Gates of Olympus POP: A 3×5 Grid and a 25,000x Max Win
A rundown of Gates of Olympus POP, the first POP game from Pragmatic Play. A vertical 3×5 grid, multipliers up to 1,000x, 15 free spins with accumulating multipliers, and 25,000x from 3 jackpot symbols. RTP 97.05%, high volatility.
Key takeaways
- The first game of Pragmatic Play’s POP brand came out on August 31.
- The grid shrinks to a vertical 3×5, and multiplier symbols go up to 1,000x.
- 3 scatters trigger 15 free spins, and multipliers accumulate within the bonus.
- 3 jackpot symbols give 25,000x, and the RTP of 97.05% is the highest in the series.
The first game previewed when Pragmatic Play launched its casual brand POP in late July came out on August 31. It is a POP-style remake of the company’s flagship Gates of Olympus. It looks very different from the original from the very first screen.
A vertical grid, a small Zeus
The original was a 6×5 landscape grid. POP is a vertical grid with 3 reels and 5 rows. The shape works well for holding your phone upright and playing with one hand. Instead of the muscular Zeus, a small, round, nearly chibi-proportioned Zeus guards the bottom of the grid. The pillars and clouds in the background follow the original’s atmosphere.
The win rules are a trimmed-down version of the original formula. Wins happen when 5 to 9 or more matching symbols land anywhere on the grid, followed by a tumble, where new symbols drop into the spots left by winning symbols. The original started at 8, but with the grid shrinking to 15 positions, the threshold came down too.
| Category | <a href="/game/pragmatic/gates-of-olympus">original</a> | POP |
|---|---|---|
| Board | 6×5 (30 positions) | 3×5 (15 positions) |
| Win requirement | 8 or more matching symbols | 5 or more matching symbols |
| Bonus entry | 4 scatters | 3 scatters |
| Multiplier cap | 500x | 1,000x |
| RTP | 96.50% | 97.05% |
| Max win | 5,000x | 25,000x |
Laid out in a table, POP is not simply a shrunken version of the original. The grid, win requirement, and bonus threshold were lowered, while the multiplier cap, RTP, and max win were raised. It is a design that tries to deliver both easy and big at once. The jackpot symbol fills the gap between them.
The symbol set is simpler too. The original’s five colors of crown, ring, hourglass, goblet, and gem carry over almost unchanged, but with a 15-position grid, the number of symbols on screen is half that of the original. That makes it easier to collect five of the same symbol, and a win comes about once every 3.47 spins. Short tumble chains of two or three in a row show up often.
Multipliers up to 1,000x
Multiplier symbols drop in both the base game and the bonus. Their value goes up to 1,000x. They stay on screen while tumbles continue, and when the tumbles end they are all added together and applied to that spin’s total win. The original’s multiplier cap was 500x, so this is double.
On a small grid, a 1,000x multiplier feels even more impactful. Multiple wins bursting at once on a big grid like the original is rare, but in return a larger share of the payout comes from multipliers attached to a single win. When two or three multiplier symbols land in the same tumble chain, their values are added and applied as is. Players of the 1000 version of the original will feel a familiar sensation on a much narrower grid.
Free spins accumulate like the original
3 or more scatters start 15 free spins. If 2 or more additional scatters land during the bonus, 5 more spins are added. The original needed 4 scatters, so POP lowers the bar to 3.
In the bonus, multipliers that land on winning spins or tumbles are added to a running total. This accumulated multiplier is applied at the end of each tumble sequence. Since earlier multipliers keep attaching to later wins, the grid gets bigger the further you go into the bonus.
The original Gates of Olympus free spins also used the same accumulating system. However, the original was fairly heavy on bonus entry, averaging once every few hundred spins. POP lowers the scatter requirement and shrinks the grid so you enter the bonus more often. By the media pack, it averages once every 221 spins. The “high hit frequency” promised by the casual brand holds up on the bonus side too.
Three jackpot symbols give 25,000x
The feature unique to POP is the jackpot symbol. In the base game or the bonus, whenever 2 jackpot symbols land you get the 500x Spark Jackpot, and 3 give you the 25,000x Burst Jackpot. The game’s 25,000x max win is exactly this Burst Jackpot.
Pragmatic Play’s announcement described this feature as paying instant prizes of 50x, 500x, or 25,000x depending on the number of POP symbols that land alongside the scatter. The media pack’s game description is written around 2 and 3 jackpot symbols. The in-game screen name is the same “POP Spark” as in the media pack. For exact conditions, it is best to check the game rules on the demo screen.
The numbers say it is not easy
A casual brand does not mean a mild game. The media pack classifies volatility as high. Base game wins are frequent at once every 3.47 spins, but 1,000x or higher comes once in 1.39 million spins, and the max win once in 33.11 million spins. Free spins come in more often than in the original line, at about once every 221 spins.
| Category | Average frequency |
|---|---|
| Base game wins | 1 in 3.47 spins |
| Free spin entry | 1 in 221.41 spins |
| 1,000x or more | 1 in 1,390,946 spins |
| Up to 25,000x | 1 in 33,112,583 spins |
RTP is 97.05%, the highest in the series. The grid is smaller and the rules are simpler, yet the return rate actually went up. The bet range is 0.1 to 250, and the maximum payout cap is 6.25 million.
A 1,000x or higher win once in 1.39 million spins is an unusual number. Other games with the same 25,000x cap usually pass 1,000x about once every tens of thousands of spins. POP looks designed to concentrate most of its big results on the jackpot symbols. Small, frequent wins keep coming in normal play, and then the numbers jump all at once the moment a jackpot symbol hits.
Compared with 2500
Its max win is the same as Gates of Olympus 2500, which came out a month later: 25,000x. But the road there is completely different. 2500 comes with a 6×5 grid, four bonus modes, four buy option tiers, and three ante tiers. POP reaches the same number on a 3×5 grid with no buy button, using a single jackpot symbol.
If you like a grid with plenty of choices, go with 2500; if you just want to spin, go with POP. You can try both side by side as demos in the Pragmatic Play free slots collection. Next in line for POP are Sweet Bonanza, Zeus vs Hades, and Starlight Princess.
Whether the POP brand succeeds depends heavily on how this first game is received. That is also why Pragmatic Play put out its most prized IP first. Whether players of the original will find a vertical-grid Zeus unfamiliar or enjoy it as a lighter take is something only time will tell. On paper, at least, it offers a more generous RTP than the original and the same 25,000x cap.
Source: Pragmatic Play official news · Pragmatic Play media pack game overview