Riches Of Caliph

Riches Of Caliph Slot Review

Dusk settles over an Ottoman waterway, domes and minarets cut dark against a violet sky, and the only light left in the city glows on the water itself. Riches Of Caliph from Endorphina trades in exactly this kind of storybook Arabian splendour, framed in gold filigree and teal gems, and it’s the rarer sort of oriental slot: one that runs at 98.07% RTP.

That number is the argument for this game. It plays on a 5×4 grid with 40 fixed paylines, stakes run from 0.40 to 140 per spin, and no volatility figure is published for it anywhere. Endorphina’s back catalogue runs deep on this site, from Bazaar Monkey to Joker Ra Dice, and Riches Of Caliph sits closer to their classic end of that range than to anything modern. The city looks expensive; unusually, the returns match it.

Symbols, Paylines and the Paytable

Wins are for matching combinations on adjacent reels from the left, and only the highest combination on each payline is paid, with wins on different lines added together. Scatter symbols count in any position. There’s a full stack of fruit in the lower tiers alongside the theme symbols, which tells you something about the game’s vintage styling before a single spin.

The wild substitutes for every symbol except the scatter, appears stacked in the main game, and is also the top payer on the reels. Depending on where a reel stops, you’ll see either a full reel of stacked wilds or just the start or end of the sequence, so a near-miss stack can still land a partial win. Here’s what each symbol returns as a multiple of the total bet:

• Wild – 1x for three, 5x for four, 50x for five

  Sultan and the Woman in Blue – 0.5x, 2x, 10x for three to five

  Jewelled Lamp and Blue Dagger – 0.5x, 1.5x, 6x

  Watermelon and Grapes – 0.2x, 1x, 4x

  Lemon, Orange, Plum and Cherry – 0.1x, 0.5x, 2.5x

Those aren’t big multiples by modern standards. Five wilds at 50x the total bet is the ceiling of the paytable, and the royals trickle in fractions of the stake. The RTP figure says the money has to come back somehow, so the interest here is in how the features shape the returns rather than in any single line win.

In play, the base game moves at the unhurried pace you’d expect from a 40-line, four-row layout. Stacked wilds in the main game are the main source of the bigger line wins, since a full wild reel completes several paylines at once, and the fruit-tier symbols keep the small wins ticking between them.

Free Games

Scatter symbols trigger the Free Games round from anywhere on the reels, and the more of them you land, the bigger the package:

• 3 scatters – the entry trigger, worth a round of 10 Free Games

  4 scatters – doubles the package to 20 Free Games

  5 scatters – the full haul of 30 Free Games

The round plays at the same bet as the triggering spin, and landing enough scatters again during the feature awards a fresh batch. Stacked wilds are the round’s whole identity: during Free Games the wilds may land as full reels, or as partial stacks showing the beginning or end of a sequence depending on where the reel stops.

With 40 lines in play, a couple of full wild reels can turn a modest round into something considerably better than the paytable’s top line pays suggest. That’s the design in a sentence: small individual prizes, occasional stack-driven spikes, and a retrigger keeping the door open.

The Risk Game

After any win you can gamble it. Four cards are dealt face down, you pick one, and if it beats the Dealer’s card your win doubles, with up to 10 attempts in a row. If the Dealer wins the round you lose the lot. How the round works:

• Joker – beats every other card, and the Dealer can never receive one

  Draw – matching the Dealer’s value leaves your winnings untouched and grants another attempt

  Card odds – every face-down card can be higher or lower than the Dealer’s

  Reappearing cards – the same cards can show up again from round to round

  Attempts – up to 10 in total, with the win doubling each time you beat the Dealer

  TAKE WIN – banks your current winnings and exits the round at any point

What makes this gamble worth a second look is that your odds shift visibly with the Dealer’s card. A low Dealer card is a favourable spot to press your luck; an Ace is the worst, and knowing the difference before you pick is the whole skill of the round. Averaged across every Dealer card, the Risk Game returns 84%, well below the main game’s 98.07%, and that return sits outside the main RTP figure entirely.

So the gamble is a choice, not a trap: press it when the Dealer shows small, take the money when the Dealer shows big. TAKE WIN banks the money whenever you’d rather not find out.

Bonus Pop Buy Feature

Pressing the BONUS POP button buys Free Games on demand, in the same three package sizes, and each option carries its own cost against your total bet:

• 10 Free Games – the smallest package

  20 Free Games – the middle option

  30 Free Games – the largest package

  RTP with Bonus Pop on – 95.05% to 95.92%, below the standard game

• Restrictions – winnings from bought rounds can’t be gambled

The cost depends on your total bet and the package you choose. A bought round starts with one spin of the main reels that lands enough scatters to trigger the feature, so it plays out exactly as a natural trigger would. With Bonus Pop active the RTP runs between 95.05% and 95.92%, a couple of points below playing it straight, so convenience here costs you a slice of return.

One more restriction worth knowing: winnings from bought Free Games can’t be taken into the Risk Game, so the gamble ladder is only open on naturally triggered wins. A bought round is also operator-dependent, so it may simply not appear at some casinos.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7.2/10

Riches Of Caliph is an old-school builder. The base game pays in crumbs, five wilds at 50x the bet is as good as the paytable gets, and the whole design funnels you towards the free spins, where stacked wild reels across 40 lines do the earning. That’s a familiar shape, but the 98.07% RTP gives it an honest foundation most games in this style don’t have.

The gamble is the smartest thing here. Odds that shift with the Dealer’s card give you real decisions to make rather than a coin flip, and pressing your luck against a small Dealer card is one of the few genuinely player-friendly moments on the reels. Against that, the paytable is thin, and buying the bonus costs you RTP rather than buying you an edge.

It suits players who like their slots plainly built and transparently priced, and who’ll happily work a gamble ladder instead of waiting on a multiplier. If you need a five-figure ceiling or layered features to stay interested, this city’s riches won’t stretch that far.

Riches Of Caliph FAQs

• How do you trigger Free Games in Riches Of Caliph?

  3 or more scatter symbols anywhere on the reels trigger Free Games: 3 scatters award 10 Free Games, 4 award 20, and 5 award 30. The round can also retrigger during play.
• What do stacked wilds do in Riches Of Caliph?

  The wild substitutes for every symbol except the scatter and appears stacked. During Free Games it can land as a full reel of wilds or as a partial stack, depending on where the reel stops. It’s also the top-paying symbol at 50x the total bet for five.
• How does the Risk Game gamble work?

  After a win you pick one of four face-down cards. Beat the Dealer’s card and your win doubles, with up to 10 attempts; lose and you forfeit the winnings. Draws let you try again, the Joker beats everything, and the Dealer can never get one. The average return for the gamble is 84%.
• Can you buy the bonus on Riches Of Caliph?

  Yes. The BONUS POP button buys a package of 10, 20 or 30 Free Games, with the cost scaling from your total bet. Bought rounds play the same as triggered ones, though the RTP drops to between 95.05% and 95.92% with Bonus Pop active, and the option may not be available at every casino.
• What is the RTP of Riches Of Caliph?

  The RTP is 98.07%. That figure doesn’t include the Risk Game gamble, which returns an average of 84% on its own rounds.
• Can Free Games retrigger in Riches Of Caliph?

  Yes. Free Games are played at the same bet as the triggering spin and can be won again during the feature.
• What is the bet range on Riches Of Caliph?

  Bets run from 0.40 up to 140.00 per spin across the game’s 40 fixed paylines.
• Who makes Riches Of Caliph?

  Riches Of Caliph is made by Endorphina. Its release date is 8 March 2023.