Desert Dreams, from Cryptologic, is a bit of a mix between a game themed around Ancient Egypt and a title that follows treasure hunters as they dig out some of the gems left behind by the pharaohs. You will get plenty of shovel related action in it, but there is the archaeologist as well, plus a number of Egyptian items. It’s the kind of design that might make you smile, a game that should prove fun and different from the other slots with a focus on pyramids.
Once the game loads, you will discover that it’s a 5 reel title, with up to 20 selectable paylines. $20,000 is a good amount to go after, though below average for Cryptologic. Multipliers, free spins, scatters and wilds are all great features to have around, and Desert Dreams has them.
Features of Desert Dreams
With wilds, scatter symbols, free spins and multipliers all present in Desert Dreams, the game can be a lot of fun even if you don’t necessarily enjoy the theme or the design.
The wild is probably the easiest one to explain, as it’s a classic symbol of this type, capable of substituting for the other symbols as long as they don’t have any kind of feature attached (the scatter is a feature symbol). At the same time, getting this wild symbol on a payline multiple times will get you a prize, which goes up to 4,000 coins. Even one wild is going to bring you something, as it awards you 2 coins. You will recognize it by the image of a male in Egyptian clothes that is looking at a gem he just found.
The scatter is probably just as valuable, even though it doesn’t award the same amount of money. It still gives you up to 100x the triggering bet back, as long as you have up to 5 scatters in random positions, plus it can get you inside the free spins feature. The scatter has on it the image of the Pharaoh sarcophagus.
Free Games Feature
All you need to get the slot’s 10 free spins is a minimum of three scatter symbols present during the base game, in the same spin. You get the free spins I’ve mentioned, plus prizes that triple in value for the duration. This can get you a jackpot three times bigger than normal. With a bit of luck, you can hope to retrigger the free spins, the same 3+ scatter requirement being in place.
Betting options and jackpots
The betting requirements of Desert Dreams only ask for a single line to be activated in order for the game to start, but it’s a good idea to select as many as you can afford, all 20 if possible. An identical number of coins will have to be used, whose range is $0.01 to $5, but it should be worth it.
In exchange for a $100 bet, the maximum allowed, you can hope to win up to $20,000, which would be 4,000 coins in the game.
Design and symbols
Though it’s just as much about digging for treasures as it is about Ancient Egypt, the surrounding design puts the focus on the pyramids and it does a good job at it. With dark yellow sand all around, with multiple pyramids visible on both sides of the reels and the moon and the Sun visible at the same time, the background image was a good choice. The same can be said about the rest of the game graphics, with drawing styles used for the characters and objects reminding me of some high quality French comics I used to read as a kid. The yellow/gold color seems to be present in almost all the symbols, which in combination with a similarly popular light blue creates a nice effect.
Symbols: Explorer (wild, 4,000x), Sarcophagi (scatter, 100x the triggering wager), Blonde Girl (2,000x), Egyptian Digger (750x), Camel (500x), Pickaxe (500x), Shovel (200x), Ankh Cross (200x), Sphinx (150x), Clay Pottery (150x) and Compass (100x).
Is It Worth Playing?
It might not be the best looking Egyptian slot out there, but thanks to its half Explorer theme, it’s different enough from the rest to merit exploring. Its various features help it as well in that respect.
Desert Dreams can be found at any Cryptologic casino, where you get a chance to play it for real money or in free mode.
