Egyptian Cobra Slot Machine

One of the more commonly encountered themes in the world of slot machine design – both in brick and mortar and online casinos – is the world of ancient Egypt.

The Egyptian Cobra virtual slot is just one among the collection of six or more Egypt themed games in the portfolio of 777igt – the interactive division of major slot manufacturer InternationalGame Technology (IGT).

This five reel, 100 pay line game joins other 777igt titles like Egyptian Treasures, Egypt’s Treasures, and Pyramid in attempting to recreate the era of Pharaohs ruling over ancient Egyptian. Butin this case, the focus of interest isn’t one of the many male Pharaohs to hold that honor over dozens of centuries, but the female who held the dubious distinction of being the last Pharaoh ofthem all.

One of the reasons for ancient Egypt’s continued use as a reliable slot machine theme is its ubiquity in pop culture, and the striking figure of Queen Cleopatra was a big part of that. Known forpositioning herself as the reincarnated goddess Isis, the famously beautiful Cleopatra sat at the center of palace intrigue during Egypt’s entrance into the Roman Empire.

She consorted with Julius Caesar and bore his child, despite him being married to another, and the couple collaborated to install Cleopatra as ruler following their victory in the Egyptian CivilWar. This sordid tale, along with a second affair with Roman statesman Marc Antony after Julius Caesar’s death, spawned several memorable depictions of Cleopatra over the years. Perhaps the bestknown of these is William Shakespeare’s play Antony and Cleopatra, while Elizabeth Taylor’s star turn in the 1963 film Cleopatra comes in at a close second.

Following her lover’s defeat in battle, and his subsequent suicide, Cleopatra is said to have ended her own life by allowing an asp to bite her and inject its deadly venom. For thenon-herpetologist crowd, of which I expect most of the readers to hail from, “asp” is another word for the variety of venomous snakes known as vipers.

In most re-tellings of Cleopatra’s demise, the snake in question was a cobra – hence the title Egyptian Cobra. Accordingly, this game is themed after Cleopatra herself, a fact which isn’t alwaysevident due to the disappointingly shoddy design work put in by 777igt. The fact that “Cleopatra” isn’t found in the game’s title, despite her being the main focus, speaks volumes about 777igt’slack of commitment in that regard.

We’ll dive into the demerits that Egyptian Cobra piles up on the design side in greater detail going forward, but the main goal of this page is to provide readers with a comprehensiveintroduction to the game itself. That means we’ll discuss topics like the overall atmosphere created by the audio / visual elements, a review of the reel symbols and pay table awards, andessential gameplay information like the rules, betting options, and in game features waiting to be found.

We touched on this during the introduction, but let’s get it right out in the open: Egyptian Cobra is far from 777igt’s finest work.

Simply put, this company has proven itself capable of designing immersive and entertaining virtual slots based on all variety of themes. But in the case of Egyptian Cobra, the company missed themark entirely.

Along with the aforementioned omission of the word “Cleopatra” from the title of a game built around the famous queen, this game just goes with the most barebones options throughout. This may bedue to the designer team’s likely “Egypt fatigue,” having churned out at least six different slots which follow the same cues. Even so, the Cleopatra mythos is so rich and complex that theycould’ve done so much more.

Consider the background screen, which might have depicted a well-appointed Cleopatra conspiring with one of her lovers in a gilded throne room. That may seem like a stretch, but we’ve played777igt games like Pharaoh Gold and Pyramid before, and both of those managed to weave accurate, photograph style images of King Tut’s sarcophagus into the background screen.

Egyptian Cobra’s background screen shows nothing cool like that, or even, you know… a cobra. Nope, we’re forced to settle for a basic beige screen with zero visual elements to speak of. The titleis printed plainly in small font above the reels, and that just about does it for atmosphere building efforts.

The reels themselves appear in especially basic fashion, with straight brown lines dividing each and nothing else to add flair. Most 777igt games try to use these vertical bars in a creative way,with swords or sticks helping to complete the theme. Here, a series of long cobras with hooded heads at the top of the reels would’ve been quite the sight to see, but unfortunately Egyptian Cobrajust isn’t interested in any of that.

Overall, the atmosphere created by Egyptian Cobra is as dry and barren as the Sahara desert itself.

The audio side of the spectrum offers a bit more to work with, but that’s not saying much.

The musical soundtrack features your basic “Middle Eastern” styling, usually found in TV shows and films during bustling market scenes or desert excursions. If that doesn’t ring a bell, imagine afestive combination of regional string instruments like the lyre overlaid on a steady, up tempo drumbeat.

This soundtrack is light and refreshing, especially in light of the game screen’s desolate appearance, so we’ll give the audio elements badly needed points on that account.

