Gates of Olympus slot review

The high variance in Gates of Olympus means a win lands less often — and that was certainly the case for me. After a number of dead spins, I really didn’t want to celebrate with a couple of gemstones either.

The above-average 96.50% RTP works well when paired with the high volatility, though, and that becomes more evident once you hit the Free Spins and multipliers, as I explain later on.

The max win is like Pragmatic Play’s Big Bass Splash or Play’n GO’s Book of Dead. I find this decent but underwhelming when compared to other high-variance options. White Rabbit Megaways has a 17,420x max jackpot, and Relax Gaming’s Money Train 3 goes for 100,000x.

I will say that the highest max wins are normally associated with extreme volatility, though, so I didn’t deduct too many points for this.

I like that Gates of Olympus has a wide betting range, which is a Pragmatic Play hallmark by now. This makes it suitable for both high rollers and casual gamers like me. The minimum bet allows players to get used to how things work before they bet big.

I was also happy to see the Buy Feature, which becomes more and more appealing in a high-volatility slot, but less happy to see the price point it came at. I prefer slots like Extra Chilli Megaways or Dead or Alive 2, which stick to the lower end of the 50x–150x range I normally see.

Not everyone will agree but I like not having paylines and just looking out for matching symbols, so this is a plus in my books. This is partly why I enjoy games like Sweet Bonanza and Sugar Rush, which have the same mechanic.

I started with lower stakes to find my feet with the betting and gameplay, but quickly adjusted to see how things played out with higher bets. The high volatility meant I did see a significant dry spell, which is off-putting when staking high. 

I enjoyed the Tumbling reels in the base game because you get double the fun when you score a win. I was lucky enough to land two winning sequences on two successive Tumbles with some mid-range multipliers thrown in the mix.

The randomly unleashed Winged Orb multiplier in the base game is also a great touch, so you don’t have to wait for the Free Spins for some bonus action.

I didn’t initially manage to get enough Scatters to access the bonus round, which is very elusive according to the provider’s stats. I tried the Ante Bet feature and gave the machine a few more spins before finally breaking through.

On paper, the Free Spins round looks like it should be the real deal. There are multipliers, Tumbling reels, and re-triggering scatters. But aside from the increasing values of the Orb symbols, there were no features that belonged specifically to the Free Spins.

Even with the Pay Anywhere mechanic and Tumble feature, I still missed having the good old Wild.

I enjoyed the theme of Gates of Olympus, with Zeus hanging around and sending the occasional lightning bolt into the grid. Then again, I prefer how Pragmatic Play applied the theme to the game mechanics in Zeus vs Hades.

The theme is really the only distinguishing feature between this slot and Sweet Bonanza. Gates of Olympus is basically the same gameplay but in an Ancient Greek dress.

Ancient Greece is by no means an uncommon theme in the slot world. Play’n GO, Playtech, and NetEnt all have similar slots. Consider trying Age of the Gods and Divine Fortune especially if you missed the progressive jackpot.

Ultimately, Gates of Olympus’s 2021 release makes it a latecomer to trendsetters like WMS’s Zeus. In terms of design, it holds its own, but the abundance of similar titles can easily make the game feel lacklustre.

Gates of Olympus has done well in terms of its layout. The 30-symbol 6×5 grid layout makes a welcome change from lots of video slots.

I rarely have any complaints when it comes to Pragmatic Play’s slot layouts. I found all of the buttons really well-placed for ease of use, particularly when playing on mobile.

I could choose to Skip screen, Turbo or Quick spin options, and adjust Autoplay spins from 10 to (a totally undesirable) 1,000. Here, I’d have preferred more granular settings that allow me to set a maximum loss limit.

Another small gripe is the missing game history, which I’m happy to concede is not a major loss for me.