Le Pharaoh is the Ancient-Egypt slot Hacksaw Gaming released on 26 September 2024, and it is the direct sequel to the studio's 2023 hit Le Bandit. The hook is the returning star: Smokey, the easy-going raccoon who robbed the Old West in the first game, has swapped his bandana for a pharaoh's headdress and gone treasure-hunting along the Nile. Underneath the new theme sits one of Hacksaw's busiest feature sets yet — Sticky Re-Drops, Golden Squares, multiplier Clovers, the Golden Riches coin collection and no fewer than four bonus rounds — wrapped around a 96.18% RTP and a top prize of 15,000× your stake.
This page is the hub for everything we cover on Le Pharaoh: how the game is built, what the maths means, the full feature list, our verdict and where it sits in Hacksaw's wider Le series. If you would rather try it before committing a coin, the free demo runs in your browser with no registration. For the deep dives, jump to how it works, the RTP & volatility breakdown, the features guide or our full review.
What is Le Pharaoh?
Le Pharaoh is a high-volatility video slot built on a 6×5 grid with 19 fixed paylines. That layout matters: it is the same engine geometry Hacksaw used across several of its later "Le" titles, and it gives the game room for the chunky symbol stacks and re-drop mechanics the studio likes. Wins land left to right on the 19 lines, with Smokey himself as the top-paying symbol, flanked by a pharaoh mask, Anubis, a scarab beetle and the usual royals.
What sets it apart from a plain payline slot is everything that happens after a spin lands. Special Golden Squares can upgrade positions on the grid, sticky symbols can lock in place and trigger re-drops, and a separate coin-collection layer — Golden Riches — feeds two different Hold & Win bonuses. The result is a game that feels measured on the base reels and then erupts when the features chain together. That contrast, plus the 15,000× ceiling, is the whole appeal.
If you have played any Hacksaw slot before, the presentation will feel instantly familiar: clean cartoon art, a thumping soundtrack and a deliberately mobile-first build. If Le Pharaoh is your first one, it is a generous place to start, because the feature variety means there is almost always something to chase.
How the game works
The base game is simple to pick up. You choose a stake, spin the 6×5 grid, and look for matching symbols across the 19 lines. The interesting part is the modifier layer that Hacksaw bolts on top: Golden Squares that can reveal extras, Sticky Re-Drops that hold winning or special symbols and spin the rest again, and multiplier Clovers that boost what you collect. These can fire on any base spin, which is what keeps the reels lively between bonuses.
The headline events are the bonus rounds. Le Pharaoh ships with two separate Free-Spins modes and two separate Hold & Win modes — four distinct ways for a session to pay off, each with its own rhythm and ceiling. We break the full sequence down step by step on the how it works page, and cover what each bonus actually does on the features page.
The Le series
Le Pharaoh does not stand alone. It is the latest chapter in Hacksaw's Le series, a run of slots that all star Smokey the raccoon in a different setting and all share a family resemblance in feel. Its direct ancestor is Le Bandit, the Western original that introduced the character; the siblings include Le Zeus (Greek myth), Le King (Las Vegas), Le Viking (Norse raiding), Le Cowboy (Wild West, the series-best 25,000×) and Le Fisherman (fishing, the calmest of the line). Each one reworks the mechanics around its theme, so the max wins and feature sets differ from title to title.
15,000×
Le Pharaoh
The pillar (Sep 2024): Hacksaw's Ancient-Egypt sequel to Le Bandit on a 6×5, 19-line grid — Sticky Re-Drops, Golden Riches and Hold & Win, 96.18% RTP and a 15,000× max win.
RTP 96.18%Max 15,000×
Predecessor
Le Bandit
The 2023 Western that started the Le series and introduced Smokey the raccoon — Cluster Pays and Super Cascades, the direct predecessor to Le Pharaoh, up to 10,000×.
RTP 96.34%Max 10,000×
20,000×
Le Zeus
The Greek-mythology entry with Smokey as Zeus — Mystery symbols and Sticky Respins on a 6×5, 19-line grid, up to 20,000×.
RTP 96.26%Max 20,000×
20,000×
Le King
The Las Vegas-themed sibling with Cluster Pays, Golden Squares and Jackpot Markers, up to 20,000×.
