Gears of Horus

Gears of Horus Slot Review

Slot Provider: Pragmatic Play

RTP: 96.09% | Variance: High | Maximum Win: 10,000x

Our Score: 8.4

Play at Magic Red Casino
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WHY YOU CAN TRUST THIS REVIEW: The information and opinions on this page are the result of an comprehensive process of information gathering and live game testing by the gambling experts who work at allslotsites.com. Find out more here.

About Gears of Horus

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 12th February 2024

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Gears of Horus is an Egyptian-themed cluster pays slot from Pragmatic Play with steam-punk mixed into the design. Tumble wins trigger expansions so that the grid grows from 6×6 to 8×8 whilst wild blocks of up to 4×4 are randomly added. The free spins round awards up to 20 plays with progressive multipliers that grow on each tumble by up to 5x.

The maximum win Gears of Horus is 10,000x and spins start at 20p. This game is available in the UK from 4th March 2024.

Gears of Horus Game Information

  • RTP: 96.09% | 95.09% | 94.06%
  • Variance: High
  • Maximum Win: 10,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: Up To 8
  • Rows: Up To 8
  • Paylines: Cluster Pays
  • Minimum Stake: £0.20
  • Theme: Ancient Egypt
  • Features: Wilds, Wild Blocks, Expanding Grid, Free Spins, Progressive Multipliers

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Gears of Horus

IMPORTANT: To give you an accurate assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

Boom Or Bust? Our Session By The Numbers

I played 200 spins on Gears of Horus on Pragmatic Play’s test server prior to release to test the game. This is what happened.

  • Stake Size: $1
  • Start balance: $100,000
  • End balance: $100,044
  • Hit Rate: 31.2% (78 winning spins in 250)
  • Biggest Win: 104.8x
  • Free Spins Round: 1

Loading up Gears of Hours I wasn’t expecting much (just another Egyptian cluster pays) but this was actually a really good play. The hit rate is generous. It came in at 31.2% (just over 1 in 3 spins was a winning spin) and it certainly felt that way with lot of dazzling gems, tumbles and grid expansions going on most of the time. I don’t recall a run of more than 5 losing spins at any time.

In the base game you’ll be looking for 4 consecutive tumbles so that the grid expands to 8×8 in size. For me that happened 9 times (on 3.6% of spins). That’s when it gets much more interesting as there are now 64 spaces to fill and you get one of those random wild blocks. This produced my biggest base game win of 50.95x thanks to a 2×5 block which you can see in this screenshot. The whole game really picks up at this point and the visuals are superb.

A 2x5 Wild Block in Gears of Horus
A 2×5 Wild Block when the grid is at 8×8

The free spins round triggered once in 250 spins which isn’t unusual for a high variance game. The progressive multipliers here are powerful because they can randomly increase by up to 5x with each tumble, as explained in the review below. I scored a 104.8x win from this feature.

A 104.08x win in Gears of Horus
A 104.8x win from the free spins round

Overall, I was just over break even. Of course, this is high variance, so don’t expect that every time, but it’s certainly a really fun game to play.

What We Liked

  • Cool design mixing up Ancient Egyptian theme with steam punk
  • Exciting free spins round with progressive multipliers that can grow by 5x per tumble
  • Expanding grid triggers big wild blocks
  • Free spins can be re-triggered
  • High hit rate - over 30% in testing

What We Didn't like

  • Some slot sites run the game at less than 96% RTP
  • High volatility won't appeal to all players

Gears of Horus Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 9
  • RTP and Variance 8
  • Maximum Win 8
  • Symbols and Paytable 8
  • Features and Gameplay 9

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"Don't overlook this game - it has surprising depths thanks to the steam-punk design elements and the thrilling combination of expanding grid and wild blocks!"

Overall Score: 8.4

Theme & Design

Our Score 9

An Original Spin on the Classic Egyptian Slot With Steam Punk Elements

The idea of another Egyptian-themed cluster pays slot might not sound exciting, but Pragmatic Play have definitely found a way to breathe life into this well-worn theme by mixing in some steam-punk stylings which look very cool. The setting is the desert at night, pyramids and temples in the background, and a 6×6 grid in the foreground. So far, so normal. But look to the left and right of the grid and you’ll see steam-powered mechanical apparatus including cogs – the gears of the title – that turn to expand reels and rows after every tumble. It looks great and with a grid housing bright, shiny gems and a mix of hieroglyphs the picture is complete. Your soundtrack is a dramatic orchestral score that builds in time with the wins. Overall, a surprisingly fun and original production.

Gears of Horus by Pragmatic Play
Gears of Horus – the cogs to the side of the reels turn to expand the grid

RTP and Variance

Our Score 8

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

Gears of Horus has 3 available RTP settings which is standard for Pragmatic Play slots. They are 96.09%, 95.09% and 94.06%. It will at your casino’s discretion which rate they set the game to. Whilst there is not much difference between 96.09% and 94.06% it always makes sense to play at the highest rate so look for slot sites where Gears of Horus runs at 96.09%.

You can check the RTP on the game info screen by clicking the ‘I’ button under the reels then scrolling through until you find it. In my experience, MrQ from Lindar Media is your best bet. It is their policy to always offer slots at the best rate.

