Ten paylines on a 5x3 grid is the classic format behind Book of Dead, Big Bass Bonanza and Starburst. Here are five favourites by return, with what the line count changes and what it leaves alone.
Why Book Slots and Fishing Slots Share Ten Lines
Most 10 payline slots trace back to one copied pattern. Novomatic’s Book of Ra Deluxe set it: five reels, three rows, ten lines and one symbol that expands across the reels in free spins. Play’n GO built a whole series on that formula, beginning with Book of Dead, and Blueprint took the same Egyptian route with Eye of Horus. When Reel Kingdom and Pragmatic Play made Big Bass Bonanza, they kept the ten lines and swapped the tombs for a fishing trip with a money-collect bonus.
So browsing by line count mostly means browsing Egyptian slots and the Big Bass family of fishing slots. NetEnt’s Starburst is the odd one out: its ten lines pay in both directions, and its wilds expand on the middle reels instead of in a free-spins round.
Five Ten-Line Favourites, Highest Return First
Each RTP below is the top version the studio offers. Casinos can load a lower one, and the game’s information panel shows which.
| Game | Studio | RTP | Max win | Volatility | Signature feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Bass Bonanza | Pragmatic Play (Reel Kingdom) | 96.71% | 2,100x | High | Fisherman wilds collect fish cash values |
| Legacy of Dead | Play’n GO | 96.58% | 5,000x | High | Expanding symbol in free spins |
| Eye of Horus | Blueprint Gaming | 96.31% | – | High | Horus wilds upgrade symbols in free spins |
| Book of Dead | Play’n GO | 96.21% | 5,000x | High | One random expanding symbol over ten free spins |
| Starburst | NetEnt | 96.09% | 500x | Low | Both-ways pays and re-spin wilds |
Eye of Horus shows a dash because game listings disagree on its top win: some give 10,000x, others 500x.
Big Bass Bonanza
The highest return of the five at 96.71%. The base game pays on ten fixed lines; in free spins, each fisherman wild collects the cash values shown on fish symbols, and every fourth fisherman adds ten more spins and lifts the multiplier to 2x, then 3x, then 10x. Its 2,100x ceiling is the lowest of the four high-volatility games here, and a 95.67% version is also offered to casinos. More on the Big Bass Bonanza page.
Legacy of Dead
Play’n GO’s follow-up to Book of Dead keeps the ten lines and the expanding-symbol free spins, with a slightly higher 96.58% headline and the same 5,000x top win. Lower versions exist too, the smallest at 84.55%, so what you get depends on the casino. Details on the Legacy of Dead page.
Eye of Horus
Blueprint’s Egyptian game runs ten fixed lines at 96.31%. The Horus wild stretches to fill its reel, and during the twelve free spins each Horus that lands also upgrades a lower-paying symbol to a better one, so the round grows richer the longer it runs. See the Eye of Horus page.
Book of Dead
The game that made Rich Wilde famous: ten lines you can trim from one to ten, and ten free spins in which one randomly picked symbol expands across its reel. It is high volatility, returns 96.21% at the top setting and can pay 5,000x. It also comes in more versions than any other game here, covered below and on the Book of Dead page.
Starburst
The calm one of the group. Its ten lines pay left to right and right to left, and any wild on the middle three reels fills its reel and brings a free re-spin. With low volatility, a 96.09% return and a 500x ceiling, it suits a long session on a small budget rather than a chase for one big hit. More on the Starburst page.
How Ten Lines Split Your Stake
A ten-line game divides each spin across ten lines, so the usual minimum is 10p, a penny a line. A 20 payline game at the same line value starts at 20p and spreads the bet twice as thin, which tends to bring more small line wins at about half the size each. Neither layout moves the return; the 10 payline slots RTP comes from the game’s maths and the version the casino loads.
The low minimum stretches a budget: £10 covers about 100 spins at 10p. It does not make a bonus round any more likely, though, and the high-volatility games here can go a long way between features.
Two habits cost players on these games. Trimming lines on an adjustable game such as Book of Dead leaves the price of each line unchanged while giving every spin fewer ways to pay. And ten lines say nothing about temperament: Book of Dead and Big Bass Bonanza are high volatility on the same ten lines that make Starburst gentle.
Bonus buys do not come into it: GB versions carry none, so free spins arrive only through scatters on the reels.
One Game, Five Different Returns
Book of Dead shows how much the version matters. Play’n GO offers it at 96.21%, 94.25%, 91.25%, 87.25% and 84.18%, and all five look and play the same. Only the information panel tells them apart.
Take 600 spins an hour at the £5 limit for players aged 25 and over. On average that hour costs about £114 on the 96.21% version, £173 on 94.25% and £475 on 84.18%. At the £2 limit for players aged 18 to 24, the top and bottom versions come to about £45 and £190 an hour, and at a 10p stake the top version averages about £2.27.
These are long-run averages, and a single session on a high-volatility game can finish well above or below them. Trying the free version at the casino you actually use is the quickest check, because a UK casino’s demo has to match its paid game, panel figure included.
Matching a Ten-Line Game to Your Style
For long, steady sessions, Starburst fits: low volatility and frequent small wins. For the book formula, Legacy of Dead edges Book of Dead on return with the same top win. For a busier bonus round, Big Bass Bonanza’s collect-and-retrigger free spins come with the highest return of the five, and Eye of Horus sits in between, its symbol upgrades building as the free spins go on.
