How to Trigger Free Spins
Land 3, 4, or 5 Book scatter symbols anywhere on the 5 reels in a single spin. Despite what some players assume, the number of scatters does not affect how many free spins you receive — it is always 10 free spins regardless. However, landing more scatters means you are more likely to have triggered from a lower-probability event, which feels more valuable even if the base award is identical.
On average, Book of Dead triggers free spins approximately once every 100–150 spins. High volatility means some sessions see a trigger every 40 spins; others go 400+ spins without one.
The Expanding Symbol
This is where the real action happens. Immediately before free spins begin, the game randomly selects one of the 11 symbols to become the Special Expanding Symbol. When that symbol appears as part of a winning combination on any reel during free spins, it expands to cover every position on that reel from top to bottom.
Expanded symbols do not need to be adjacent — they only need to appear on the correct reels for active paylines. This means a full screen of Rich Wilde symbols (5 reels × 3 rows = 15 symbols) on all 10 paylines pays 5,000x your stake per line.
Which Symbol Gets Chosen?
The selection is random with each symbol having equal probability — you cannot influence it. Rich Wilde expanding pays the most (5,000x for 5) but appears least frequently on the reels. Card royals (A, K, Q, J, 10) appear more often but pay significantly less. Most memorable wins come from premium symbols: Rich Wilde, Pharaoh, Anubis, or Horus Falcon.
Retrigger Mechanic
Landing 3 or more Book scatter symbols during free spins adds 10 more free spins to your remaining total. There is no cap on retriggers — theoretically you could retrigger indefinitely. In practice, retriggers are rare events: expect one retrigger every 10–15 free spin rounds on average. When a retrigger happens, the same expanding symbol continues for all added spins.
Expected Value of Free Spins
Community tracking data from millions of spins shows that the average free spins bonus pays approximately 80–100x the stake. However, the distribution is extremely wide — most bonuses pay 20–40x while rare big hits with premium expanding symbols can exceed 1,000x. The maximum theoretical payout of 5,000x per payline × 10 paylines = 50,000x total stake is mathematically possible but extraordinarily rare.