Lucky Pharaoh

The spec sheet in one sentence

Lucky Pharaoh is a 5×3, 10-line slot with no wild, no scatter and no free spins, whose entire design hangs on one prompt: when a win reaches 4x the total bet, keep it or spend it on Power Spins.

Blueprint Gaming released it on 5 January 2017. Some catalogues, this database included, list it as "Lucky Pharoah"; the studio spells it Lucky Pharaoh. On paper it looks sparse: gems, card royals and fixed lines. The interest lies in the trade-off. Power Spins put the converted win to work on four reel sets at once, and that is where the Mystery symbol switches on and where the long-run return improves.

The figures that matter: a 94% RTP for the base game, 96.25% for play inside Power Spins, high volatility and a cap of 10,000x the bet for a single game. If you enjoy a recurring decision more than a long list of features, this is worth a look. Anyone hunting for wilds, scatter triggers or a conventional bonus round will find none of them here.

Why the RTP is quoted twice

You will see Lucky Pharaoh listed at both 94% and 96.25%. Neither listing is wrong, but they measure different things, so it pays to be exact.

• 94% describes ordinary spins on the 5×3 grid.
• 96.25% describes stakes played through Power Spins.

This is one game with two segments that return at different rates, not two builds an operator chooses between. Listings that headline 96.25% overstate what normal spins deliver.

Put into units: across an extremely long run, base spins hand back roughly 94 for every 100 staked, while stakes routed through Power Spins hand back roughly 96.25 per 100. The difference is 2.25 per 100.

That is an average over vast samples. Any individual run of Power Spins can return less than the win that paid for it, and at high volatility that outcome is common. Converting every time does not change the odds on any single spin, and no collect-or-convert routine outperforms the maths. What the split does reveal is Blueprint's choice to reward the feature: the stronger long-run figure belongs to Power Spins, not ordinary spins.

Living with high volatility

The base game has no wild to complete lines, no free spins to look forward to, and a feature that only becomes available after a 4x result. That is thin by design. Most of the return potential sits in the stacked symbols and in Power Spins, so expect long stretches of small results or none between the spins that count. Blueprint's help file gives no hit frequency.

The collect-or-convert prompt, step by step

Most slots unlock their feature with scatters. Lucky Pharaoh uses the size of a win instead, so the trigger is unusually easy to read. Blueprint's help file describes the flow:

1. A spin produces a result, single or combined across lines, worth 4x the total bet or more.
2. The reels stop and two options appear: take the win, or play Power Spins.
3. Taking it credits the balance, and base spins continue as before.
4. Choosing Power Spins turns the win into funding for spins on four simultaneous reel sets.
5. Before those spins begin, the stake can be changed. According to the help file, a different bet level produces a different number of Power Spins.

There is no other way in. No scatter count, no symbol collection, no progress bar. A 3.9x result is paid without fuss; at 4x the prompt appears.

The effect is that Power Spins feel less like a bonus round and more like an optional mode that is offered whenever a qualifying win arrives. The player makes the call each time, which was uncommon for slots of this vintage.

How Power Spins spend a win

The price of a Power Spin

The commonly reported cost of one Power Spin is 4x the base bet. That matches the layout, since four reel sets are each played at the base stake. A qualifying win is therefore split into spins at that price.

The stake setting pulls the other way. On the Power Spins screen you can raise the multiplier applied to each spin, which buys fewer spins but scales every result. A lower level stretches the same win across more spins with smaller outcomes. The help file confirms only that changing the bet level changes how many spins you get. No fixed chart of spin totals or multiplier levels is published, so the actual figures vary with the size of the win and the level you pick on screen.

Four grids at once

Once the feature starts, the single 5×3 grid gives way to four reel sets that spin together. Blueprint frames this as four chances to win per spin. Each set is evaluated on its own lines and the wins from all four are totalled.

The Mystery symbol switches on

The game's logo doubles as the Mystery symbol, and the rules make it live during Power Spins. When Mystery symbols appear, every one in view becomes the same randomly picked symbol.

• Mystery symbols can arrive stacked. A stack covering a full reel turns that whole reel into one symbol.
• Since all Mystery symbols on screen reveal the same symbol, stacks on separate reels can connect into wins across many lines at once. The largest outcomes happen when Mystery symbols cover the whole grid.

Blueprint's help file also mentions "super stacked" symbols. Combined with adjacent pays, that is what allows one Mystery reveal to reach several reels together.

