Ze Zeus

Ze Zeus Slot Review

Slot Provider: Hacksaw Gaming

RTP: 96.34% | Variance: Medium | Maximum Win: 10,000x

Our Score: 7.8

Play at Grand Ivy Casino
QUICK LINKS: Game Information | Where To Play | Full Review | Testing Notes | Tips For Players | About The Developer

WHY YOU CAN TRUST THIS REVIEW: The information and opinions on this page are the result of an comprehensive process of information gathering and live game testing by the gambling experts who work at allslotsites.com. Find out more here.

About Ze Zeus

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 18th June 2024

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Ze Zeus is a 6 reel cluster pays slot with an Ancient Greek theme from Hacksaw Gaming. It uses a complex system of cascading wins and divine squares across the reels to unlock coins with values of up to 500x that can be collected by Vessel of Wealth symbols. There are also THREE free spins rounds with persistent Vessels of Wealth.

The max win in this medium variance slot is 10,000x and spins start at 10p.

Ze Zeus Game Information

  • Release Date: 20.06.24
  • RTP: 96.34% | 94.23% | 92.17% | 88.36%
  • Variance: Medium
  • Maximum Win: 10,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 6
  • Rows: 5
  • Paylines: Cluster Pays
  • Minimum Stake: £0.10
  • Theme: Ancient Greece
  • Features: Cascading Wins, Cash Collects, Free Spins, Multipliers

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Ze Zeus

IMPORTANT: To give you an accurate assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

Boom Or Bust? Our Session By The Numbers

I played 250 spins on Ze Zeus on Hacksaw Gaming’s test server prior to release to test the game. This is what happened.

  • Stake Size: 1
  • Start balance: 5,000
  • End balance: 4,906.30
  • Win Rate: 26.4% (266 winning spins in 250)
  • Biggest Win: 19.4x
  • Free Spins Round: 0

Fun, but a little disappointing because Ze Zeus never kicked out a run that included a Vessel of Wealth symbol, nor did it trigger a free spins round, which are the 2 most powerful parts of the game. That’s quite surprising for a medium variance slot over 250 spins where you might expect to get at least one lucky break. Never mind. The win rate came in at 26.4% which is good, with roughly 1 in 4 spins a winner of some kind.

Ze Zeus Divine Squares and Hand of Zeus
A 19.4x win from 14 Divine Squares in testing

The best moments, unsurprisingly, came when a run of 3 or 4 cascades created a significant number of Divine Squares on the grid, then a Hand of Zeus dropped to activate them. Whilst I never saw a Vessel of Wealth symbol which can boost a run like that to another level, I did score a 19.4x win when 14 spaces became Divine Squares after several cascades and activated a bunch of coins that included a 10x.

Overall, the balance took quite a hit and it’s a sign that despite its medium variance, this slot can feel quite volatile at times and will require patience to unlock its riches.

What We Liked

  • Fun and exciting features and prize triggers
  • High 10,000x max win for a mid-variance slot
  • Play from 10p
  • Cool artwork and dramatic lightning and thunder affects

What We Didn't like

  • Gameplay is a bit complicated to follow
  • Low RTP at some slot sites

Ze Zeus Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 8
  • RTP and Variance 7
  • Maximum Win 8
  • Symbols and Paytable 8
  • Features and Gameplay 8

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"A beautifully-produced slot, and well-configured with lots of potential thanks to an exciting array of cumulative features!"

Overall Score: 7.8

Theme & Design

Our Score 8

A Dramatic Setting For This Ancient Greek Slot Game

Invoking a very common slots theme, Ancient Greece, Hacksaw take us to the very home of the gods, Mount Olympus, in Ze Zeus. There are epic skies, thunderous clouds and lightning strikes to accompany your spins. Zeus himself floats to the right of the grid, carrying what looks like a lighting bolt (because he can!). It’s sharp, fun and quite dramatic. In short, top production as ever from Hacksaw.

Ze Zeus by Hacksaw Gaming
Ze Zeus – drama and cash collects on Mount Atlas!

RTP and Variance

Our Score 7

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

Ze Zeus has 4 RTP rates – 96.34%, 94.23%, 92.17% and 88.36%. Your casino operator will choose which to run the game at. Obviously, you want to find a slot site where it’s set to 96.34% for the best chance of a positive return on your wagering. In the UK that is becoming increasingly difficult, as many choose low RTP rates to maximise their house edge. My recommendation would be to play at MrQ from Lindar Media who we have found to consistently run online slots at the maximum RTP settings.

Ze Zeus is one of Hackaw’s medium volatility games. They are better known for high variance slots, but they do produce some good ones with more forgiving maths models like this one too. It means a more even win distribution that doesn’t destroy your balance so fast!

Maximum Win

Our Score 8

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

Despite its medium variance Ze Zeus still kicks out some decent sized payouts, maxing out at a very respectable 10,000x, a figure more often reserved for higher variance slots.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 8

Zeus is a Cluster Pays slot that plays out on a 6 reel and 5 row grid. Wins are triggered by landing 5 or more identical symbols in horizontally or vertically adjacent positions. That means you can build out big clusters and therefore big payouts on each spin.

Ze Zeus Paytable
The paytable with 100x for 13 or more Zeus symbols

In the paytable there are 10 symbols. The low value ones are the spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts icons, and the star. These are valued at from 0.1x for 5 in a cluster up to 15x for 13 or more in a cluster. The higher value group are the temple, shield, grapes, helmet and Zeus himself. These are valued at from 0.3x for 5 temples up to 100x for 13 or more Zeus.

