Working a forge in the days of yore was no joke. Just thinking about all that bashing of metal over searing hot fuel in order to create a sword or a battle axe is tiring enough. No wonder blacksmiths are often portrayed as big, ripped beefcakes. As far as blacksmiths go, few are as ripped or beefy as Hephaestus, the Greek god of metalworking (among other things). Hephaestus created a bunch of cool stuff, including Hermes' helmet, Achilles' armour, and Eros' bow and arrow. He had his workshop in a palace on Olympus, where he could perform his metalworking magic, and here's where players can meet up with him in Forge of Olympus from Pragmatic Play.
Forge of Olympus follows in the footsteps of Gates of Olympus, a slot that has provided the foundation for a lot of games which have followed, such as Sword of Ares, Wisdom of Athena, and Gates of Gatot Kaca. What links these slots is that they often have a mythological/historical element and the fact they use a scatter pays system to create wins. Forge of Olympus has both of these, and concerning the former, it's set in a dense, heavy, fantastical realm, with Hephaestus beating metal on one side of the screen, with a blinding bright temple-like region on the other. In the middle sits Forge of Olympus' 6-reel, 5-row gaming panel. Nice view, and if you've played Gates of Olympus or one of its many offshoots, it should all feel cosily familiar.
To win in Forge of Olympus, you'll need at least 8 matching symbols to land on the reels. That's it. Due to the scatter pays system, matching symbols can hit anywhere in view to create a win, and once they do, the respective symbols are removed from the board and replaced by symbols tumbling from above by the tumble feature. Highly volatile, the game info screen details the return to player values which has a default figure of 96.25%, dropping to 96.23% when activating the ante bet or ranging from 96.32%-96.7% when buying free spins. Base bets of 20 p/c to $/€100 can be selected, and with the ante bet on, the stake increases by 25%. The benefit of using the ante bet is players get double the chance of winning free spins.
On the low side of the paytable Forge of Olympus lists 5 variously coloured gemstones, then a ring, a chalice, a helmet, and a shield as the high pays. Hit an 8-9 OAK scatter win to be awarded 0.25 to 10 times the bet, maxing out at 2 to 50 times the bet for a 12-30 symbol scatter win. Last but not least, for now, Forge of Olympus does not have wild symbols.
Two more crucial symbols in Forge of Olympus are its multiplier symbols and scatter, which can lead to free spins. Free spins may be triggered organically or bought.
The hammer is the multiplier symbol which can land on random spins or tumbles in the base game as well as in free spins. When a multiplier symbol hits, it does so with a value of x2 to x100. When a tumble sequence ends, all multiplier values in view are added together and applied to the total win.
This feature is triggered when 4, 5, or 6 scatter symbols land to award 10, 15, or 20 free spins, plus a payout of 3x, 5x, or 100x the bet, respectively. Free spins have a progressive feature that starts at level 1, and whenever multiplier symbols land, they get collected on a meter. The round levels up when the meter reaches certain thresholds:
The round does not level up past level 4. Landing 3 or more scatter symbols during the round adds an extra 5 free spins to the remaining amount.
When buying free spins, players can pay 100x to start the round from level 1, 200x the bet to start at level 2, 400x the bet to start at level 3, or 500x the bet to start the round at level 4. When buying free spins, a random number of scatters will land to trigger it.
Like a master blacksmith repeatedly bashing the same piece of metal into a bunch of different shapes, Pragmatic Play has reformed Gates of Olympus into numerous forms since it was released, largely to positive results. Forge of Olympus is another one that has turned out ok, although, as pointed out by readers in the comments section, it's a straight clone of Santa's Great Gifts. Some may sling critique about the repeated reworking of the same idea over and over again, and there is something to this argument. But, after playing Forge of Olympus and seeing what it can do when its forge is stoked, the fresh presentation is quite appealing.
The pinnacle moment, for us, was in level 4 during free spins and knowing that any multiplier which lands is going to have at least an x50 value. Well, bonus buying our way to level 4, which is hardly a cheap option, but anyway. Forge of Olympus has the potential to be potent indeed when the going is good, doing the adding multiplier symbols together thing before applying their cumulative value to a tumble sequence result. It's a formula that has served Pragmatic Play and this series of slots well and remains effective in Forge of Olympus, as well. Here wins peak at 5,000x the bet due to a win cap, the standard figure for the range.
Forge of Olympus might not win the top award for originality, yet it remains a playable example of a scatter pays slot. If the holiday spirits are not in the mood, Forge of Olympus is a solid alternative to Santa's Great Gifts.
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