Legacy of Dead vs Book of Dead: Nine Symbols or One?
In short: Legacy of Dead is the Play'n GO book slot to open if you want the feature to grow: it starts with fewer free spins than Book of Dead, but each retrigger adds an expanding symbol, up to nine.
Book of Dead came first, in January 2016, and Legacy of Dead followed almost four years later with the same grid and the same coin ceiling. That looks like twins. The free spins say otherwise, and we read both studio pages and the newer game's rules to show where they part.
The start screen in Play'n GO's demo on sells the feature on nine expanding symbols rather than on a spin count. Source: our own screenshot.
Legacy of Dead Next to Book of Dead
Item
Legacy of Dead
Book of Dead
Release date on the studio page
Hero named by the studio
none, an unnamed king
Rich Wilde
Grid
5 reels, 3 rows, up to 10 lines
5 reels, 3 rows, up to 10 lines
Free spins on the trigger
8
10
Spins added per retrigger
8
10
Expanding symbols in a round
1, plus 1 per retrigger, up to 9
1 for the whole round
Return printed by the studio
96.58%, in the British, Swedish, Danish and German rules
96.21% default, plus four lower settings
Ceiling on the paytable
250,000 coins
250,000 coins
Ceiling over a 50-coin bet
5,000x, our arithmetic
5,000x, the same division
Anubis, five on a line
1,600 coins per coin
750 coins per coin
A or K, five on a line
120 coins per coin
150 coins per coin
Alternatives in Detail
Why look for a replacement: A feature without a retrigger is eight spins on one symbol, which is Book of Dead's feature minus two spins. Of the rule versions we read, those for Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark and Germany print the 96.58% return; the one the free demo loads prints no figure. The studio publishes no volatility rating for the game.
Book of Dead
Play'n GO's book slot with the explorer Rich Wilde, released on according to the studio's page, for readers who prefer more spins in an ordinary feature and a single symbol to follow.
Better than Legacy of Dead
Ten free spins on the trigger and ten more per retrigger
Play'n GO's own rules document prints every return setting in one table, 96.21% by default
Weaker
Only one expanding symbol for the whole round, however many retriggers land
four lower settings, down to 84.18%, sit in that same document
the same 250,000-coin ceiling, so no extra headroom
A Named Hero in Book of Dead Only
Book of Dead has a named lead and Legacy of Dead doesn't. Play'n GO's page for the 2016 game opens "Join Rich Wilde on his most famous escapade". The page for the 2020 game tells of an unnamed king trapped in hieroglyphs. Then it adds one link to the older story: "now the Book of Dead has been opened the king has escaped". That line names a book, not a slot. The studio never calls Legacy of Dead a sequel, and its explorer appears nowhere on the newer game's page or in its rules.
Catalogues describe the newer game as built on the older one. On mechanics they have a point, as the rest of this page shows. On story the studio keeps its distance, and the cast it names for Legacy of Dead runs "from Anubis to Osiris".
Same tomb, different occupant.
Legacy of Dead's Eight Spins Against Ten
Legacy of Dead opens its feature with eight free spins, two fewer than Book of Dead's ten, and each retrigger adds eight where Book of Dead adds ten. Both games need three or more scatters, and in both the scatter doubles as the wild. The rules screen in our demo printed "An initial 8 free spins are awarded". On the client's award scroll said eight both times a feature landed for us.
The award scroll in Play'n GO's demo on : eight free spins, with Anubis as the drawn symbol. Source: our own screenshot.
Several catalogues still print ten for Legacy of Dead. Ten belongs to the older slot. The slip is easy when two games share a grid, a tomb scatter and a gamble round. A page that promises ten is describing Book of Dead.
Stage of the feature
Legacy of Dead
Book of Dead
Spins on the trigger
8
10
Spins after one retrigger
16
20
Expanding symbols after one retrigger
2
1
Spins after three retriggers
32
40
Expanding symbols after three retriggers
4
1
Read on ; a source can change after that date without notice.
Stacking Symbols or Keeping One
Legacy of Dead adds an expanding symbol with every retrigger, up to nine, while Book of Dead keeps the single symbol it drew for the entire round. In Book of Dead, a feature drawn on the 10 stays on the 10 however long it runs. In Legacy of Dead a retrigger draws again, so a round that started on a card rank can pick up the crowned figure later. Nine is the full set of regular symbols. Reaching it takes eight retriggers and, by our sum, 72 spins.
Free spin 4 of 8 in our first round: Anubis covers two reels with a different reel between them, and still pays. Source: our own screenshot.
