Athena Ascending Slot – Play’n Go – Online Slot Review & Rating

Athena Ascending Slot Review

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Athena Ascending is a classic online slot game inspired by ancient Greek mythology. Telling the story of the rise of the goddess Athena, it was made and released by Play’n Go in 2022. The game houses 5 reels, 3 rows, and 20 paylines with a 96.28% RTP. This non-progressive slot game also features wilds, multipliers, scatter, free spins, and mobile play. This game has a jackpot of 10,000x the bet and is available for playing on both desktop & mobile.

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Athena Ascending Slot Game Details

Software Provider:

Play’n Go

RTP:

96.28

Volatility:

High

Type of Casino Game:

Slots

Reels:

Paylines:

Coin value:

0.05 – 5

Minimum Bet:

0.05

maximum bet:

100

maximum payout:

10,000x

wild:

YES

scatter:

YES

Free Spins:

YES

Multiplier:

YES

INTRODUCTION

Following the success of Play’n Go’s Rise of Athena in 2020, the company decided to release a sort of sequel. We use the term “sequel” very loosely here because the two games are almost identical looking from the outside. There are definitely clear upgrades, of course. For instance, the Athena Ascending game looks better all-round, with smoother animations and more detailed graphics.

Ultimately, however, Athena Ascending is very much a classic slot game if we compare it to most other modern releases. It will be most interesting to players who don’t want to get too crazy with special features and mechanics. The game does feature fun bits like multipliers, which we’ll explore in this Athena Ascending review. However, if you want something truly innovative, you’ll have to look at a different title from the massive Play’n Go portfolio.

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HOW TO PLAY ATHENA ASCENDING

One advantage that classic games like this one have is that they’re very easy to get into. Anyone who ever touched an online slot machine will know immediately how to play it. Still, we’ll provide a shot Athena Ascending guide to cover the details.

The game features 5 reels with 3 rows, which is a very common layout. Your job is to try to arrange matching symbols along the 20 active paylines. If you hit 3 or more identical symbols along one of the paylines, you win money based on the size of your stake, the value of the winning symbols, and the number of symbols in the combination.

To play Athena Ascending, all you have to do is hit is select your stake at the bottom of the screen and hit ‘Spin’. Interestingly, this game accepts stakes of just $0.05, making it one of the most affordable online slot games in recent memory.

You can also use the customisable Autoplay feature which will keep spinning the reels until certain conditions are met. You can set these conditions yourself before turning on Autoplay.

Casino Bloke Best tips for Athena Ascending Slot

1The only way to get the maximum payout in Athena Ascending is by stacking Wilds during Free Spins.
2That said, the Wilds always stack multiplicatively, regardless of whether you’re playing free spins or regular ones. However, the maximum multiplier during regular play is 64x.
3The Wilds are the real crux of this game. Without them, the potential for profits is fairly limited.

EXTRA FEATURES

The Wild symbols in this game are exceedingly important and powerful. As usual, they can substitute any other symbol to make winning lines, barring the Scatter. However, what makes them truly valuable are the multipliers.

Every Wild in this game comes with a randomly-selected multiplier, ranging between 1x and 4x. If they end up part of a winning line, any winnings from that line are multiplied by the displayed amount. Better yet, if multiplier Wilds are all part of one winning line, they all increase the winnings. This increase is multiplicative, as well. For instance, a 3x Wild and a 4x Wilds can combine for a total of 12x. However, such stacking is hard-capped to 64x.

Of course, the game also comes with Free Spins, triggered by 3 or more valuable Scatter symbols. Scatters are high-paying symbols that do not have to form lines, and their position on the game table is irrelevant.

Five Athena Ascending free spins are awarded if you land 3 Scatters. However, any additional Scatters will not increase the number of spins. However, they will award a large one-time payout.

The Free Spins bonus game in Athena Ascending is not too complicated. You just get 5 free respins. Additionally, Wild symbols will stick to the table for future free spins. Every time you respin, the assigned multiplier will increase by 1x, until it reaches 4x, at which point the Wild is removed. This feature can extend the bonus round because Free Spins continue until there are no Wilds left on the board.

PAYOUTS

The most important thing to remember about Athena Ascending payouts is that their base values are very low. Basically, you will need 5-symbol winning lines just to cover the cost of the stake. This doesn’t strictly apply to the 4 most valuable symbols, and even they just barely turn a profit.

The only real exception to this rule is the Athena character. You only need 2 in a line to win (though that pays 0.6x), but can win a tidy sum for 3+ of them. Additionally, Scatters can pay respectable amounts, up to 500x for 5 of them.

So how is the game worth playing? The Wild multipliers, of course! Wilds hit often enough to balance the scales, and you can rely on them to push your winnings to decent levels.

ATHENA ASCENDING (PLAY’N GO): CASINO BLOKE’S VERDICT

All in all, we have very few gripes with how Athena Ascending works and plays. It’s finely crafted and easy to play. It’s just not very memorable, either.

On one hand, we like that Play’n GO didn’t hide most features behind a hard-to-hit bonus round. The multipliers hit all the time, which makes things a lot more exciting. On the other, this also means that the base payouts had to be run into the ground. Without Wilds, turning a profit in this game is an uphill battle.

It’s a fun experience overall, but we doubt you’ll want to spend too much time with it.