You might also spot a Wild, represented by the letter W, from time to time. These will substitute for any pay symbol to complete a cluster, though they don’t have any pay value of their own.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 8

You know Hacksaw, they like to get your braincells firing when playing their slots, so at first glance they are not that easy to follow. This one has a progressive format to it, with one feature triggering another, then another, and so on. Which of course can be thrilling when it goes your way.

Here is how it works.

Cascading Wins and Divine Squares

Everything starts with cascading wins, a regular feature in Cluster Pay slots. 

For every win, all winning symbols are removed from the grid and remaining symbols and new ones drop down to fill the spaces left behind. More clusters? Then that process repeats until no more wins are triggered.

Ze Zeus Win Cascade
A win cascade in Ze Zeus

But that’s not all. Because as winning symbols are removed from the grid as part of a cascade, the spot they vacate becomes a Divine Square. These are important because if a Hand of Zeus symbol is visible on the grid at the same time as a Divine Square then it will activate the Divine Square, revealing either bronze, silver or gold coins with cash value OR Vessel or Wealth of Zap of Zeus symbols.

Coins, Vessel of Wealth and Zap of Zeus Symbols

The next phase is a cash collect one. Your cash comes via those coins valued as follows:

  • Bronze: 0.2x, 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x
  • Silver: 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x
  • Gold: 25x, 50x, 100x, 250x, 500x

Before they are collected, their value MAY be increased if a Zap of Zeus symbol is in an adjacent spot. If it is, it applies its multiplier value to those coins. It might be 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x or 10x.

Hand of Zeus in Ze Zeus
A Hand of Zeus symbol activating Divine Squares

That’s great and it can trigger some nice payouts as I found in testing. However, there is a more powerful element to the gameplay in the form of the Vessel of Wealth symbol. This is a special collector symbol. It will collect the value of ALL coins on the grid as well as the value of OTHER Vessel of Wealth symbols too. For this to happen, the collection has to happen in a specific order. Namely, top to bottom, reel by reel, left to right, starting at the far left.

Sounds good? It get’s better …

Once all Vessel of Wealth symbols have done their collections, remaining Divine Squares reveal symbols and the process continues. Only when all activations and reveals are finished is the final payout made. Then all coins and Vessels of Wealth are added together and multiplied by your bet value.

Free Spins Round – What If Zeus Was One Of Us?

What if, eh?!

To find out you need to land 3 or more FS scatters on a single spin. You get 8 plays where Divine Squares are persistent UNTIL they are activated by a Zap of Zeus.

Meanwhile, if you land 2 or 3 more FS symbols during the round you will pick up 2 or 4 more free spins.

OR you can progress into the Ze Zeus Takes The Wheel bonus round by landing 4 more FS symbols. That gets you another 4 spins as well.

Enhanced Free Spins Round – Ze Zeus Takes The Wheel

Landing 4 FS symbols in the base game, or the first free spins round triggers this enhanced free spins feature. You have a massive 12 free spins in which ALL Divine Square are persistent throughout, even after they have been activated by Hand of Zeus.

Again, if you land 2 or 3 more FS symbols during this round you will pick up 2 or 4 more free spins.

Super Enhanced Free Spins Round – Ze Zeus Might Superstar

Finally, if you land 5 FS symbols in the base game you’ll be jetted off to the Ze Zeus Might Superstar feature with 12 free spins. In this extraordinary (and probably very rare event) Divine Squares remain active throughout. And now, Hand of Zeus symbols are GUARANTEED on each spin.

And to seal the deal … there are no bronze coins in this feature, only silver and gold!

The Final Verdict

Ze Zeus is an exciting game with a lot of potential, but it appears to be a little more volatile than its mid-variance billing suggest. Your goal is simple – build long cascade sequences because that creates more Divine Squares, the gateway to bigger wins. Just don’t expect those to activate too often – I counted just 14 wins like this in 250 spins whilst testing the game. Of course, if you can add to the mix a few Zap of Zeus multipliers and a Vessl of Wealth, things could really go off. And we will certainly see a few moments like that in time. The free spins rounds also look very promising, particularly the Superstar and Takes the Wheel ones. So, lots to enjoy here, just stay patient and choose a low-ish stake to give yourself a good chance.

Useful Tips When Playing Ze Zeus

Remember, online slots are games of chance, there is NO strategy that can improve your odds of winning. However, reading our review and following these tips will help you get the most out of your time playing this slot game.

1. Watch For Hand of Zeus Symbols

Success relies on landing Hand of Zeus symbols to activate your Divine Squares where the cash is, so keep your eyes on the grid for those.

2. Play In Demo Mode First

This is a tricky slot to follow the first time you play it. We recommend playing in demo mode at a site like Casumo, or on Hacksaw Gaming‘s own website before spending your own cash.

3. Look Out For FS Symbols

As always, the free spins rounds are powerful. You need at least 3 FS symbols to unlock them. Watch for these at all times.

 

4. Play At Our Recommended Slot Sites

We have chosen the sites on this page because they all scored high in our reviews and they are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. That makes them fair and safe places to play slots.

Who Made Ze Zeus?

  • Name: Hacksaw Gaming
  • Established: 2018
  • UK License: 54059
  • Total Games: 50 +
  • Known For: Dark, high variance output and bonus rounds driven by combining multipliers
  • Popular Slots: Hand of Anubis, Itero, Gladiator Legends, Break Bones
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