Augustus: Slot Overview

When Ancient Rome and gambling come up, most people instantly think of Julius Caesar. After conquering Gaul, bringing the Republic to an end and crowning himself dictator of Europe’s dominant power, he’s even been memorialised in a flashy, over-the-top shrine inside a huge Vegas Hotel Casino. He wasn’t actually the first Emperor, though. That distinction belongs to Gaius Octavius Thurinus, better known as Augustus — the man who “found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.” It’s this comparatively understated figure that Microgaming partner Neon Valley Studios honours in their slot Augustus.

There’s no shortage of marble on display once Augustus appears on screen. The 5-reel, 20-payline layout sits in front of a towering backdrop of pillars, temples and palaces — essentially the full Palatine Hill vibe. It’s still a brilliant place to explore today, letting your imagination fill in the missing pieces to picture how it looked thousands of years ago. Rome at its height must have been staggering. Neon Valley does a solid job of capturing some of that grandeur, backed by a dramatic soundtrack that keeps pace with the action nicely.

Augustus can be played on any device, with stakes designed to suit most budgets, starting at 20 p/c and reaching a patrician level $/€200 per spin.

Quick spoiler for anyone tracking Neon Valley Studios releases: Augustus is effectively a reskin of one of their earlier titles, Age of Conquest. The makeover leaves almost all the key stats unchanged, including the default RTP rating of 96.14%. That’s fine as a standard setting, although operators can reduce it to 94.23% or even 92.11% at the lowest setting. With wagering options from 20 p/c to a patrician level $/€200 per spin, a maximum bet this high typically points to moderate overall potential.

Augustus doesn’t hide its nature — it’s quite open about what it offers. In practice, that means a hit rate of better than one win in four spins, or 27.3%, and its features also show up with reasonable frequency. Free spins might not be constant, but the other mechanics appear often enough to add variety and the occasional payout to keep things ticking along. Even with that steady tempo, the medium volatile math model often had sessions finishing close to where the bankroll started.

The standard symbol set begins with gold J-A card royals in a sharp, angular style, then moves into four mid-tier icons — a gladius, chalice, galea, and a ring. The last two are the premium symbols. One is a female soldier (questionable historically, but it does add some representation), and the other is an emperor with a Joaquin Phoenix look. These two pay 10 – 15 times the stake. Both premium symbols can appear in 1×1, 1×2, or 1×3 sizes, with the largest size filling an entire reel.

Augustus: Slot Features

Wilds can also expand to cover full reels at certain moments. Alongside them is a bonus feature where players choose how many free spins and wild reels they want, which effectively lets them steer the volatility.

Sitting above each reel are two empty slots that make up the Coin Meters. Each time an Augustus gold coin lands, it’s added to the Coin Meter above that reel. Once 2 coins are collected, that Coin Meter activates a Wild Reel feature on its reel.

While the Wild Reel feature is running, all positions on the reel are wild (stacked wild) for two spins in a row. Wild symbols substitute for all standard symbols, and they also pay up to 50x the stake for five of a kind — meaning a full screen of them returns 1,000 times the bet. In addition to Wild Reels, regular 1×1 wilds can land at any time.

The last key symbol is the purple/gold eagle scatter on reels 1, 3, and 5 — land 3 anywhere to trigger the free spins bonus.  At this point, players choose one of three options:

• Option 1 is 2 free spins with 3 Wild Reels.
• Option 2 is 8 free spins with 2 Wild Reels.
• Option 1 is 25 free spins with 1 Wild Reel.

Hitting three scatters during free spins retriggers the bonus at the same level that was selected initially.

Augustus: Slot Verdict

Much like Age of Conquest, Augustus is a sharp-looking slot that’s genuinely enjoyable to spin. Neon Valley brings a slice of Ancient Rome’s splendour to life, filling the scene with vivid symbols and two eye-catching full-reel premium icons. It may be a clone, but at least the studio has wrapped it in an appealing new theme. Visually it delivers — but what’s under the hood will be more divisive.

Just like the original, Augustus isn’t built around high volatility and huge upside. In terms of maximum payout, it tops out at 1,000x the bet at the most. That can happen in a single spin, and while it’s rare, it’s feasible thanks to the way reels can turn fully wild — either in the base game via Coin Meter collections or during free spins. Players should also see plenty of Wild Reels, since gold coins appear frequently. Free spins are another plus, mainly because you get three different choices. If you’re feeling daring, the two-spin option is brief but can be punchy. If you’d rather stretch out the bonus after finally landing it, the 25 free spins route does exactly that.

Augustus is the kind of slot that’s most fun when you’re prepared and know what to expect. Don’t go in looking for massive payouts or nerve-shredding swings — that isn’t what the studio is aiming for here. Still, if you want an attractive game with a steady cadence of wins and smaller features, finished off with a pick-your-style bonus round, it offers decent value.