In 1894 nomadic mechanic Charles Fey released his pioneering slot machine, The Liberty Bell onto the market. These machines were installed throughout various saloons in San Francisco, and when three bells aligned, offered players free drinks and food.
The popularity of Fey’s machine combined with the fact that he couldn’t patent it due to gambling laws, saw a surge in slot machine production throughout 19th century America. Popular themes at the time included nationalistic symbols and poker cards.
As time progressed however, so did the public’s tastes which has led to a modern market in which it isn’t uncommon to see a slot featuring a leprechaun holidaying in Ancient Egypt.
In this article we take a look at the Ancient Egyptian theme in particular. Why is it so popular? How did it become so synonymous with slots? How long does it have until it is replaced by another theme?
Read on to find out.
Why Ancient Egypt?
In 1798 the French army, led by Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in a bid to undermine Britain’s imperial interests in India. Whilst this act of aggression had great implications for geopolitics, it also had an impact on how we play slots… Stay with us.
Napoleon didn’t just bring swathes of soldiers with him to Egypt, he also brought with him an ‘army of scholars’. These learned men made it their mission to unearth the mysteries of Ancient Egypt and thus began the study of Egyptology.
Their findings, which were published in the ‘Description de l’Egypte’ proved to be immensely popular in Europe and encouraged a generation of Egyptology students to travel to the country and continue discovering the secrets of Ancient Egypt.
One of the biggest draws was that Egypt was described as a land ‘rich in gold’. The tombs of Ancient Egyptian royalty were laden with treasures and to those brave enough to uncover them, great riches awaited.
The Pyramids are one of Ancient Egypt’s famous features.
Egyptian Themed Slot Games
The role of Egyptian Mythology has inspired many gaming providers across the world to incorporate Egyptian themes into their games. Slot providers in particular have utilised the Ancient Egypt theme using characters such as Cleopatra and the famous Pyramids within their games.
Below we will take a look at some of the most popular Egyptian themed slots available –
Cleopatra
This slot game is dedicated to Queen Cleopatra herself and players can play Cleopatra slots with various slot providers. The slot game features up to 20 pay lines and includes different Egyptian symbols including a Sphinx symbol. This symbol is one players want to find, as if the symbol is matches on 2 or more reels then players will receive a reward.
If players manage to match 3 sphinx symbols then they are automatically entered into the Cleopatra bonus game and players have the opportunity to win free spins!
Egyptian Fortunes
Egyptian Fortunes is a slot games based on the Pharoah’s and Pyramids from Ancient Egypt. The game was created by Pragmatic Play and encourages players to search for the Pyramid symbols to win the Egyptian Fortune.
The slot games has 5 reels, three rows and 20 paylines. To win, players need to match three or more symbols, the Pharaoh is the most prized symbol where if matches, players with receive a prize 50x their stake.
Book of Dead
The Book of Dead slot game is a classic and is well-known by many slot players across the world. The game is based on an explorer who ventures into the Ancient Egyptian pyramids to discover the Pyramids secrets in the Book of Dead.
Players will meet different Egyptian Gods within the game all with colourful jewels and bright gold features. The game is 5 reels with 3 rows and players can play the slot game with a minimum bet of just 1p.
The Book of Dead slot game is inspired by an explorer who visited Ancient Egypt to search for the secrets in the Book of Dead.
The Future of Egyptian Themed Slots
How much longer can we expect the theme of Ancient Egypt to dominate the slots market? Until it is replaced by something more interesting and more apt is the correct answer, but when will that be?
Well, anecdotally it appears that less and less Ancient Egyptian themed slots are being reduced each year, which is in line with the general decreasing popularity that the theme is seeing in other forms of media.
There are less movies, books and TV shows about Ancient Egypt, which is now being reflected in the world of gaming and in particular, online slots. Perhaps, rather than seeing Ancient Egypt being replaced by another theme altogether, we will see it being replaced by a collection of themes.
As franchise slots, space slots, sports slots and others continue to grow in popularity we will most likely see a dilution of Ancient Egyptian slots. This doesn’t mean that they won’t have their place going forward, but they may become more niche.
Which is perhaps a good thing, if you want to avoid the curse of the Pharaoh’s…