This is another highly volatile slot from Pragmatic Play with a high win potential, so expect an uneven win distribution, but it has the capacity with wilds, multipliers and free spins to go off at any time.

Maximum Win

Our Score 8

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

The top payout in Gears of Horus is 10,000x. That is about average for a high risk slot from Pragmatic. If you want better potential you can check out recent release, Strawberry Cocktail, which has a 16,000x max win, or check our article on Pragmatic’s highest max win games.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 8

This is a cluster pays slot which runs on a 6 reel and 6 row grid. Wins are triggered by landing 5 or more identical symbols in horizontally or vertically adjacent positions anywhere on the grid. With a 6×6 configuration it is therefore possible to build clusters as big as 36 symbols in size.

Gears of Horus Paytable
The paytable with 100x for 15 or more premiums

However, Gear of Horus is also a Tumble Wins game (see more on that below) and after each consecutive Tumble one side of the grid expands by 1 up to a maximum of 8. So, at full expansion you have an 8×8 grid. That means you can actually build clusters of 64 symbols in size for HUGE payouts!

There are 8 pay symbols to help you on your way. The low payers are the 4 gems in green, purple, blue and red. These are valued at from 0.1x for 5 greens up to 15x for between 15 and 64 reds. The premiums are the Egyptian symbols – the dog, the eye, the 2 birds. These are valued at from 0.4x for 5 dogs up to 100x for 15 to 64 of the top paying premium birds.

There is also a Wild that will help to complete clusters by substituting for any pay symbol. It also has the same value as the top paying premium symbol at 1x for 5 in a cluster up to 100x for 12 to 64 in a cluster.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 9

The gameplay in Gears of Horus is an uncomplicated mix of tumbles, wilds, multipliers and free spins. Most slots fans will be familiar with these.

Tumble Wins and Expanding Grid

The tumble win mechanic triggers with every win. All winning symbols in clusters on the grid are removed, and non-winning symbols drop down to fill the space. Then new symbol drop onto the grid from above to complete the sequence. If this creates more clusters then the process repeats. And so on, until no more wins are triggered.

The nice part is that for every tumble one of the sides of the grid – top, bottom, left or right, expands by one reel or row. This continues up to a maximum of 8 reels and 8 rows, creating space for bigger clusters.

A Tumble Win in Gears of Horus
A tumble win – winning symbols are removed

Random Wild Blocks When The Grid is 8×8

IF the grid has expanded to 8×8 in size then a block of wilds is randomly added to the grid to help form more clusters. The blocks may be configured in many different shapes and sizes (1×2, 2×2, 5×1, 2×3 etc.) with a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 16 wilds in total.

Free Spins With Progressive Multipliers

The scatter symbol in Gears of Horus is represented by the scarab beetle. It will trigger the free spins round when 3, 4 or 5 land on the reels in one spin. That gets you 8, 12 or 20 free spins.

What I like about this free spins round is the configuration of the progressive multiplier. It starts at 1x for each spin and increases by 1x with each tumble win. But that’s not all, for each of the first FOUR tumbles in a sequence, there is additional 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x or 5x added to it!

The multiplier value is then applied to all wins from the current spin before re-setting to 1x for the next one.

And, you can also re-trigger the free spins at any point during the feature by hitting 3, 4 or 5 scatters to get you 8, 12 or 20 free spins again.

The Final Verdict

This is an excellent new game to add to Pragmatic Play’s extensive list of cluster pays slots. The steam punk element helps to re-imagine the Ancient Egyptian style game whilst the generous hit rate and tumble wins gameplay means that your session should always be action packed. And the free spins round, though tough to trigger, looks like it can really pop thanks to those multipliers that grow faster than in most games as they randomly increase by up to 5x with each tumble. In short, highly recommended for all cluster pays fans.

Useful Tips When Playing Gears of Horus

Remember, online slots are games of chance, there is NO strategy that can improve your odds of winning. However, reading our review and following these tips will help you get the most out of your time playing this slot game.

1. Find A Slot Site With The Maximum RTP

Where a game has multiple RTPs you should always look to play at the optimum level. So check the game info pages at your site before you spin with your own money. That gives you the best chance of walking away with a positive balance.

2. Build Sequences Of 4 Or More Tumbles

The game gets much more exciting as you add more reels and rows to the grid. The climax is the 8×8 set up where a wild block is added. You need 4 consecutive tumbles for this to happen so watch out for that!

3. Choose A Low Stake Level

Despite its high hit rate in testing at over 30% Gears of Horus is still a high risk for high reward slot. To manage your bankroll sensibly you should therefore choose a low stake comparable to your balance to stretch your funds further whilst chasing down that big win.

4. Play At Licensed UK Slot Sites

We have chosen the sites on this page because they are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. This is important because it means that your money and personal information is secure and the games are fair and safe.

Who Made Gears of Horus?

  • Name: Pragmatic Play
  • Established: 2015
  • UK License: Remote 046683-R-325951-014
  • Total Games: 500 +
  • Known For: Wide range of themes and styles, live casino including gameshow formats, and bingo
  • Popular Slots: Fruit Party, Dog House Megaways, Big Bass Bonanza, Release the Kraken
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