The game also includes 777igt’s usual array of sound effects, so you’ll hear the reels clicking into motion and spinning into place, as well as coins clinking across the spin after collecting awinner. Other basic sound effects include a dramatic chime used to signal important symbols hitting the early reels, narrations announcing “Big Win” and the like, and other bells and whistleswhen free spins or bonus rounds are awarded.

Only the best and brightest of 777igt’s virtual slot games include a full complement of animated graphics, so it’s no surprise that Egyptian Cobra is lacking in that regard.

You won’t find many animations to speak of on this game, other than the standard additions found in every 777igt title. That means no special symbol animations to help accentuate the theme, justthe usual like coins scattering across the screen, spinning reel symbols in certain situations, and bolts that connect winning combinations and identify pay line.

Score three or more scatter symbols and you’ll see an onscreen animation with fireworks announcing that fact, and same goes for free spins and the bonus round. But other than checking off therequirements, Egyptian Cobra adds nothing new to the animation equation.

Below are the 15 symbols in this game along with their respective payouts:

• King Tut’s Mask Close Up Mega Jackpot

  One of the first signs showing the inherent laziness of Egyptian Cobra comes from its most important jackpot trigger symbol. Despite this being a game built around the story of Cleopatra, the777igt design team couldn’t see fit to craft a graphic or image of the famously beautiful queen. Instead, they simply recycled an old image of King Tutankhamen – a Pharaoh who ruled Egypt afull 13 centuries before Cleopatra was born.

  Even worse, this King Tut’s mask symbol has been used in many of the company’s similarly themed Egypt games, such as Pharaoh Gold.

  Nonetheless, you’ll be looking to land five of the King Tut’s mask close up symbols to win the seven figure Mega jackpot.

• King Tut’s Mask Wide Angle Minor Jackpot

  Continuing the lowest common denominator style of Egyptian Cobra, the game doesn’t even move to a new symbol for its Minor jackpot. Nope, we get a second image of King Tut’s gold and bluesarcophagus mask, only from a deeper angle so the entire artifact can be seen.

  This is disappointing to say the least, as the design team had dozens of recognizable historical relics from the days of the Pharaoh’s to choose from.

  If you can land five of the King Tut’s mask wide angle symbols along an activated pay line, your prize will be the massive Minor jackpot amount.

• Eagle Crest Necklace Mini Jackpot

  This symbol is actually quite unique and intricately designed, so kudos to 777igt for not giving up entirely here. This piece of gold jewelry takes its name from the eagle crest at itscenter, although, several symbols like the Eye of Horus and other accouterments can be seen.

  If you’re lucky enough to unearth five of the eagle crest necklace symbols, you’ll pocket the deceptively named Mini jackpot worth six figures.

• Cleopatra’s Cobra Wild

  The game’s wild symbol features the opening to a back-lit tomb, from which the titular cobra said to have killed Cleopatra emerges. The cobra has its hood exposed and its teeth bared, and itseems to be coming directly at you.

  The Cleopatra’s cobra wild symbol can substitute for any of the game’s basic symbols – so everything but the golden ring scatter, the goddess Isis free spins, the blue scarab beetle bonus,and the three jackpot symbols – to complete winning combinations.

  Additionally, landing five of these Cleopatra’s cobra wild symbols is worth a line pay of 150 coins – which is the second best on the board.

• Golden Ring Scatter

  Scatter symbols are usually responsible for the nice base game payouts that occasionally pop up. We’re talking about $10.50 payouts when betting $1 total and that sort of thing. That’sbecause scatter pays apply generous multipliers to your total win – transforming small to medium sized payouts into lucrative bankroll boosters.

  When you can line up three of the golden ring symbols – which are distinctive for featuring a pair of golden swans – you’ll earn a multiplier of five times your total win for that spin. Makeit four of them and the multiplier spikes to 30x, and land five to add an enormous 100x multiplier.

• The Goddess Isis Free Spins

  This symbol shows a golden statue of a woman spreading blue wings, and while an astute Egyptologist will know right off the bat, you’ll be forgiven if you don’t immediately recognize thegoddess Isis. Representing the ideals of fertility and motherhood, Isis was revered by the ancient Egyptians for several centuries.

  You just might begin worshiping her too, as the goddess Isis symbol offers the secret to free spin salvation. Land three of her on the screen to earn an allotment of five spins, and up thecount to four to pocket 10 freebies. Finally, if you line up five of the goddess Isis symbols in a row, you’ll enjoy the game’s maximum free spin award of 15.

