You get the same bonus round as always in the Sun of Egypt series, where low-paying royal symbols are removed. However, the main attraction remains the Hold & Win feature. This time, it’s enhanced with a mystery symbol and the possibility to upgrade to a Super version, and you still need to fill the grid to win the Royal Jackpot.
Premium symbols pay between 4x and 10x your stake for five of a kind wins, and the Wild symbol pays 12x your stake for the same. Wild also substitutes for all regular symbols to complete winning combinations, just like usual.
The Free Spins round is triggered by landing 3 scatter symbols anywhere on the screen, awarding 8 free spins. You get 8 extra spins if you land 3 scatters in one of the free spins, and only premium symbols, wilds, and bonus symbols appear on the reels during the feature.
You need 6+ Sun bonus symbols to activate the Hold & Win feature, and the triggering symbols become sticky on an otherwise cleared grid. You start with 3 respins, and the counter resets each time you land a new sticky bonus cash symbol. The bonus cash symbols come with random values between 1x and 15x your stake, and you can also land the following jackpot symbols:
Mini Jackpot — 20x your stake
Minor Jackpot — 50x your stake
Major Jackpot — 150x your stake
Grand Jackpot — 2,000x your stake
These jackpot symbols are also sticky and reset the respin counter, and you can win more than one jackpot per feature. If you fill all 15 positions, you win the Royal Jackpot worth 10,000x your stake. The feature ends either when you run out of respins or win the jackpot.
You can land Super Bonus symbols (darker orange Sun) on reel 5 during the base game and free spins round, or on any reel during the bonus game. 5+ Super Bonus symbols trigger the Super Bonus Game, which gives you higher-value bonus cash symbols. You can also land Mystery Symbols, which transform into one of the 4 jackpot symbols or the Super Bonus symbol.
You get a brief taste of the base game before we trigger the Hold and Win bonus game at 0:21 into the 2:26-minute highlights video. We trigger the feature once more right after it plays out, and you can see how we did by clicking the play button below.
There are currently 27 games in Booongo’s Hold and Win series, and only Dragon Pearls offers higher potential than Sun of Egypt 3. This is perhaps the main saving grace of this installment, as there’s very little here that we haven’t already seen (after all, this is the third installment). The visuals aren’t anything special either, and the game features a generic Ancient Egypt soundtrack.
The free spins round comes with no low-value symbols, but the most you can win from a single spin is still only 300x your stake. Most likely, you’ll need the Hold and Win feature to truly make an impact, but regular cash symbols won’t do much for you. That said, the feature does seem to trigger quite often, but without one of the top-tier jackpots, you’ll be looking at a decent win at best.
Free Spins with no low-value royal symbols
Hold & Win with jackpots up to 10,000x
Super Hold & Win with higher value cash symbols
Overall max win of 10,000x your stake
RTP of 95.61% is below average
Sun of Egypt 3 is a solid addition to the Hold & Win series, but it doesn't necessarily push the boundaries of innovation. While the jackpots and Hold & Win feature provide a significant potential, the overall experience feels familiar. The game's visuals, while fitting the theme, are nothing extraordinary, and the RTP is lower than average. However, for fans of the series and those chasing big jackpots, this game still offers an exciting opportunity with the potential for major wins.
