Scarab Ascension

Scarab Ascension Slot Review

Gold light on sandstone, pharaohs carved into the pillars, and a pyramid dissolving into the heat haze behind the reels. Scarab Ascension spends almost nothing on its base game, and it’s right to: every worthwhile thing here is waiting eight levels up a temple that grows a storey each time you fill it. That’s a bold way to build a slot, and it’s the whole reason to care about this one.

The NowNow Gaming release runs at 96.3% RTP on a 5×3 grid, and it’s the climb that earns the name. Trigger the bonus and the reels grow level by level, from 5×3 all the way to 5×10 with 44 paylines at the top, while a Scarab Gold jackpot ladder swells underneath. It shares shelf space with the studio’s Queen Has Risen and Beastbound Love, but neither of those climbs like this.

Base Game & Features

The base game sits on a 5×3 grid, framed in wood and rope against that gold-and-amber temple backdrop. Tall sandstone pillars flank both sides of the screen, each carved with a seated pharaoh in a striped nemes headdress, hands crossed on the chest, above stacked panels of hieroglyphs. A winged sun-disc scarab crowns each pillar.

Beyond the frame the sky burns orange, god-rays breaking through cloud, a pyramid’s edge just visible through the dust. It’s a warm, painterly look rather than a sharp one. A Wild lands on the reels and substitutes for all symbols in the paytable. That’s its whole job, and it does it without ceremony. The two mechanics that matter both live outside the standard paytable.

Scarab Gold Jackpots

Scarab Gold symbols can land on any reel during the base game or the bonus. They don’t form line wins and they don’t substitute for anything. Instead, every Scarab Gold symbol in a single spin is counted together, and the corresponding jackpot tier is paid out immediately after line wins settle. Once the spin is done, the meter goes back to zero.

The ladder works like this:

• 5 Scarab Gold symbols pays 5x your stake
• 6 pays 10x
• 7 pays 25x
• 8 pays 50x
• 9 pays 100x
• 10 pays 250x
• 11 pays 1,000x
• 12 or more pays 10,000x

Counting to twelve is the whole game within the game, and the ladder is steep at the top: the jump from 11 to 12 is tenfold. That top tier pays 10,000x, and the only way to stand on it is to have a dozen scarabs in one spin.

Symbol Values

Line wins pay left to right on adjacent reels, and only the highest combination on each line counts. The values below are multiples of your stake per symbol combination:

• Golden Pharaoh Mask – 3 pays 2x, 4 pays 7.5x, 5 pays 15x
• Green Jackal – 3 pays 1.5x, 4 pays 5x, 5 pays 10x
• Purple Jackal – 3 pays 1x, 4 pays 3x, 5 pays 5x
• Eye of Horus – 3 pays 0.5x, 4 pays 2x, 5 pays 4x
• Purple Gem – 3 pays 0.2x, 4 pays 0.5x, 5 pays 1x
• Green Gem – 3 pays 0.2x, 4 pays 0.5x, 5 pays 1x
• Blue Gem – 3 pays 0.2x, 4 pays 0.5x, 5 pays 1x
• Pink Gem – 3 pays 0.2x, 4 pays 0.5x, 5 pays 1x

The gaps between tiers tell the story. Five Pharaoh Masks is worth fifteen times what five gems pay, and even four of the top symbol beats five of anything below the jackals. The gem tier does the donkey work; the mask is what you’re actually hunting for.

Scarab Rise Bonus

This is the feature the game is built around: an eight-level climb where every level makes the game physically bigger. Three FS scatter symbols anywhere on the reels open the temple door.

You start at Level 1 with three free spins on the 5×3 grid. Collect the required number of Scarab Gold symbols within those three spins and you advance; fall short and the ascent ends. Each level adds a row, and the paylines grow with it:

• Level 1 – 5×3 grid
• Level 2 – 5×4
• Level 3 – 5×5
• Level 4 – 5×6
• Level 5 – 5×7
• Level 6 – 5×8
• Level 8 – 5×10, with 44 paylines

Every level carries three free spins, and the jackpot values increase as you climb. Scarab Gold symbols collected per level are capped at the amount required to advance, so there’s no banking a surplus for later. Standard line wins during free spins pay normally alongside the collection count.

One detail shapes the whole round: when the bonus ends, you’re awarded the jackpot from the highest level reached. Levels don’t stack. Reaching Level 5 and stalling at Level 6 pays the Level 5 prize, not the sum of everything along the way, which makes each promotion attempt an all-or-nothing step.

A grid that has grown to 5×10 carries more than twice the paylines it started with, so the line wins themselves get richer near the top even before the jackpot pays. And because the jackpot meter resets after every spin, the collection count is always about the spins immediately in front of you, never a running total carried up the temple stairs.

Bonus Buy

There’s a BUY BONUS button in the bottom-left corner of the gameplay screen for anyone who’d rather skip the scatter wait and go straight into the ascent.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7.7/10

Most of your time in Scarab Ascension is spent on a 5×3 strip of gems, watching a scarab counter. That’s not a complaint, it’s the shape of the thing: you’re at the temple steps, and the one reason to be here is the door at the top. Open it and the climb is properly gripping, because each promotion attempt is win-or-stop with nothing banked behind you.

The genius of the build is that the levels don’t stack, so a stalled ascent still has to mean something to have earned the wait. The cost is the runway. Three spins per level is unforgiving, and an ascent that dies on Level 2 hands you pennies for a long scatter wait. It’s a mean structure, and I think it’s the right one.

This is one for the patient: players who want the big decision to be “push on or stop”, who don’t need a busy base game to keep them warm. If you want constant features and regular small pays, this temple will feel empty. If you like a climb with a real summit, the scarabs are worth counting.

Scarab Ascension FAQs

• How does the Scarab Rise Bonus work?

  Three FS scatter symbols anywhere on the reels start an eight-level ascent. Each level awards three free spins on a progressively larger grid, starting at 5×3 and growing to 5×10 with 44 paylines. Collect the required number of Scarab Gold symbols within the three spins to advance; run out of spins first and the bonus ends, paying the jackpot from the highest level reached.
• What do Scarab Gold symbols do?

  Scarab Gold symbols land on any reel during the base game or the Scarab Rise Bonus and don’t form line wins. Instead, all Scarab Gold symbols in a single spin are counted together and the matching jackpot tier is paid immediately after line wins, on a ladder running from 5x for five symbols up to 10,000x for twelve or more. The meter resets after every spin.
• Do the levels stack in the Scarab Rise Bonus?

  No. When the bonus ends you’re paid the jackpot from the highest level you reached, not the combined value of every level along the way. Reaching Level 5 and stalling at Level 6 pays the Level 5 prize.
• What is the RTP of Scarab Ascension?

  The RTP is 96.3%. That’s the total expected return, including the jackpot elements, and it sits slightly above the typical average for online slots.
• How many paylines does Scarab Ascension have?

  Paylines grow as the grid expands during the Scarab Rise Bonus, reaching a maximum of 44 at Level 8, when the reels have stretched to a 5×10 grid.
• What is the grid size of Scarab Ascension?

  The base game runs on a 5×3 grid. In the Scarab Rise Bonus the grid expands level by level, from 5×3 up to 5×10 across the eight levels.
• Can you buy the bonus on Scarab Ascension?

  Yes. A BUY BONUS button sits in the bottom-left corner of the gameplay screen and takes you straight into the Scarab Rise ascent without waiting for scatters to land.
• When is Scarab Ascension released?

  Scarab Ascension’s release date is 25 September 2026.
• Who makes Scarab Ascension?

  Scarab Ascension is made by NowNow Gaming.