come with 4 rows, so the non-linking of wilds with applicable symbols to create wins wasn't, from memory, as noticeable as it could be in Golden Scrolls. In this game, the extra row did create a noticeable amount of space whereby wins could be missed out because the required symbols were out of reach of expanded wild symbols. Just a bit of feedback. Others may have the opposite experience and at 12,000x the bet, Golden Scrolls doesn't exactly scrimp on winning potential.

Like its predecessor Sands of Eternity, Golden Scrolls might not shake the foundations of the Egyptian slot category down to its very bedrocked roots, but it's a solid performer and an attractive option for some expanding symbol action that does not involve books.