Desert Raider Slots

Are you a fan of treasure-hunting movies like Sahara and the Indiana Jones franchise? If so, Desert Raider slots might be up your alley. Developed by RealTime Gaming, this 5-reel, 20-payline game takes you to an ancient temple in search of relics. Let's discuss if it's worth playing in the following Desert Raider slots review.

Gameplay

This game features 5 reels and 20 paylines on a 5x3 grid. It has a basic gameplay model, where wins form when 3+ matching symbols land in a payline. A winning line must begin in the first reel and travel right in consecutive positions (e.g., reels 1, 2, 3, 4).

Graphics & Atmosphere

Desert Raider slots includes the usual mixture of Egyptian-style symbols, like ankhs and Anubis. Therefore, you won't see much original on the reels. This game does separate itself from the pack, though, in terms of background atmosphere. RealTime Gaming (RTG) has done a wonderful job designing the columns, boulders, and temple walls in the backdrop. We also find it interesting that RTG has gone with an outdoor desert temple setting, rather than a pyramid like similar games.

Symbols & Payouts

Standard symbols include six royals (A-9), an ankh, Anubis, and scarab. The latter is the highest-paying basic symbol, delivering 2,000x the line bet for five matches. The raider and an ancient book serve as the wild and scatter icons, respectively. In addition to substituting for regular symbols to form wins, the desert raider offers payouts worth up to 5,000x for five. He also expands to fill his respective reel during the base game. The Desert Raider max win is 50,000x the line bet.

Desert Raider Slots Features

This slot isn't packed with features, but it does have extras worth mentioning. Here's a look at the Desert Raider features:

• Expanding wild - Again, the raider symbol expands to fill reels that he lands on. This effect creates a 1x3 wild symbol.
• Free spins & scatter payouts - You trigger 10, 12, or 14 free spins by landing 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols. You'll also receive a scatter prize worth 10x, 50x, or 200x your total bet for 3, 4, or 5 triggering scatters.
• Morphing symbol - Before free spins, the game chooses one symbol to act as the morphing icon (i.e., a symbol that changes to another to create bigger combinations). If the morphing symbol appears in a win, it becomes a special morphing symbol and can pay from anywhere on the grid like a scatter.

Betting Options

The 20 paylines are fixed, but you can adjust the total bet from $0.20 ($0.01 per line) to $50 ($2.50 per line). A lightning bolt icon (left of spin button) lets you adjust the speed of spins. You can also activate autoplay, which keeps the reels spinning for between 5 and infinity rounds.

RTP & Volatility

We don't know the Desert Raider slots RTP because it's not listed. RealTime Gaming typically gives online casinos the opportunity to choose between 91% and 97% payback for each game. Volatility isn't listed either, but our guess is medium-to-high volatility based on our session, the max payout, and number of features.

Try the Demo

Some gaming sites offer demos for RTG slots. If you find one of these, you'll be able to try Desert Raider slots for free. This is the ideal situation so that you can test the game before depositing and risking actual funds on it.

More About RealTime Gaming

RTG is one of the industry's biggest veterans, having been producing online slots since 1998. Desert Raider joins a long line of RealTime hits, like Achilles Deluxe, Aztec's Millions, Bubble Bubble, Cash Bandits, Jackpot Cleopatra's Gold Deluxe, Lucha Libre 2, Megasaur, Princess Warrior, Shopping Spree II, and Witch's Brew.

Verdict on Desert Raider Slots

Desert Raider impresses us with its background graphics, solid win potential, and unique twist (Egyptian temple vs pyramid) on a tired theme. This game also uses morphing symbols in the bonus rather than expanding symbols. The latter are heavily prevalent in "book of" type slots, meaning Desert Raider narrowly avoids falling into this cliché category thanks to its morphing symbols. We feel that this game could offer another 1-2 features to be exceptional. That said, we'll settle on a really good rating of 8.5/10 for Desert Raider slots.