Book of Mines: Egypt laid over identical maths
Book of Mines shipped in April 2024 and repeats Turbo Mines figure for figure: the same four boards from 3x3 to 9x9, the same x805001 ceiling, the same stated RTP of 95. The difference is entirely presentational - and this is one of the cases where presentation deserves discussing, because it changes not the maths but the pace at which a round reads.
- Studio
- Turbo Games
- Stated RTP
- 95%
- Field size
- 3x3, 5x5, 7x7, 9x9
- Multiplier ceiling
- x805001
- Released
- April 2024
What the Egyptian board looks like
Captured in the studio demo on a 5x5 board, before the first click.
The tiles are gold and large, the multiplier ladder runs above the board, and the size switcher sits along the bottom. The button reads not open but choose tile, which is not a trivial distinction: choose describes what is happening more accurately than open does. There is nothing to open, the layout is already made.
The figure on the left is the one thing Turbo Mines lacks. She has no bearing on the mechanic and does not touch payouts, but she takes up half the screen, and on a narrow phone that shows: the board slides to the right. Anyone playing from a phone will find the plain version easier.
One set of maths, two costumes: why studios do it
Half the studios in this set use the trick, and the logic behind it is straightforward.
Building mines maths is expensive: it has to be computed, tested and certified. Putting a new picture on finished maths is cheap. So studios ship several games on one engine: Turbo Games made Turbo Mines and Book of Mines, InOut Games made Mines, Lucky mines and Hot-mines, Belatra Games made Jackpot Mines and Mummy Mines.
For a player that yields a rule: when two games from one studio look different, compare the numbers first. At InOut Games the different pictures hide different RTPs - 95, 96 and 97. At Turbo Games, Turbo Mines and Book of Mines carry the same figure, and choosing between them is purely aesthetic.
The second consequence is more useful. Since the maths is shared, the odds tables apply to both games without rescaling: 3 mines on a 5x5 board behave here exactly as they do in any other game in this set with that board.
Studio clip: a round on the golden board
Ninety seconds showing both the ladder and the moment a round ends.
Is the Egyptian version worth taking
If the choice is between Book of Mines and Turbo Mines, take whichever you prefer looking at: their numbers match completely and there is no other difference. On a phone Turbo Mines is easier, because no character eats half the width.
If the choice is wider, read the return. Both studio games state 95, while the classic 5x5 grid also carries Hot-mines at 97 and Mines+ at 97.5. Four board sizes are a genuine Turbo Games advantage, but they are paid for with two and a half points of return.
How does Book of Mines differ from Turbo Mines
By its dress. The same four boards - 3x3, 5x5, 7x7 and 9x9, the same x805001 ceiling, the same stated RTP of 95. What changes is the artwork, the sound and the vocabulary: a mine here is a curse and a gem is a golden tile.
What is the Books series in instant games
It is what the studio calls its Egyptian line, borrowing the naming from book-themed slots. Book of Mines is its first title on the mines mechanic: the studio took its own grid maths and dressed it in a look from an entirely different genre.
Which board size should I pick
Depends what you want. A 3x3 gives a round of two or three clicks, a 5x5 the familiar maths of the format, and a 9x9 of 81 tiles the long ladder that produces the x805001 ceiling. The return is identical across all four; only the shape of the round moves.
Is there a demo
Yes, open, on the Turbo Games site, with no account and on play credits. All four of the studio games in this set launch the same way, and the board settings work in full inside the demo.