Also on offer are up to 35 free spins with multipliers that can reach up to 5x, last spin multipliers of up to 50x and super spins with extra added wilds. Playable across all devices, stakes range from between 40p and £800 per spin.
Your first choice will be to choose your lucky deity – Aset, Bastet or Hathor. Further deities can be unlocked the further you progress. More of which below.
The design on show here is very impressive - set against the backdrop of the pyramids, the reels include a selection of ornate symbols. Even the lower value player cards are embellished with an assortment of jewels, gemstones and flowers. They're joined by the ankh cross, flowers, scarab beetle and eye of Horus hieroglyphs.
The Cleopatra Plus logo (with the queen peeking out behind) is the game's wild - these can appear in stacks that are 2, 3, 6 or 10 symbols high. Whenever the wild forms part of a winning combination, that payout will be doubled – this is known as the Stacked 2x Wilds feature.
There are also 3 scatter style symbols - a single Pharaoh, Pharaoh and Cleopatra, Pharaoh and 2 Cleopatras. Every time 1 of these land on the reels, they will be added to a tally of followers. When you collect 50 followers, you'll go up a level and unlock a new feature. There are 8 levels in all. Keep track on how many followers you have via the meter in the top right hand corner of the reels.
Land 3, 4 or 5 of any of the trio of Pharaoh and Cleopatra combinations to trigger the Free Spins Bonus feature where you'll start with 5 free spins and a 1x multiplier. You'll then be taken to a map, starting in Alexandria (further maps are unlocked the more followers you collect). You then get to place your followers in a series of buildings throughout the city which in turn will reveal extra free spins, cash awards and multipliers.
These start at between 3 and 20 free spins with multipliers of between 2x and 4x. The more levels you unlock, the bigger the potential rewards available in the map rounds. These can reach 30 free spins, 5x multipliers, a last spin multiplier of up to 50x and up to 10 Super Spins where many extra wilds are added to the reels.
Collecting followers also increases the treasures on offer in the base game - after you've collected 200 followers for example, 3 extra deities are added to the reels. These appear fully stacked on all 5 reels and can really boost your winning chances.
This may all sound a little complicated but you'll quickly get the hang of things - in short, land more scatters, collect more followers, unlock greater potential prizes. Cleopatra Plus offers plenty of variety - unlocking levels keeps the interest level high, even after playing for a long session. With 1,250 followers required to land the greatest awards, there's always something to aim for.
The best rewards are on offer the more levels you unlock so you'll need a healthy bankroll to play Cleopatra Plus to its full potential. Decent wins are possible at the lower levels but the real biggies will need some unlocking.
We've taken many virtual trips back to ancient Egypt. Cleopatra Plus shows that it's still possible to create something fresh from some very old source material. It's well designed and offers nice flashes of innovation. The levelling up won't be for everyone but if you have the bankroll, Cleopatra Plus is an ancient adventure worth undertaking. I consider it to be a medium to high variance offering which does the original Cleopatra game justice.