• Blue Scarab Beetle Bonus

  Traditionally speaking, the scarab beetle symbol was not shown with the wings of a bird, so Egyptian Cobra gets dinged for uninspired work here yet again. Seemingly a mashup of Isis, thegolden eagle symbol, and the famed scarab beetle, this blue version serves as the bonus round activator for the game.

  The blue scarab beetle bonus symbol can be seen along all five reels on any given spin, but you’ll only trigger the bonus game by lining up one each on the third, fourth, and fifthreels exactly.

• Winged Eye of Horus

  It’s no surprise at this point, but once more Egyptian Cobra goes with the easy way out in terms of symbol design. The game’s three basic, non-card rank symbols are all just differentillustrations of the Eye of Horus, also known as the Eye of Ra. You’ll know this symbol when you see it, with its distinctive single eye underlined by a cursive like flourish, and to makematters worse for 777igt, each one is shaded in blue.

  To differentiate this winged Eye of Horus symbol, look for the wings of course, along with the fact that this eye is looking from right to left. The other two are staring from left to right,and feature no wings whatsoever.

  The payout for landing three of the winged Eye of Horus symbols stands at 12 coins, but rises to 40 coins when you find four of them. And the game’s largest base payout of 200 coins is thereward for landing five.

• Traditional Eye of Horus

  This symbol is so named because it resembles what you’d expect to find etched on a pyramid interior wall. In other words, the traditional Eye of Horus symbol looks like actual hieroglyphics,while the other two are more cartoonish in their design.

  In terms of payouts, you’ll receive 12 coins for three, 40 coins if you find four, and 150 coins for all five.

• Speckled Eye of Horus

  The most exaggerated of the game’s trio of identical symbols, this one is notable for the seven polka dots lined up along the eyelid. It also looks like a cheap rub on tattoo your kid mightbring home from the grocery store quarter machines.

  You’ll score a boost of 12 coins for landing three of the speckled Eye of Horus symbols, while four return a 30 coin reward. Up it to five of them and you’ll drop 120 coins into the bucket.

• A

  Card rank symbols are a standard feature used by almost every slot machine designer, and 777igt is no exception. It’s the A that carries the highest pay amounts, offering 10 coins for three,30 coins for four, and 100 coins for five.

• K

  On to the K symbol, which pays out 10 coins for landing three, 25 coins when you grab four, and 80 coins for connecting five.

• Q

  You’ll receive 10 coins for three of the Q symbol, 25 coins for four, and 60 coins for five.

• J

  If you score three of the J symbols the payout is 10 coins, and you’ll earn 20 coins for finding a four pack. The reward for lining up five Js is 50 coins.

• 10

  The 10 symbol hold the same 10 / 20 / 50 pay values as the J symbol.

Having discussed the multiple shortcomings contained within the reel symbol collection above, we won’t bore you with an extended discussion thereof.

But sufficed to say, these reel symbols are among the worst we’ve seen while reviewing 777igt virtual slots. For one thing, the game simply ignored its main character altogether, so there’s noCleopatra images to be seen at all. For a game based on one of history’s most renowned beauties, that’s just an unforgivable oversight.

Rather than find a few stock images of Cleopatra, or even generate their own artwork, the 777igt design team did nothing more than copy some King Tut’s mask symbols from other Egypt themed games.That’s inexcusable in our book, for obvious reasons, not to mention the fact that Cleopatra and King Tut were separated by more than a millennium.

The other symbol graphics we’re forced to work with when playing Egyptian Cobra are equally lazy, with no less than three takes on the Eye of Horus standing out as particularly egregious. AncientEgyptian hieroglyphics were made up of hundreds of different symbols, but 777igt chose to duplicate the same one three times over rather than source unique images.

That right there should tell you everything you need to know about Egyptian Cobra’s commitment to providing players with the requisite eye candy that are the foundation for most great slot games.

Thankfully, the 777igt gameplay structure is tried and true, so even this game can’t mess that up. Between the hook of free spins, a side screen bonus game that changes things up, and the everimportant three tiered jackpot system made up of Mega, Minor, and Mini progressive prizes, Egyptian Cobra can fall back on superior in game features to make up for design flaws.

Read on for a full rundown on these three main gameplay features:

Free Spins

Scoring free spins during the course of a slot session is the best way to sustain your bankroll, and fittingly, it’s the goddess Isis symbol that provides that lifeblood in Egyptian Cobra.Lining up three of them will bring back five free spins, four will earn 10, and five gets you 15.

Those free spins will be set at the same coin denomination and number of pay line from the triggering spin, and they’ll begin immediately after. You can kick back and take a breather atthis point, because the game will cycle through your free spin count automatically. Pay attention though, because you’ll be earning winners at a slightly better clip on free spins.