How long the feature lasts

There is no fixed length. Power Spins run for as long as the converted win covers them at the chosen stake, and wins from the four sets accumulate throughout.

Ordinary spins: lines, symbols and payouts

Adjacent pays explained

The 10 lines are fixed and always in play. The help file says a win needs 3, 4 or 5 matching symbols on adjacent reels along a line. That is broader than the usual left-to-right rule:

• runs that start on reel 1 pay, as normal;
• runs that finish on reel 5 also pay, which is why the game is described as paying both ways;
• a run of three on reels 2, 3 and 4 pays too, because those reels sit next to each other.

Each line pays only its highest win, and wins on separate lines are added. Line wins are scaled by the stake on the winning line.

Gems and royals

With no wild and no scatter, nothing can plug a gap in a line. The reels hold two tiers of regular symbols plus the Mystery symbol, which only matters in Power Spins.

Published values for five on a line, as multiples of the total bet:

On a per-line basis, the top three gems are usually quoted at 500x, 400x and 300x the line bet. Divide by the 10 lines and you arrive at the same total-bet values shown in the table. Payouts for three or four matching symbols are not available from a source we can confirm, so they are omitted; the in-game paytable shows them at your current stake.

The table explains the game's reliance on its feature. Five diamonds on a line pay 50x, and there are only 10 lines in total. Big base-game multiples need stacked symbols across several lines at once. Because the feature threshold sits at 4x, even a moderate stacked hit can unlock the four-grid mode.

Autoplay and the prompt

Autoplay can be set for as many as 100 spins. The help file notes that it halts when a feature is triggered or a loss limit is hit, with loss limits set by local requirements. In practice, a qualifying win interrupts autoplay so that the player, not the automation, decides whether to convert.

Reaching the 10,000x ceiling

According to the help file, one game can pay no more than 10,000x the bet, and a separate fixed ceiling also exists; the lower of the two limits applies.

The published rules point to how a result near the cap could be assembled:

• a base-game win of 4x or more, converted into Power Spins;
• a higher multiplier level selected for each Power Spin, trading spin count for size;
• stacked Mystery symbols turning up on all four reel sets at once and revealing a premium gem across most lines of each set.

No probability of reaching the cap is published. With the best five-of-a-kind worth 50x per line, getting anywhere near 10,000x relies on Power Spins, stacks and the Mystery reveal all lining up at once. Treat the figure as a limit, not something to expect.

You may see 50,000x attached to Lucky Pharaoh in some listings. That number seems to belong to the 2022 sequel, Deluxe Fortune Play. The help file for the original states 10,000x.

The 2017 original versus Deluxe Fortune Play

Blueprint revisited the theme on 16 October 2022 with Lucky Pharaoh Deluxe Fortune Play. The two titles are easily mixed up and their numbers often get swapped, so here is a straight comparison.

The core structural difference is access to the extra grids. In 2017 you fund Power Spins with a win you have just landed. In 2022, Fortune Play is its own betting mode at a fixed 20x the total bet. Its Money Spins round, which gives 3 respins and centres on gathering money symbols, has no counterpart in the 2017 game.

The RTP gaps differ too. The original separates base play (94%) and feature play (96.25%) by 2.25 points. The Deluxe version separates standard play (94.95%) and Fortune Play (95.50%) by 0.55 points. So the original makes a stronger long-run case for converting into the feature, while the sequel offers a higher base figure and a much higher ceiling.

Which players it suits

Lucky Pharaoh rewards people who like deciding things. The collect-or-convert prompt appears often enough to become part of the rhythm, and every conversion is a genuine trade between a known result and a mode that pays better over time but swings harder.

It also appeals to fans of clean reels. Without wilds or scatters, each payout can be followed along a single line of identical symbols, and the one special symbol is confined to Power Spins.

It is a weaker choice for anyone who wants a traditional free spins round, or who regards 94% as too low for normal play. Players who dislike risking a win on spins that may return less will probably collect most of the time, and so spend most of their time in the 94% segment.

Scorecard: strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

• A clear, repeatable decision on every win of 4x or more
• Power Spins return 96.25% over the long run, 2.25 points above base play
• Four grids spinning together, plus Mystery stacks, make the feature genuinely capable
• Ten fixed lines, adjacent pays and a short, readable paytable

Weaknesses

• A 94% base RTP is low for ordinary spins
• No wilds and no free spins leave the base game sparse between qualifying wins
• Blueprint publishes no Power Spins counts, hit frequency or odds of reaching the cap

Lucky Pharaoh questions and answers