Wild Scarabs Slot Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Wild Scarabs Review

Released by Microgaming in 2018, Wild Scarabs takes players on a journey back in time to the golden age of the Egyptian Empire. While there is an abundance of Egyptian-themed slots available to online players, Wild Scarabs certainly stands out from the crowd with its superb artwork, animations, and sounds.

Wild Scarabs slot reel screen

The action takes place on 5 reels enclosed in a beautiful gold and marble reel housing. Instead of traditional paylines, the game designers at Microgaming have opted for the popular 243 ways-to-win format, which awards a win for 3 or more matching adjacent symbols (from left to right). As the name suggests, the golden Scarab is the Wild symbol, which substitutes for all symbols (except the Scatter). The special symbol also plays a key role in the two bonus features; Wild Deal and Free Spins with Stashed Wilds. The highest paying symbol on the reels is the Scatter, awarding a payout of 100x your bet for 5 of a kind. The Scarab, Horus, Anubis, Ankh, and Eye of Horus make up the remaining high-paying symbols, while the coloured gems are the low-paying symbols.

With an RTP (Return to Player) of 96.28% and maximum win potential of 1733x your bet, Wild Scarabs is classified as a low volatility slot which means the frequent, low paying wins would suit beginners and casual players. This simple yet highly engaging slot is available to play for free or for real money on laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.

Wild Scarabs Game Features

Wild Scarabs includes two exciting bonus features; Wild Deal and Free Spins with Stashed Wilds. As you may have guessed, the golden Wild Scarab symbol is central to both features.

Wild Deal

The Wild Deal feature is triggered when the Scarab Wild symbol lands on reel 3 on a non-winning spin. Up to 4 additional Wilds are placed at random positions on the reels, resulting in a guaranteed win.

Free Spins with Stashed Wilds

Land 3 or more Scatter symbols anywhere on the reels to trigger the Free Spins Bonus. 10 Free Spins are awarded, and all non-winning Scarab Wilds are collected in the meter above the reels. When 3 or more Wilds have been collected, they are randomly distributed across the reels to form a guaranteed win.

Free Spins will continue until all Wilds have been awarded. Free Spins cannot be retriggered.

Wild Scarabs 200 Spins Experience

We tested Wild Scarabs on a medium spec desktop. The game loaded quickly and played very well. At first glance, we were very impressed with the exceptional quality of the artwork and sounds. After familiarizing ourselves with the game rules and features in the paytable, we set our total bet value to €2.00 per spin and we were ready to roll!

Being a low volatility game, we expected fairly frequent low paying wins, and that’s exactly what we got. We eventually triggered the Wild Deal feature by landing the golden Scarab Wild on reel 3 on a non-winning spin. Only one additional Wild was placed on reel 1, awarding a mixed Anubis and Gem win totalling €7.80.

Shortly afterwards we landed 3 Scatters on reels 1, 4, and 5, scooping a cash value of €7.00 and triggering 10 Free Spins. Day turned to night, and the Free Spins bonus began to play out.

As seasoned slots players, we found ourselves in the curious situation of not feeling really excited about regular wins and wondered if collecting non-winning wilds would benefit us in a bigger and better way. On the 7th spin, we collected a single non-winning Wild and banked it in the collection meter. With no regular wins on the last 3 spins, the game generated additional Free Spins to help fill up the meter with at least 3 Stashed Wilds. We ended up collecting 4 Stashed Wilds. These were randomly placed on the reels on the last spin, generating a Big Win of 22x total bet. We won a total of €58.50 in the Free Spins Bonus (just over 29x the total bet).

Review Summary

While the theme isn’t particularly unique or imaginative in any way, Wild Scarabs is a simple but beautifully presented game with a couple of engaging and interesting features.

As the name suggests, the Wild Scarab holds the key to some potentially rewarding wins in the Base Game and in Free Spins.

We like the fact that the Wild Deal and Stashed Wild features award guaranteed wins when triggered on a non-winning spin. As mentioned in our 200 Spin test, non-winning spins could potentially be more beneficial to players than the frequent low value wins associated with low volatility slots. So, players may find themselves in the unorthodox position of hoping for non-winning spins with the possibility of Wild Scarabs triggering the Wild Deal feature (in the Base Game) or collecting Stashed Wilds (in Free Spins).

Overall, this is a polished, beautiful game that will hold more appeal to beginners and casual players. High rollers looking for bigger payouts and complex bonus features may want to look elsewhere.

Pros

• Fantastic artwork, animations, and sounds
• Non-winning spins could turn into winning spins
• Wild Deal feature with a guaranteed win (Base Game)
• 10 Free Spins with Wild Stash Feature (guaranteed win when Stashed Wilds are released)

Cons

• Typical theme
• Free Spins cannot be retriggered
• Max payouts could be more generous

If you enjoyed Wild Scarabs, why not try these similar slots?

Solar QueenPlayson’s Solar Queen is an Egyptian-themed slot featuring a progressive accumulation of Wild symbols and winning multipliers. This medium to high volatility slot has an RTP of 95.78% and features a Free Spins Bonus with Sticky Wilds.

Solar KingSolar King is the sequel to Playson’s Solar Queen. This 5x4 20 payline slot features the Flaming Frame Bonus, Multipliers, and Free Spins with Sticky Wilds. Every time the Sun symbol falls on the field during the base game, it activates a flaming frame that turns into Wild at the end of a 10-spin cycle.

In Free Spins, Wild symbols become more accessible as they remain on the reels throughout the entire mode.

Legacy of Ra MegawaysBlueprint’s Legacy of Ra Megaways is a high variance thriller. Inspired by the ever-popular Book of Ra, this Egyptian-themed game plays out on 6 reels, with up to 15 625 ways to win. Legacy of Ra Megaways includes a Free Spins Bonus with Expanding Symbols and Retriggers. The maximum jackpot is a whopping 50 000x times your stake (capped at €250 000).