Gates of Olympus demo
When it comes to mythological-themed slots we’re really spoilt for choice. With Gates of Olympus falling squarely in the mythology vertical, it was always going to take something special from Pragmatic Play to produce a title that stood apart from the rest, and boy did they deliver! This scatter pays juggernaut is one of the crown jewels in Pragmatic’s offering. With sky-high volatility, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But if you’ve got balls as big as your float you can come away with some staggering wins.
Play the Gates of Olympus demo for free below to learn more about the game’s mechanics before you commit to playing with real money.
Godly gameplay
Gates of Olympus tops the pops in terms of Pragmatic Play’s offering. And aptly so, with Olympus being the highest peak in Greece and said to be the home of Ancient Greek gods like Poseidon, Athena and Dionysus.
The star of this show, however, is Zeus. The Greek god of Thunder is arguably the most famous deity from antiquity and for good reason. He got up to all sorts including abducting Phoenician princesses while disguised as a bull, marrying seven wives and fathering famous children like Apollo, Artemis, Persephone and Athena. He is also king of the madhouse that is Olympus and rules over all of the other ancient Greek deities.
This title very much follows in the footsteps of Sweet Bonanza, employing some of the same features like Ante-Bet and Bonus Buy.
Featuring high volatility and an RTP of 96.5%, Gates of Olympus is firmly positioned as a favourite of all the high-rolling slots aficionados out there. It forgoes typical payout mechanics and instead pays out whenever eight or more of the same symbol land across the reels.
| Gates of Olympus Factfile | |
|---|---|
| Provider | Pragmatic Play |
| RTP | 96.5% |
| Volatility | High |
| Paylines | Scatter Pays |
| Reels | 6 |
| Minimum Bet | R0.60 |
| Maximum Bet | R2 000 |
Visuals and sound effects
There are far too many games out there that offer solid mechanics but lose new players with underwhelming visuals and sound effects. Gates of Olympus falls short in neither category. The cartoonish visuals are expertly executed with the game boasting a vibrant and varied colour palette.
Zeus, who is very much the star of the show here, hangs out on the right-hand side of the reels, observing proceedings with a menacing scowl. The game’s backdrop features typically Greek-styled marble buildings and pillars topped with flaming torches. All of this is set against a purple-hued sky.
The soundtrack and sound design perfectly complement the high-quality visuals. The in-game music is something you’d expect from a Triple-A Xbox or PlayStation game while the sound effects accompanying the tumbling symbols and winning combinations further deepen the immersive qualities of this title.
Features
There isn’t anything revolutionary about Gates of Olympus’ gameplay. The tumbling reels, free spins, random multipliers, Ante Bet and Feature Buy combine to elevate this title above many of its contemporaries.
Tumbling reels
Every time you successfully land a winning combination, the symbols that make up that combination disappear from the reels and new symbols drop in to replace them. If the new set of symbols creates another winning combination, you’ll win another payout and a new tumble follows. This continues until there is a tumble that doesn’t result in a winning combination.
Multipliers
Zeus can strike the reels at any time and gift you an orb with an attached multiplier. Thes can award multipliers worth 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 8x, 10x, 12x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, 100x, 250x or 500x.
Furthermore, when these multiplier orbs are active, the multipliers are added together and applied to your total winnings from that particular series of tumbles. This means that if you win R10 from a game that includes 5x and 10x multipliers, your payout will be multiplied by 15x, landing you R150.
Free spins
The free spin bonus round triggers when four, five or six Zeus Scatter symbols land anywhere across the reels on a single spin. You’ll be awarded 15 free spins which start out with the standard 1x multiplier.
The multiplier orbs we spoke about earlier can appear during the free spins and do so far more consistently during bonus play. The big difference here is that the multipliers don’t reset after an unsuccessful tumble. They continue to stack throughout the free spin bonus games and can be tracked at the top of a column left of the reels.
You can re-trigger this feature too. Landing three Zeus Scatters during free play will award you five additional free spins.
Bonus But and Ante-Bet
You can buy the free spins feature for 100x your bet. This isn’t for the faint-hearted though, as winnings from the free spins often fall short of what you paid to trigger them. Of course, this game’s high volatility means that there are occasions where this strategy can pay off in a big way, just don’t expect it to happen every time.
Perhaps more viable is the Ante Bet feature. This applies a 25% mark-up on your stake to double the chance of landing three or more Zeus Scatters. This means that a R10 spin will cost you R12.50.
Paytable
Gates of Olympus offers plenty of opportunities to win with its expansive paytable. You can win anything from 50x down to 0.25x during regular play and 5 000x during the bonus round.
| Symbol | 8-9 on the reels | 10-11 on the reels | 12-30 on the reels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Crown | 10x | 25x | 50x |
| Green Hourglass | 2.5x | 10x | 25x |
| Ping Ring | 2x | 5x | 15x |
| Blue Goblet | 1.5x | 2x | 12x |
| Red Gem | 1x | 1.5x | 10x |
| Purple Gem | 0.8x | 1.2x | 8x |
| Yellow Gem | 0.5x | 1x | 5x |
| Green Gem | 0.4x | 0.9x | 4x |
| Blue Gem | 0.25x | 0.75x | 2x |
| SCATTER | 5 on the reels | 5 on the reels | 6 on the reels |
| Zeus Scatter | 3x | 5x | 10x |
Gates of Olympus winning strategy
Remember, this game comes with sky-high volatility. Playing Gates of Olympus seriously is often a white-knuckle ride that often ends in disappointment. However, when those big wins hit, they can be staggeringly large.
Your best options are buying the feature or playing the Ante Bet. Your budget will determine which of these you opt for, but keep in mind that the big wins happen almost exclusively during free spins where the multipliers are added together.
During our testing, we battled to land the requisite number of scatters to trigger free play without the Ante Bet.
Conclusion
If you’re in the market for a blockbuster title whose production quality matches its sky-high volatility, then Gates of Olympus is for you. The Ante Bet and Feature Buy facilities ramp up costs but provide tantalising opportunities to win big on the free spins feature.