Rise of Olympus (Play’n GO): Overview

Cascading grid slots are very much a Play’n GO trademark, and they’ve done extremely well with the format thanks to titles like Reactoonz, Moon Princess, Viking Runecraft, Cloud Quest, and Gemix, to mention just a handful. Truth be told, a lot of these games share a similar feel, and with Rise of Olympus we initially had a hard time spotting any real difference from Moon Princess, only to find out there actually isn’t one. Disappointing. Or maybe not?

So if you enjoy the gameplay of Moon Princess but never really warmed to the Manga styling, this is essentially the tougher-looking alternative. The adorable girls are swapped out for shredded, superhero-style Greek gods—likely a move to appeal to the other half of players. The only drawback versus Moon Princess is that clicking the breasts achieves nothing here. Yes, we even attempted to click on the…well, you know. While graphics shouldn’t matter much in theory, it’s surprising how strongly they can influence your overall impression of a slot, even when you’re fully aware it’s a straight-up clone.

Rise of Olympus is a 5×5 grid slot available on all devices with stakes from €0.20 and €100. The default release comes with a 96.5% RTP, but because Play’n GO supports multiple configurations, you should always double-check which RTP version your casino is running. The symbol set includes bolts, tridents, helmets and harps, alongside three high-value symbols featuring the game’s headline Greek gods—Hades, Poseidon and Zeus. The top-paying symbol overall is the Wild, which pays 50 times the stake for 5 on a payline.

Payouts land when 3 or more symbols link up vertically or horizontally. As noted, Rise of Olympus uses cascading mechanics, meaning symbols fall into the grid to create winning clusters. Whenever a win hits, a wild lands in the central position, and the win multiplier increases with each successive cascade. This continues until no further wins appear, at which point the multiplier drops back to x1.

Rise of Olympus (Play’n GO): Features

The game includes two features:

• Hand of God – can activate at random on non-winning spins. Any of the three Gods may show up, each with a different power. Hades changes one group of symbols into another symbol, Poseidon adds up to 2 wilds, and when Zeus appears, two groups of any symbol are removed.
• Wrath of Olympus – activates once the meter is completely filled, which happens by hitting a 5 of a kind win with any of the God symbols. After that, all three gods act in sequence to enhance the grid with their abilities, boosting the likelihood of triggering the free spins.

The free spins round starts when the entire grid is cleared of all symbols except the Wilds. You’ll then be presented with three choices, each tied to one of the gods as shown in the image above. The powers of the god you pick will activate on every non-winning spin (Hand of God feature) during free spins—so if you select Poseidon, for instance, up to 2 wilds are added after a losing spin.

On top of that –  the multiplier does not reset and can climb to a maximum of x20, and clearing the grid of symbols grants an immediate 100x win. You can also re-trigger the free spins round up to a maximum total of 20 free spins by filling the meter again.

Each of the three Gods comes with its own volatility setting – high, medium and low. Picking Hades means more risk, but also the potential for larger payouts.

Rise of Olympus (Play’n GO): Verdict

Play’n GO have confirmed themselves that there’s absolutely no difference from Moon Princess in terms of mechanics or payouts. Put simply, the underlying math is identical—the theme is the only thing that’s been reskinned. Which one you play won’t change the results, so it really comes down to preference and which presentation you like more. From a production standpoint, Rise of Olympus scores highly, even if it would have been stronger with a little more originality.