Play Demo
Turn over the right number and Cleopatra Keno will pay you 2,000x your stake from a single ticket. That’s the promise. The reality of most sessions is a string of near-misses, a bonus round or two, and a net result that swings either way depending on how the scarab falls.
IGT’s keno-meets-Cleopatra hybrid is one of the most recognisable video keno titles in land-based casinos, and it’s been available as a free play demo online for years without meaningfully updating its presentation. The gameplay loop feels genuinely addictive. The visuals have not aged well. Both things are true.
Cleopatra Keno runs on a standard 80-number keno grid. Before each game, pick between 3 and 10 spots by tapping numbers manually, or press Quick Pick to have the game randomly select six spots. The CHANGE SPOTS button lets you reassign existing picks without clearing the card, which is useful when you want to shift strategy without starting fresh. Once you start the game, 20 numbers are drawn. Each drawn number that matches one of your marked spots counts as a hit, and your payout depends on how many spots you marked and how many hits you registered.
The last number drawn each game is marked by the scarab, the familiar blue beetle from the Cleopatra series. If that final drawn number lands on one of your marked spots and the game is a winning round, the bonus triggers. It awards 12 free games with all wins doubled. The bonus cannot retrigger. This is the asymmetric moment in the game. A win that would ordinarily return 3x or 5x becomes 6x or 10x during the bonus, and the 2x multiplier applies to every payout tier, so a higher-spot game hitting during the bonus is where the session-defining numbers live.
The number of spots you mark fundamentally changes the game’s risk profile. Marking fewer spots means you need fewer hits to win, but the top payout is much smaller. At 3 spots marked, the best outcome is 3 hits paying 19x at a £1 bet. At 10 spots, 10 hits pays 2,000x. The minimum hits required to earn any payout also rises with spot count. Three or four spots marked need at least 2 hits; five to seven spots need 3 hits; eight to ten spots need 4 hits before any pay registers. The Quick Pick default of 6 spots sits in the middle of this range and represents the game’s natural starting point for new players.
IGT has built one of the most enduring Egyptian-themed catalogues in casino gaming. The original Cleopatra slot dates back to the early 2000s and became a land-based staple across the US before its online release.
Cleopatra Keno takes the brand’s visual identity, the scarab symbol, the purple and gold palette, the familiar hieroglyphic backdrops, and applies it to a video keno format rather than a standard reel game. It sits in a distinct category within the series, alongside reel-based titles like Cleopatra II and Cleopatra Plus, as IGT’s only keno entry under the Cleopatra name. The scarab’s role as the bonus trigger is a smart design choice; it gives keno players the same “last ball tension” that slot players get from waiting on a scatter.
Set your bet using the BET UP and BET DOWN controls, starting from £0.10. Select between 3 and 10 spots on the 80-number grid, or press Quick Pick for a random selection of six. Press START to draw the 20 numbers. Your winnings are calculated automatically based on the paytable for your chosen spot count. Autoplay lets you run a set number of games continuously with the same marked spots and bet. Speed can be adjusted if enabled at your casino.
The full paytable varies by spot count. The values below are at a £1.00 bet. Bonus game payouts are doubled versions of the same table.
| Hits | 3 Spots | 4 Spots | 5 Spots | 6 Spots | 7 Spots | 8 Spots | 9 Spots | 10 Spots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3.00 | 1.00 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | 19.00 | 5.00 | 1.00 | 3.00 | 2.00 | — | — | — |
| 4 | — | 43.00 | 5.00 | 24.00 | 5.00 | 3.00 | 2.00 | 1.00 |
| 5 | — | — | 24.00 | 410.00 | 40.00 | 10.00 | 5.00 | 3.00 |
| 6 | — | — | 230.00 | — | 111.00 | 65.00 | 12.00 | 5.00 |
| 7 | — | — | — | — | 500.00 | 210.00 | 100.00 | 35.00 |
| 8 | — | — | — | — | — | 1000.00 | 200.00 | 175.00 |
| 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1000.00 | 1000.00 |
| 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2000.00 |
Only the highest applicable win is paid per game. Bonus game wins use the same table with all values doubled.
Cleopatra Keno is a game that knows exactly what it is and does not attempt to be anything else. The keno format is intact. The bonus trigger is well-designed. The RTP sits in the range typical for video keno, broadly between 94% and 95% depending on spot count and pay table configuration, below the online slot average but in line with keno as a genre. The graphics make it look like something that was built for a casino floor in 2005, because it essentially was. That context matters when you're assessing it.
Cleopatra Keno suits players who find standard slots too passive and want some control over where they put their numbers. The spot selection is genuinely strategic: how many to mark, which pay tier to aim for, whether to chase the 2,000x with 10 spots or take steadier returns with 5 or 6. The pace is quick, rounds resolve fast, and the bonus trigger delivers the same “will it land on the last ball” tension that made the land-based version a floor staple for decades. If you’re already a keno player, this is one of the best-designed video keno titles available online.
Anyone expecting the visual polish of a modern online slot will be disappointed. The grid, the animations, and the sound design all belong to a different era, and unlike some retro titles where the simplicity reads as charm, here it just reads as age. Players who prefer frequent, varied feature triggers will also find the single bonus format limited over longer sessions. And if you’re playing primarily for RTP value, this sits noticeably below the online average.
The session confirmed what the design promises. Rounds move quickly, the 10-spot game keeps you watching 20 numbers drop one at a time, and the moment the scarab appears as the last ball the tension does exactly what it’s supposed to do. Triggered the bonus on a 10-spot game, collected 11x the stake across 12 doubled-pay games, and walked away ahead on a session that started at £0.10 bets. That’s a reasonable representation of what this game can do when the timing is right.
The dated presentation is harder to ignore than some reviewers give it credit for. Playing the free play demo, the grid looks functional but flat. No animation, no ambient life, no sense of occasion between draws. IGT’s more recent titles show how much production values have moved on, and Cleopatra Keno sits in stark contrast. That said, if the novelty of the visual layer wears thin quickly, the underlying game is still solid. The numbers game it plays with spot selection and pay tier targeting gives it more cognitive engagement than a passive reel spin, and that keeps the sessions from feeling routine.
Session reflection: this one felt more like a pure numbers exercise than most titles in the queue. That might be exactly what some players want. It wasn’t what this session was hoping for, but the 11x bonus payout made it hard to leave on a sour note.
The graphics are starting to look dated, but the classic gameplay is still undeniably good.
We won 12 free bonus games in standard play.
