Gates Of Olympus

The Greek gods are a very popular theme for online slots, which is a bit strange when you come to think about it. After all, they were not exactly renowned for showering mankind with gifts and blessings. And any favour they did do for mere mortals usually came with a pretty heavy price tag attached. 

The Gates of Olympus by Pragmatic Play takes us to the fabled abode of the gods, where we're greeted by Zeus standing beside the 6x5 grid. And he looks none too happy about receiving visitors. Still, players who manage to get on his good side could win up to 5000 x the bet, which can range from 0.20 all the way up to 100.00. It won't be easy, though, because, just like Zeus, this slot is highly volatile in character. 

What’s interesting about this game is that, despite the glowering god, and dramatic setting, it’s actually a follow-up to Sweet Bonanza. Pragmatic Play has taken the win-all-ways mechanism from their sweet-inspired classic, added some extra features, and wrapped everything in a new skin. To great effect, I must add.

Although it’s set in the home of the Greek gods, Zeus is the only one who puts in an appearance. The symbols on the reels are green, red, purple, blue and yellow gems for the low pays. The premium symbols are a golden chalice, an ornate ring, an hourglass, and a gold crown. 

Wins are formed when more than 8 of the same symbol land anywhere on the reels in one spin. The maximum payout from the regular symbols is 50 x the bet for 12 or more of the crown.

Since the game has no traditional paylines to form wins on, it’s also missing another common feature in online slots, a Wild symbol.

There is a Scatter. This is the laser-eyed Zeus glowering out at the player. But despite his fearsome appearance, he can be quite generous, awarding payouts for combos of four or more, with a possible maximum 100 x the bet for six.

Gates of Olympus comes with some great bonuses to keep the action interesting. The first of these is the Tumble feature. After every win, all the symbols involved explode off the reels. The empty positions this creates are filled by the remaining symbols tumbling to the bottom of the reels and new ones falling in from the top of the grid. If this results in another win, the process is repeated until no more wins are formed. 

Multipliers can be attached randomly to any symbol on any spin. If this symbol is then involved in a win, the multiplier will be applied to it. The value of the multipliers ranges between 2 x to 500 x.

The Free Spins start whenever four or more of the Zeus Scatters land anywhere in view on the grid. The round starts with 15 Free Spins irrespective of the number of Scatters that trigger it, but the more Scatters that land, the higher the prize awarded, up to 100 x the bet for 6. 

The big bonus during the Free Spins is that any multipliers that land are applied to all wins from that spin, not just ones involving the symbol they are attached to. The multiplier will also remain active for the rest of the round, without resetting between spins. 

The Ante Bet option lets players increase their chance of triggering the Free Spins by 50% at a cost of 25% of their stake. Any wins while using this option are calculated using the base bet, not the increased Ante bet.

Gates of Olympus provides entertaining gameplay spiced up by the bonus rounds, as well as the fiery Zeus hurling thunderbolts at the reels. Just don't depend on the fickle favour of the gods, and never bet with money you can't afford to lose. Good Luck!