Athena Ascending Slot Review

Athena Ascending Slot Overview

Athena Ascending from Play'n GO takes the war goddess back to centre stage in a straight forward five reel, three row setup with twenty fixed paylines. It follows on from Rise of Athena, and you feel that link straight away, from the airy Greek temple backdrop to the focus on multiplier wilds. As a long term slot player, I see it as a refined version rather than a radical overhaul.

Under the hood, Athena Ascending is more aggressive than its predecessor. Volatility is rated around seven out of ten, and the variable RTP setup tops out at 96.2 percent, with several lower models active in some markets. Free spins have been cut back, yet the game doubles the potential maximum win to ten thousand times stake, so the whole package leans towards punchier, bonus dependent sessions.

Design and Theme in Athena Ascending

Athena Ascending keeps the same clean, marble temple style as Rise of Athena, but it feels slightly closer to earth. The reels float over pillars, braziers and distant clouds, which gives a calm frame for what can be very spiky gameplay. I like the sharp symbol artwork and the vocal soundtrack in the background; they carry the ancient Greek vibe without becoming tiring during longer sessions.

Athena Ascending Symbols and Paytable

The paytable in Athena Ascending is fairly straightforward, but the individual line wins are on the lean side. Low paying symbols are 10, J, Q, K and A in a classical script, paying one times stake for five of a kind. High paying icons are the scroll, urn, helmet, Pegasus and Athena herself, paying between two and fifty times stake for a full line.

The golden coin wild in Athena Ascending substitutes for all regular symbols and can land only on reels two, three and four. The white owl acts as scatter; hitting three, four or five on a spin pays one, twenty or five hundred times stake upfront and starts the bonus. Athena also pays from just two of a kind, giving a small hit of zero point six times stake.

Symbols and Paytable

Symbol	Quantity	Payout
	Scatter
	5	x500
	4	x20
	3	x1
	5	x50
	4	x4
	3	x2
	2	x0.6
	5	x5
	4	x2
	3	x1
	5	x4
	4	x1.6
	3	x0.8
	5	x3
	4	x1.2
	3	x0.6
	5	x2
	4	x0.8
	3	x0.4
	5	x1
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	5	x1
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	5	x1
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	5	x1
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	5	x1
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	Multiplier
	Wild

RTP, Volatility and Max Win in Athena Ascending

Athena Ascending is offered with several return to player settings, which is standard for this studio. The highest version comes in at 96.20 percent, and there are lower models at 94.20, 91.20, 87.20 and 84.20 percent. I always check the value listed in the slot information or help page, as that has a big impact on long run play, especially with high volatility titles.

The maths setup in Athena Ascending has shifted up from the earlier game. Volatility is described as high, roughly seven out of ten on the in house scale, and the potential maximum win is ten thousand times stake. The reels use a five by three layout with twenty fixed paylines, and bet levels range from five pence to one hundred pounds per spin, so both testing and serious sessions are easy to set up.

Bonus Features in Athena Ascending

Base game features in Athena Ascending focus almost entirely on multiplier wilds. When a wild coin lands on reels two, three or four, it always carries a multiplier, starting at one times and going up to four times. When more than one wild joins the same winning line, those multipliers are multiplied together, up to a hard cap of sixty four times, so stacked wild hits can jump quite sharply.

Free Spins and Respins in Athena Ascending

The free spins feature in Athena Ascending starts when three or more owls land anywhere on the grid. Three scatters award five free spins and a prize of one times stake, four give the same five spins plus twenty times stake, and five icons crank that scatter win to five hundred times stake. There is no way to earn more spins from inside the bonus, as scatters do not appear.

During free spins in Athena Ascending, wilds become sticky and behave very differently to the earlier slot. A wild that lands locks in place and starts at its current multiplier, then climbs by one on each following spin. When it reaches four times, it drops off the reels on the next spin. These growing multipliers can combine, so a couple of strong positions can turn a short bonus into a huge hit.

Once the last free spin in Athena Ascending has been played, any sticky wilds still showing trigger respins. The reels keep spinning without extra cost while at least one wild remains, and the wild multipliers still tick up until they hit four times and disappear. From my sessions, the feature feels very swingy; some rounds die quickly, but when several wilds land early, the respin tail can carry the balance nicely.

Athena Ascending Slot Verdict

For me, Athena Ascending is a solid sequel that sharpens the risk and reward profile rather than reinventing anything. The graphics and sound do their job, the maths model hits hard, and the multiplier wild system still has that satisfying punch. The base game can feel a bit bare between features, yet if you enjoy volatile sessions with simple mechanics and big peak potential, it earns a place in the rotation.

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