Book of Aztec review
Book of Aztec is a 2015 release from Austrian studio Amatic Industries and its take on the popular “Book of” genre. A female explorer heads into the jungle after Aztec treasure, surrounded on the reels by pyramids, animal statues, colourful letters and a mysterious book. The 5×3 grid carries 10 lines, and one symbol runs the whole show: the book, which is both Wild and scatter. The real draw is a random expanding symbol chosen for the free spins. The game became one of Amatic’s best-known titles across Eastern Europe, even though it faithfully copies a formula that existed long before it.
The jungle, paylines and the book’s dual role
The graphics don’t hide their age. The background is green foliage and carved stonework, and the symbols are large, flat and lightly animated. Card ranks appear as coloured letters; the premiums are a pyramid, animal statues and the explorer herself in a wide-brimmed hat. Sound is limited to short cues as reels stop, plus separate music during the bonus. Nothing distracts from the one moment that matters: the third book landing. The chosen expanding symbol is revealed before the first free spin, so you know from the outset what kind of round you’re in. Some players like the plain look because the screen reads instantly; others will find it flat next to anything released in the last few years.
Lines pay left to right from the first reel. The key thing about the symbols is their thresholds. Letters and card ranks only pay from three in a row. The premiums, meaning the explorer, the pyramid and the statues, already pay for two. The explorer is the most valuable regular symbol.
Letters and card ranks need three consecutive reels from the left; premiums—explorer, pyramid and statues—need two. The book substitutes for ordinary symbols. An illustrative pyramid–book–pyramid pays as three pyramids, while explorer–book already forms a paying pair; A–book without a third match does not pay. One Wild may participate in several lines, each calculated separately.
As a Wild, the book substitutes for any regular symbol. As a scatter, three, four or five books anywhere on the screen pay regardless of lines, and that payout is added to any line wins. A trio of books or better also triggers the bonus. All of this can happen on the same spin: books on a line help complete it, the same books count toward the scatter pay, and that spin opens the free spins.
A special symbol for ten free spins
Three or more books open ten spins. Before the first, a special symbol other than the book is drawn randomly; a premium needs two reels to expand and a low symbol three. It fills the height of reels containing it and pays active lines. Further books retrigger free spins, but the exact spin award and retention of the chosen symbol after a retrigger are unspecified. The book remains Wild and scatter.
With ten equally staked lines, a line bet is one tenth of the total. If an expansion pays all ten lines at P line bets, the total is P overall stakes. Illustrative twenty line bets on each line therefore give 20x per spin. The example denomination is invented. The explorer pays highest, but that does not establish an exclusive cap route or selection probability; more low types does not imply equal selection weights.
RTP data and other books
Listed figures are 96.30% RTP, medium volatility, 0.1–50 stakes and a 5,000x maximum. Reviews mention 95.09%, but no confirmed build list is supplied: a discrepancy cannot establish a documented alternative version. Help identifies the active configuration. Hit and bonus rates, symbol probabilities and termination at the maximum are undisclosed. Ordinary play has no cascades, multipliers or random modifiers; a bonus buy is not described.
Book of Ra Deluxe from Novomatic, released in 2008, lists the same ceiling, 95.10% RTP and very high risk. Book of Dead from Play’n GO, released in 2016, lists 96.21% RTP and high risk. Endorphina’s 2022 Book of Lady changes the theme to glamour and collects special symbols (96.03%, high risk). These ratings do not establish empty-bonus rates or guaranteed balance smoothness. Other studio games appear on the Amatic Industries page.
