Cleopatra slot by IGT

Cleopatra slot at a glance

Cleopatra comes from IGT, the Las Vegas-based maker also responsible for Da Vinci Diamonds and Wolf Run. It is one of the best-known Egyptian slot machines: hieroglyph-style card ranks, scarabs, eyes and an ankh on the reels, a Sphinx scatter, and the queen herself as wild.

Mechanically it is a traditional video slot machine. There are no cascades, no grid and no reel modifiers. Each spin fills a 5×3 window, the game checks 20 fixed lines, and wins are paid. That simplicity is part of its long appeal: everything that can happen on a spin fits on one help page.

How the Cleopatra slot machine pays: 20 lines and line bets

A payline is a fixed path across the five reels. A win needs matching symbols on adjacent reels starting from the leftmost reel. Your total stake is split evenly across the 20 lines, so the line bet is the total divided by 20.

The third column is purely illustrative, to show how line pays scale. Real symbol values are listed in the paytable on the version your casino runs; they are usually shown as credits or as multiples of the line bet, so convert before comparing with games that quote total-stake multiples.

Why several lines can win at once

Because the 20 lines overlap, one spin can complete several of them. A column of three matching symbols on reel one can feed many lines, and each completed line pays separately. That is where most medium-sized base game wins come from.

The Cleopatra wild: substitution and double pay

The Cleopatra symbol is the game’s wild. It replaces any regular symbol to complete a line, but not the Sphinx scatter. Any line win that uses a Cleopatra wild is doubled. Five wilds on a line are also a win in their own right and are among the top base-game pays.

Worked example at £1 total (5p a line): suppose three scarabs on a line are worth 10x the line bet, so 50p. If the middle scarab is actually a Cleopatra wild, the same line pays 2 × 50p = £1. A wild that sits where two lines cross can double both. The doubling is applied per line, not to the whole spin.

A doubled small win can still be less than your stake. Since October 2021 UK games must not celebrate a return equal to or below the amount staked, so a 60p doubled win on a £1 spin is shown without fanfare.

Cleopatra free spins: the Sphinx bonus

The Sphinx is the scatter symbol: it pays wherever it lands, without needing a line. Three or more Sphinxes anywhere on screen start the free spins bonus.

1. Three or more Sphinx scatters land in one spin and pay their scatter win.
2. The bonus awards 15 free spins at the stake that triggered it.
3. Every win during the round is tripled; a line with a Cleopatra wild is doubled and tripled, so pays six times its paytable value.
4. Another three or more Sphinxes during the bonus add 15 more spins.
5. Retriggers stop at the round’s cap of 180 spins in total; the remaining spins play out and the total is added to your balance.

The 3x multiplier is fixed: it does not grow during the round as in Gonzo's Quest or Thunderstruck II. That keeps the bonus fairly steady. Most rounds land somewhere in a moderate band, and the big outcomes come from retriggers lengthening the round.

Cleopatra RTP and volatility

The published Cleopatra RTP is 95.02%. That is lower than most of the newer online games on this site, which commonly sit around 96%. The gap looks small but it compounds: the house edge of 4.98% is roughly a third larger than the 3.5% edge on a 96.5% game.

Medium volatility means wins land at a moderate pace and the bonus is the main lift, without the long droughts of a high-volatility game. It is a reasonable fit for longer, lower-stake sessions, though the higher edge means the average price of that time is higher too.

What the Cleopatra slot costs at UK stakes

The average cost of a run of spins is the amount staked times the 4.98% edge. Real sessions vary a lot; this is the long-run price.

For comparison, 100 spins at £1 on a 96.5% slot average £3.50 in cost. Over a few hundred spins that difference is small next to normal swings, but over months of play it adds up. Any other stake can be priced the same way: multiply the amount staked by 4.98%.

Cleopatra max win: what is and isn’t published

Our checked data has no verified max win multiple for Cleopatra, and published figures for older IGT games are often quoted in credits or line bets rather than total stake, which makes them easy to misread. Rather than repeat a number we cannot confirm, the safe approach is to open the help screen, where UK versions must state the rules and payouts.

When you find the figure, check what it is a multiple of. A prize quoted as 10,000 times the line bet is very different from 10,000 times the total stake: on a 20-line game the first is only 500 times the total. The max win caps explainer covers the difference.

Cleopatra slot vs other Egyptian slots

Egyptian themes split into two camps. Cleopatra represents the older line-slot style with a fixed bonus multiplier. The book slot machines such as Book of Dead use a single expanding symbol in free spins and are much more volatile. If you are weighing the two, see Cleopatra vs Book of Dead.

• Book of Dead (Play'n GO): 96.21% RTP, high volatility, 10 lines, 5,000x max.
• Legacy of Dead (Play'n GO): 96.58%, high volatility, 10 lines.
• Eye of Horus (Blueprint): 96.31%, high volatility, with symbol upgrades in free spins.

Cleopatra demo and reading the rules

A Cleopatra demo is free demo play, after age verification. UK-licensed sites have had to check you are 18 or over before offering free-to-play games since May 2019. Under the Commission’s rules for game descriptions and the likelihood of winning (opens in a new tab), the rules and RTP must be available to you before you play.

1. Open the game’s paytable or help icon.
2. Note whether pays are shown in credits, line-bet multiples or pounds.
3. Find the RTP statement and compare it with the published 95.02%.
4. Read the free spins page for the 3x multiplier and the retrigger cap.
5. Look for the maximum payout statement.

UK rules that apply to the Cleopatra slot online

Online versions of Cleopatra offered in Great Britain follow the slot game design rules in force since 31 October 2021: no autoplay, a minimum of 2.5 seconds per spin, no turbo or slam-stop, no celebration of a return at or below your stake, and a visible balance and net position. The Remote Technical Standards (opens in a new tab) set these out.

Per-spin limits also apply: £5 for players aged 25 and over and £2 for those aged 18–24. On Cleopatra that caps the line bet at 25p and 10p respectively. The £2 limit for 18–24s page covers how casinos apply it.

Cleopatra slot myths

• “Playing all 20 lines gives better odds.” Lines are fixed on Cleopatra online, so this is not a choice; the RTP is the same at every stake.
• “The Sphinxes are due after a long gap.” Each spin is independent, so a gap changes nothing.
• “Older games pay less after a big win.” The random number generator has no memory of previous wins.
• “A land-based Cleopatra pays the same as online.” Venue machines run their own settings and limits; see online vs land-based slot machines.

Is the Cleopatra slot worth it?

Cleopatra suits players who like a straightforward line slot with a familiar bonus and medium swings. The main trade-off is the RTP: at 95.02% it costs more on average than many alternatives. If that matters to you, a higher-RTP Egyptian game or one of the high RTP slot machines may be better value per pound staked. Whatever you choose, entertainment is what you are buying; set a budget before starting.

Where to play Cleopatra online in the UK

IGT games are carried by many UK casinos but not all, so search the lobby before signing up. Among our partners, Coral’s offer gives 100 free spins at 10p on selected games after you deposit and bet £10 on slots, and Ladbrokes gives 50 spins a day for 10 days (up to 500, 10p each) after you play £10 on slots; both pay winnings without wagering. PlayOJO’s 80 no-wagering spins on a first deposit of £10+ are for Big Bass Bonanza only. All are 18+, new customers, terms apply. See our Coral casino page for full detail.

Use the deposit limits and time-outs every UK casino provides. Free, confidential help is available from the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.

18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Decide a budget before you play: plan a slot budget. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.