Finally, if you’re able to land three or more of the goddess Isis symbols during a free spin, you’ll add another allotment to the current count. This ability to retrigger free spins is agodsend in the slot game – or should we say goddess send – so enjoy those extended runs when they show up.

Bonus Round

In order to play Egyptian Cobra’s bonus round, you’ll first need to line up three of the blue scarab beetle bonus symbols along reels 3 / 4 / 5.

If you can manage that, the game will present you with a side screen which contains a flute floating above several jars on the ground. The onscreen prompt will direct you to click on theflute, at which point music will begin playing to summon a cobra from its hiding place.

Each jar appears to contain a preset prize amount, and while these are actually quite valuable, you won’t have any ability to use skill when selecting them. That’s a shame, because many777igt slot games feature bonus rounds that integrate skill and luck, with target shooting or pattern tracking giving players the chance to “beat the game.”

In this case, however, it’s all about the luck of the draw, so you’re just swapping out one game of chance for another.

In our experience, you’ll get to bring a few cobras out of their shell during any given bonus round, and those payouts tend to add up. So while the game itself isn’t all that compelling, atthe very least this bonus element offers prizes that you can look forward to.

3 Jackpots

Speaking of prizes to look forward to, every 777igt player savors the chance to spin for six and even seven figure progressive jackpots.

Known as the Mega, Minor, and Mini jackpots, these wide area progressives are linked between all 777igt online slot titles. That means a tiny fraction of every wager placed on every spin isdiverted to the three part jackpot system, creating one of the world’s largest online progressive prize pools.

Winning the Mega jackpot, which currently stands at $1,601,324 at the time of this writing, requires a perfect combination of one King Tut’s mask close up symbol on each of the five reels.

In order to claim the Minor jackpot, valued at $806,654 right now, the goal is five of the King Tut’s mask wide angle symbols along an activated pay line.

And to take home the Mini jackpot, which pays a not so mini $534,344 at the moment, you’ll need to see five golden eagle necklace symbols lined up.

Egyptian Cobra differs from most 777igt virtual slots – most of which come with 25 or 50 pay line – by putting 100 pay line on the screen.

The game gives you the option to toggle between various pay line amounts – ranging from 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and the full 100 – but experienced slot players know to activate themaximum at all times. This gives you the best chance to collect basic line pays, while keeping you in contention for the three part progressive jackpots.

As for the coin denominations you can choose from, the following bet per line increments are available: $0.01, $0.02, $0.05, $0.08, $0.10, $0.30, $0.60, and $1.00.

For penny slot players, the minimum cost to cover when playing at $0.01 for all 100 pay line is $1. The high roller crowd, meanwhile, can play for $100 per spin.

Even if it’s a bad game by 777igt’s standards, the company’s use of standard features and options ensures that Egyptian Cobra still plays functionally across the board.

Players who like to speed up the process can choose the “Auto Spin” feature to program a predetermined cycle of spins. You can choose 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or even Infinite, before letting the gamerun through the motions for you. Auto spins are useful for times when you need to step away from the computer, but using this option increases your spins per hour rate. For a negative expectationgamble like the slots, that’s never a good thing.

Another way to play faster is the “Stop” button that appears immediately after you’ve clicked “Spin.” With a second click to stop the reels, you’ll see your result appear without wasting timewatching the reels. Don’t worry though, because the reels are still randomized as per usual – you just skip over the dramatic production aspect of the game.

Finally, when the Aladdin like tunes of the soundtrack began to grate on your ear, head for the upper right hand corner of the screen to find full volume controls.

The main rules for Egyptian Cobra can be found below:

• Winning combinations can only be formed when moving from left to right across the reels along an activated pay line.
• The game’s three progressive jackpots, Mega, Minor, and Mini, each require five of the same special symbol to appear along an activated pay line. For this reason, among others, expert playersadvise that all 100 pay lines are always put into play. After all, nothing would sting more than seeing five of the Mega jackpot trigger symbols hit the screen, only to find a dead pay line andreturn nothing at all.
• Any basic payout is derived by multiplying the bet per line amount by the assigned reward. That means a win of 50 coins on a spin with a bet per line of $0.01 applied to 100 pay line wouldbring back $0.50 – at 50 x $0.01 – or exactly one half of your original bet.
• After finding a free spin award, the same coin size and pay line count in play for the triggering spin is applied for the subsequent free spins.

Egyptian Cobra is among the weakest 777igt virtual slots out there, so longtime fans of the company would be well served to skip over this one altogether.

But even if you’re new to 777igt gameplay, and have a deep interest in the cultural touchstones of ancient Egypt, there are plenty of other options out there to choose from. The hook ofCleopatra is badly wasted on this game, and it’s almost as if the designers had no idea how to expand past their usual style to take on a new theme.