Play Pharos II for Free

The internet is full of gambling games that take after long gone civilisations, whether it is the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians or even the Mayans or Aztecs. However, few games have taken such a specific look at one of the Ancient World's most wonderful achievements in architecture and engineering. That was until this slot machine came along. That is because Pharos II takes its name after the fabled island of Pharos, just off the coast of the Nile Delta near to the Egyptian city of Alexandria. It was on this island that a magnificent lighthouse was built by the first ruler of the Ptolemaic Empire, Ptolemy I Soter, eventually standing more than 100 metres tall to guide seafarers safely on their way into harbour.

As such, players will find a whole variety of maritime bits and bobs upon the reels of this slot machine, with icons that depict anchors, a ship's wheel, navigational maps and even an authentic wooden sailing boat floating on some teal blue Mediterranean waters.

The game also features a couple of special wild coins, both of which will complete line wins for all ordinarily paying symbols. There is a silver coin Alexander the Great – a famous conqueror who gave his name to the city of Alexandria – while a gold coin reveals an image of the lighthouse itself. That gold coin is extra special because not only is it a wild icon, but it will also trigger a special bonus “Pharos Feature” with a nudge bonus.

Even though this slot machine does reveal many interesting props and artefacts from the ancient maritime world, we can't help but feel a little bit disappointed with the overall quality of the graphics. Admittedly, the game does offer some visual flair with its rudimentary use of basic 3D animations and old style lettering used for the standard playing card icons. However the game just doesn't look complete with a simple set of reels and uninteresting background scene – which actually depicts the lighthouse in all of its glory. The only problem is that it is hidden by the reels, meaning that players have to open the game's paytable if they want to catch an obscured glimpse.

Speaking of paytables, this slot machine does offer up some decent prize returns for players who manage to match up some identical symbol sequences on any of the 10 paylines. Those paylines are permanently stuck in place, meaning that spinners simply have to decide how much they wish to put down as a wager on each line.

The stake per line options are as follows: 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.50, 1.00 and 2.00 credits. So, that makes for a minimum possible bet of 0.10 credits per spin while high-ish rollers can go for some big spins with total stakes worth a maximum of 20.00 credits.

The biggest win on offer in Pharos II is a 5,000x line bet multiplier from five matching boat symbols, meaning that max bet players will be able to turn their 20 credit bets into a jackpot of 10,000. Those big money wins won't come around with every spin, but there are plenty of other winning combinations to find, as you can see in the table below:

Pharos II may be slightly underwhelming when it comes to the quality of design and visual effects, but the Merkur Gaming slot machine does offer up some decent winning potential with its 10,000 credits jackpot. Plus, with two wild coins in play, one of which will trigger a special bonus game, this video slot could shine the light on some exciting spins from the Ancient World.