Both games pay expanded symbols across gaps. On free spin 4 of 8 in our first round, Anubis filled reels one and three with an ordinary reel between them. The client still paid 250 coins, 25 on each of the ten lines. The wording of the trigger differs, though. Book of Dead's symbol "will expand only when additional prizes can be awarded along active paylines". The newer game's rules settle for a vaguer "when enough of the respective symbol lands".
The trade has a cost. Without a retrigger, a Legacy of Dead feature is a shorter round on one symbol. Both of ours were exactly that: eight spins each, Anubis both times, 53.00 and 20.50 at a 1.00 bet.
Where Each Return Figure Is Printed
Book of Dead's return comes as five settings in a studio rules document, while Legacy of Dead's single 96.58% appears in the rules served for Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. The rules Play'n GO serves with no market set carry no percentage at all. Catalogues add four lower settings for Legacy of Dead, which the studio's surfaces we read neither confirm nor deny.
The rules our demo received on award eight free spins and print no return percentage. Source: our own screenshot.
Return setting
Legacy of Dead
Book of Dead
Highest figure the studio prints
96.58%
96.21%
Where that figure appears
British, Swedish, Danish and German rules
studio rules document
Lower settings
94.51%, 91.51%, 87.56%, 84.55%
94.25%, 91.25%, 87.25%, 84.18%
Who lists the lower settings
catalogues only
the studio itself
On the figures each studio does print, Legacy of Dead sits 0.37 points above Book of Dead's default. That gap is small. It depends on a setting nobody can see in the demo build, so we wouldn't choose between the games on it.
Same 250,000-coin Ceiling
In the builds the free demos load, the ceiling is identical: both games top out at 250,000 coins, and both paytables print "WIN UP TO 250000 COINS!". Neither studio page turns it into a multiple of the bet. The 5,000x most catalogues quote is a division: 250,000 coins over a full bet of 50 coins, ten lines at five coins each. In Legacy of Dead, one route to it, by our arithmetic, is the crowned figure expanded on all five reels across all ten lines. At the demo's default coin value of 0.02 that comes to 5,000.00; at the top coin value of 2.00, to 500,000.00.
First paytable screen of Legacy of Dead: the ceiling printed in coins, 250,000, with no multiplier of the bet. Source: our own screenshot.
The tables differ lower down. Anubis pays 1,600 coins per coin for five in Legacy of Dead against 750 in Book of Dead. The card ranks pay less: A and K top out at 120 against 150, and Q, J and 10 at 80 against 100. The picture symbols tell a different story. Below the top symbol, Legacy of Dead's three pay 1,600, 600 and 600 for five, a total of 2,800. Book of Dead's pay 2,000 for the mask and 750 each for Anubis and Horus, a total of 3,500. The newer paytable lifts Anubis and trims almost everything else.
One extra is identical in both. After a base-game win, either game offers a card gamble: colour at 50% to double, suit at 25% to quadruple. It runs up to five times in a row and, in the demo builds, stops at 2,500 coins, a hundredth of the ceiling.
Which One We Would Open First
We'd open Legacy of Dead first, and a Book of Dead fan could fairly disagree. The newer game gives a retrigger a job beyond adding spins, and its paytable pays far more for Anubis. Book of Dead hands out more spins in an ordinary feature. Its studio also prints every return setting in one table, which is easier to check.
We do not recommend picking either one for a better return. The gap on paper is 0.37 points, and the demo build prints no figure for Legacy of Dead.
Both games sit on Play'n GO's own pages with a free-play button, and Legacy of Dead's demo opens there behind an 18+ prompt. Try both there before staking anything on either. After Legacy of Dead, the studio suggests Book of Dead GO Collect, Fate of Dead Blitzways, Myth of Dead and Rich Wilde and the Tome of Dead. We haven't opened any of them, so none is compared here.
If neither feature appeals, closing the demo costs nothing.
Key Terms Used on This Page
Special expanding symbol
A randomly drawn symbol that fills its reel in free spins; Legacy of Dead stacks up to 9, Book of Dead keeps 1.
Retrigger
Three or more scatters inside the feature, worth 8 more spins in Legacy of Dead and 10 in Book of Dead.
Coin ceiling
Both demo paytables print 250,000 coins, which is 5,000 times a full 50-coin bet.
RTP setting
One return configuration of a game; Book of Dead's studio document lists five, from 96.21% down to 84.18%.
Not sure yet? The free demo plays the same round with play money, with no account and no deposit.