RTP 96.14%Max 20,000×
10,000×
Le Viking
The Norse variant with 15,625 ways to win and Raid-Spins instead of fixed lines, up to 10,000×.
RTP 96.32%Max 10,000×
25,000×
Le Cowboy
The highest max win in the whole Le series at 25,000×, with Revolver-Reveals and Cluster Pays.
RTP 96.28%Max 25,000×
15,000×
Le Fisherman
The calmer, lower-volatility variant built around the Big Catch bar, up to 15,000×.
RTP 96.33%Max 15,000×
If you are coming to Le Pharaoh from one of the others, the cards above show how the headline numbers compare at a glance. For the studio behind all of them, see our Hacksaw Gaming hub.
Symbols and paytable
The symbol set is themed to match: Smokey sits at the top, with the pharaoh mask, Anubis and the scarab as the other premiums, an ankh and the Eye of Horus as mid-value specials, and the A-K-Q royals filling out the low end. A pyramid wild substitutes for paying symbols, while the Golden Riches coin and the scatter drive the bonus features rather than paying lines directly.
Features
The feature list is the reason to play Le Pharaoh, and it is a long one. The base-game modifiers — Sticky Re-Drops, Golden Squares and multiplier Clovers — keep ordinary spins from feeling flat, while the Golden Riches coin layer builds toward the Hold & Win bonuses. On top of that sit two Free-Spins modes, each with a different character. We explain exactly what each one does, and how they trigger, on the dedicated features page.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Ancient-Egypt sequel to Le Bandit with Hacksaw's familiar Smokey the raccoon
- Sticky Re-Drops, Golden Riches and Hold & Win on a 6×5, 19-line grid
- 15,000× max win and a default RTP of 96.18%
- Two Free-Spins modes plus two Hold & Win modes for varied bonus play
- Free demo, no registration
Cons
- High volatility — the big wins sit in the bonus rounds, expect dry spells
- Default RTP (96.18%) can be served in lower configs (94.33/92.26/88.24) — check the casino
- Bonus-buy availability varies by operator and jurisdiction
The free demo
The smartest way to learn a high-volatility slot is to spend nothing while you do it. The Le Pharaoh demo runs in the browser on play-money, behaves exactly like the real game, and asks for no registration and no deposit — so you can feel the variance and see all four bonuses trigger without risking a cent.
You can try the rest of the family for free too, starting with the demo page, where the predecessor Le Bandit is also playable.
Where to play
Le Pharaoh is carried by a lot of casinos, but availability and the exact configuration — including which RTP build an operator runs — vary from site to site. The non-negotiables are a valid licence in your market, the genuine Hacksaw title, and a clean payout record. We keep the criteria and a shortlist on the casinos and best casinos pages.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Is Le Pharaoh available as a free demo? Yes. The Le Pharaoh demo runs in your browser with no registration, no deposit and no real money. It is the full game on play-money, so you can learn the features and feel the volatility before staking anything. See the demo page.
What is the RTP of Le Pharaoh? The default return to player is 96.18%. Be aware that Hacksaw supplies the game in lower configurations too (94.33%, 92.26% and 88.24%), and it is the operator that chooses which one to run — so it is worth checking. Our RTP & volatility page explains what that means for your play.
What is the maximum win on Le Pharaoh? The top prize is 15,000× your stake. It is a high-volatility game, so that ceiling is rare and lives almost entirely in the bonus rounds — treat it as the theoretical maximum, not an expectation.
How is Le Pharaoh connected to Le Bandit? Le Pharaoh is the direct sequel to Le Bandit and stars the same character, Smokey the raccoon, this time in Ancient Egypt rather than the Old West. The two share a family feel but use different mechanics; you can read about the original on the Le Bandit page.
What features does Le Pharaoh have? Sticky Re-Drops, Golden Squares, multiplier Clovers and the Golden Riches coin collection in the base game, plus two Free-Spins modes and two Hold & Win modes as the headline bonuses. The features page covers each one.
Who makes Le Pharaoh? It is made by Hacksaw Gaming, a studio known for high-volatility, mobile-first slots. Le Pharaoh is part of its Le series; more on the studio is on our Hacksaw Gaming hub.