If you’re looking for how to play John Hunter and the Tomb of the Scarab Queen, the key is understanding two things you’ll interact with constantly: a fixed 25-payline reel layout and a Free Spins mode where an expanding wild can also carry a multiplier. This guide follows the round from setting your stake to how wins are calculated and paid.
How to play John Hunter and the Tomb of the Scarab Queen without guessing the controls
Start by setting your stake using the bet controls (coin value and bet level are combined into a single total bet in most Pragmatic Play interfaces). This title uses fixed paylines, so you are not switching lines on or off. When you change the bet, you’re changing the value of every payline simultaneously.
Once your total bet is set, each press of Spin purchases one complete round: the reels stop, the game checks for winning line combinations across the 25 paylines, applies any wild substitutions, and then pays or deducts the net result to your balance before the next spin.
Two practical toggles are worth knowing because they change your interaction flow, not the math: Turbo/Quick Spin (faster reel cycle) and Autoplay (pre-queues spins). If you use Autoplay, the game still settles each complete spin before starting the next.
What a “normal” spin is doing in this game
John Hunter and the Tomb of the Scarab Queen is a 5-reel, 3-row video slot with 25 fixed paylines. On a base-game spin, you’re looking for left-to-right matching symbols on an active payline. Higher-value symbols are the themed premium icons, while the lower-value set typically functions as the “filler” that creates smaller, more frequent line wins.
The wild is the Scarab Queen symbol. In the base game it substitutes for other symbols to help complete line wins. It does not create a win by itself unless the paytable explicitly lists a payout for it in your version, so the practical way to think about it is: on a base spin, wilds mainly improve the chance that an almost-made line becomes a paid line.
If you want the deeper breakdown of what the wild can and cannot replace and how lines are evaluated, the mechanical detail sits in the companion analysis at https://playstories.co/john-hunter-and-the-tomb-of-the-scarab-queen-how-it-works/.
The only trigger you’re really waiting for: Free Spins
In practical play, the main “event” in this slot is the Free Spins round. You trigger it by landing the game’s scatter symbols (commonly the explorer/temple-style scatter used across the John Hunter series) on the reels in the required count, typically three or more in a single spin. When it triggers, the game announces the number of free spins awarded and then moves you into the bonus without changing your selected bet size. The free spins use your current total bet as the basis for all payouts.
During Free Spins, the Scarab Queen wild becomes the centerpiece: it can expand to cover its entire reel, and it can also carry a multiplier. This is the interaction model that makes the bonus feel different from the base game: you are no longer just hoping for substitutions, you are hoping for an expanding wild to land in the “right” reel position and align with paying symbols on adjacent reels.
How to play John Hunter and the Tomb of the Scarab Queen Free Spins as they actually settle
Each free spin resolves like a normal spin, with one extra accounting step when the expanding wild appears: after the reels stop, the wild expands (if it is an expanding instance), then the game evaluates paylines, then any multiplier attached to the expanding wild is applied to qualifying wins that include it. The base-game logic of “left-to-right along a payline” still applies; the wild is simply changing the quality and value of the final line outcomes.
This is also why the bonus can feel streaky. Many free spins can pay little if the expanding wild does not appear, appears on a reel that does not connect with matching symbols, or appears with symbols that do not align on paylines. When it does connect, the multiplier can make a single spin disproportionately important compared to the rest of the bonus sequence.
A scenario-based example round (base spin to bonus payout)
Imagine you set a total bet of 1.00 and start spinning:
Spin 1 (base game): Reels stop with two matching premium symbols on reels 1 and 2 on a payline, and a Scarab Queen wild on reel 3. The wild substitutes to form a 3-of-a-kind on that payline. The game adds the line win to your balance and the round ends.
Spin 2 (base game): You land three scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. The base spin settles first (if there were any line wins, they are paid), then the Free Spins animation starts and the game awards (for example) 10 free spins at your 1.00 bet.
Free Spin 4 (bonus): A Scarab Queen wild lands on reel 3 and expands to cover the full reel. It also displays a multiplier (for example 3x). Because reel 3 is now fully wild, multiple paylines that run through reel 3 can complete with the same symbol on reels 1, 2, 4, and 5. The game counts each qualifying payline win, totals them, then applies the 3x multiplier to the portion of wins that include the expanded wild (how your version scopes this is shown in the paytable/info).
End of bonus: After the last free spin, all bonus wins are summed and paid to your balance, then you return to the base game with the same bet settings you had before the trigger.
Two quick checks before you spin for real money
First, open the paytable/info panel and confirm the symbol set and the Free Spins rules shown in your jurisdictional build. Pragmatic Play games can ship with small presentation differences across operators, and it matters for understanding exactly when multipliers apply in the bonus.
Second, remember that because this is a fixed-payline game, “playing fewer lines” is not a control option here. If you want to change risk per spin, you do it by adjusting the total bet.
That’s the functional loop for how to play John Hunter and the Tomb of the Scarab Queen: set total bet, spin a fixed 25-line grid, and treat Free Spins as a distinct phase where expanding wild multipliers are the main driver of larger swings in outcomes.
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