Pompei Megareels Megaways
By Pragmatic Play
Pompei Megareels Megaways is a highly volatile slot from Pragmatic Play with 6 reels and up to 117,649 win ways per spin. The game’s dramatic setting at the time of the famous eruption may be matched by epic events on the reels as tumbles and free spins with multipliers can help bring up wins of up to 10,000x. This game is light on features and will only appeal to players who love high risk-high reward action. Spins start at 20p per play.
| Game Name | Pompei Megareels Megaways |
|---|---|
| Developer | Pragmatic Play |
| Theme(s) | Ancient Greece, History |
| Release Date | 13th February 2024 |
| Rows | Up To 7 |
| Reels | 6 |
| Paylines | Up To 117, 649 |
| Volatility | High |
| RTP Rate | 96% | 95.04% | 94.07% |
| Max Win | 10,000x |
| Min Bet | £0.20 |
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Review Scorecard
What Our Reviewer Says …
Pragmatic Play have made this Megaways title as volatile and dangerous as the volcano in it's backdrop! It will be ruthless but on occasion spectacular too!
What We Like
- Simple high risk gameplay with few features to distract the player
- Potentially spectacular tumble sequences in base game and bonus round
- Multipliers based on the number of winning symbols during free spins
- Solid 10,000x maximum win
What We Didn't Like
- Very low hit rate in testing - just 16%
- Tough to break free spins round - once in 361 spins on average
Theme and Design
Dramatic Scenes In Pompei And On The Reels!
Pompei Megareels takes us back to the day of the eruption of Vesuvius, an as yet un-mined event in Roman history for slots developers. It’s not the greatest artistic work on the subject, but the firey volcano, molten lava streams and crumbling Roman buildings give off a good sense of drama whilst the reels themselves are nicely framed, gilded with gold and packed with iconic Roman symbols. The soundtrack is a tinkling piano number which doesn’t quite fit the tragic scenes going off behind, but does rise nicely in tempo as your tumbles build and big wins sail into view.
RTP and Variance
There are three available RTP settings for the game Pompei Megareels Megaways. They are 96%, 95.04% and 94.07%. There is little between these but whilst you won’t notice the difference in a short session, it always makes sense to play at the highest available RTP. I recommend playing at MrQ which always runs slots at the optimum RTP. If you play elsewhere, check the RTP setting in the game before you spin to be sure you are getting good value. Just hit the ‘I’ button on the game screen then scroll through until you see RTP.
This is a very high variance slot. It’s fair to say the best Megaways games are. So expect a rough ride with uneven win distribution but always that tantalising prospect of a rare epic sequence when the stars align.
Two more stats worth considering are these: the hit rate in the game is 1 in 5 spins and the free spins round drops on average once in every 361 spins. The free spins stat is definitely indicative of a high volatility slot and shows you will need to manage your bankroll well if you are to unlock that feature.
Maximum Win
Pragmatic Play have given this a 10,000x max win potential. It’s not one of their highest max win slots, but it’s still a good target jackpot to aim for.
Symbols and Paytable
Pompei Megareels Megaways follows the classic Megaways format. That means 6 reels, each displaying from 2 to 7 rows of symbols, randomly assigned on each spin. The pays are win ways which means you need identical symbols to land on adjacent reels regardless of their row, from left to right, starting at the left most reel.
Bring that all together and when all 6 reels stretch to 7 rows, that gives you the famous 117,649 win ways (7x7x7x7x7x7).
The pay table displays 5 low pays and 5 premium symbols. The low pays are the cards, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. These are valued at from 0.1x for 3 10s up to 1x for 6 Aces. The premiums are the iconic symbols of the Roman empire – coins, a soldier’s shield, a soldiers armour, a chariot and the Roman emperor. These are valued at from 0.25x for 3 coins up to 5x for 6 emperors.
There is also a wild which will substitute for any pay symbol to complete a win way but does not have a pay value of its own.
Not bad, and if you think the pay symbol values are little low, consider that there are up to 117,649 win ways as well as multipliers to boost those payouts.
Features and Gameplay
Pragmatic Play have stripped back the Megaways format to its bare bones here so there are no extras beyond Tumbles and Free Spins. Here is how they work.
Tumbling Wins
After any winning spin, winning symbols burn up and new ones drop in to replace them. If this creates another win, then the process repeats, and so on until no more wins are formed and the payout is activated.
A little tweak has been added here: for reels that have a winning symbol, the number of rows MAY increase with the cascade. That gives you that little bit win way when the next lot of symbols drop.
Free Spins With Multiplier
The free spins round also deviates from the standard format slightly. You get 15, 20 or 25 spins for 4, 5 or 6 molten rock scatters landing on the reels on one spin. But rather than having a progressive multiplier, in Pompei Megareels the value of EVERY win is multiplied by the total number of symbols that drop off the reels in the tumble.
So, if you scored a win with 5 matching symbols and one with 3 matching symbols, both wins would be multiplied by 8x.
Final Verdict
I enjoyed this game. It’s a type that Pragmatic Play do very well and it’s one that will appeal to a certain type of gambler where entertaining features and animations, whilst still important, take a back seat to the serious business of gambling for big wins in a high risk-high reward environment. Of course, there is an obvious comparison to be made here between the highly volatile and explosive volcano and the game’s unpredictable but spectacular win engine – something also seen in Yggdrasil’s Hyperburst by the way. The unusual method of activating multipliers based on the number of symbols in a cascade in the free spins round, adds further volatility to this mix. Multipliers can grow much quicker this way than they do in the standard progressive format found in most Megaways free spins round. In short, this is a really good high variance game, and one fans of that type should not pass by.
Testing Notes
I played 250 spins on Pompei Megareels Megaways on Pragmatic Play’s test server prior to release to test the game. This is what happened.
- Stake Size: $1
- Start balance: $100,000
- End balance: $100,039.65
- Hit Rate: 16% (41 winning spins in 250)
- Biggest Win: 177.2x
- Free Spins Round: 1
Pompei Megareels Megaways behaved exactly as you would expect a high variance slot to play. The hit rate was low for me – just 16% which is under the 20% expected and made it feel like I was getting short changed. Not an unfamiliar feeling. But then, out of nowhere, a random spin triggered a run of 14 cascades and a 177.2x win which was spectacular to watch. That was the one good moment in a 20-minute session.
The free spins triggered once to give me 15 spins only to deliver a tiny 3.45x win and 10 non-winning spins. Proof, if you needed it, that this slot will be a big tease at times!
Who Made Pompei Megareels Megaways?
- Name: Pragmatic Play
- UK License: Remote 046683-R-325951-014
- Total Games: 500 +
- Known For: Wide range of themes and styles, live casino including gameshow formats, and bingo
- Popular Slots: Fruit Party, Dog House Megaways, Big Bass Bonanza, Release the Kraken
