Over the years, Pragmatic Play has designed some eye-catching, reverberating slots that have proven quite popular.

Some of these games have gone on to become more of the provider’s ‘trademark’ games. One such slot is the Gates of Olympus title, which, in its wake, thanks to its popularity, has necessitated the emergence of various sequels.

The game that’s the center of our attention in this review, Gates of Olympus Xmas 1000, is one such sequel. Released on 2 December 2024, just in time for the looming festive season, Gates of Olympus Xmas 1000 features the same Ancient Civilization (Greek mythology) as the original game. However, there is an added twist, as the protagonist Zeus comes adorning Santa’s hat. 

The slot comes with a 6 x 5 reel format. Like most slots, including those in the Gates of Olympus ‘franchise,’ the objective is to spin the reels and hope that 8 (or just 4 for the scatter) or more identical symbols appear on the grid. Before initiating the session, however, it’s recommended that players consider the following:

• Bet Option: Players have the freedom to choose the bet option they want from a range starting from 0.20 to 240.00 coins per spin. 
• Spin Option: Two spin options are available: manual spins and the auto-play option.  
• Turbo Mode: For those who prefer fast-paced gaming action, the turbo mode can be enabled.

Gates of Olympus Xmas 1000 uses the scatter pays mechanic. What this mechanic entails is that for as long as the minimum required eight identical symbols appear on the grid, a payout is awarded. Of course, the higher the count of identical symbols appearing on the grid, the bigger the payout awarded. 

Moreover, the payout size disbursed during the gaming session depends upon the nature of identical symbols landed on the grid. This is necessitated by the fact that reel symbols are classified as high-paying, mid-paying, and low-paying icons. 

In descending order from the highest to the lowest paying, the featured reel symbols include:

• A crown.
• An hourglass.
• A ring. 
• A chalice. 
• Red gem. 
• Purple gem.
• Gold gem. 
• Green gem.
• Blue gem.  

• Tumble Feature: Whenever a winning combination emerges, the winning symbols disappear from their positions as soon as pays are disbursed. This paves the way for the remaining symbols to fall downwards. In turn, new symbols emerge to fill vacant positions at the top of the grid. After each tumble, new winning combinations are evaluated, making it possible for successive win lines to occur. For as long as new win lines occur, tumbles keep repeating.  

• Multiplier Symbols: During standard spins and tumbles, whether playing in the base mode or free spins round, multiplier symbols may randomly land. Multiplier symbols come in different coloured gems with golden frames or a glowing pink artefact. Each multiplier symbol that lands takes a random multiplier value from 2x to 1000x. At the end of a tumbling sequence, the values of all multiplier symbols are added and the total win of the sequence is multiplied by the final value.

• Free Spins Feature: Four or more scatters that land on the reels help trigger this feature and award 15 free spins. Whenever a multiplier symbol lands and the spin results in a win, the multiplier value gets added to the total multiplier. During the entire round, the total multiplier value is also used to multiply the win whenever any new multiplier symbol lands and results in a win. Three or more scatters that land simultaneously during the round help retrigger five additional spins.

• Ante Bet: Players at the start of the gaming session can choose between a 20x and 25x bet multiplier. The former gives the ability to purchase a free spins round by paying a value equal to 100x total bet. The latter doubles the chance of naturally triggering the free spins feature.

• Buy Free Spins: Players who opt for the 20x ante bet multiplier can purchase the free spins feature at any time by paying 100x the total bet price. Four scatters are guaranteed to land on the next paid spin when the feature is purchased.

Gates of Olympus Xmas 1000 is a slot machine that I found very appealing. While it retains the main features and mechanics that have popularized games in the Gates of Olympus franchise, it exceedingly does well on the volatility front, ranking as a super high-volatility game.

 It also has a dynamic RTP that rises to an impressive 96.50% when the buy-free spins feature is enabled.