Pompeii Megareels Megaways Free Play in Demo Mode

Pompeii Megareels Megaways review

Graphics, Sounds, and Animations

Get ready to step into an ancient land of fire. But rather than spewing out lava, this volcano is packed with potential wins. Pompeii Megareels Megaways by Pragmatic Play takes the much-loved Megaways mechanic and dials things up a notch, with fantastic graphics and an impressive Free Spins round.

The game is set in the city of Pompeii, just after Mount Vesuvius erupts. In fact, the entire city is already covered in bubbling lava, as the animated volcano in the background continues to pour out molten rock. The soundtrack is a bit more muted than we would have liked to see: a game with such an explosive theme deserves much more dramatic music.

Gameplay

Because Pompeii Megareels Megaways uses the Megaways mechanic to pay out wins, the game doesn't have traditional paylines like other slots. Instead, between one and seven symbols can land on each of the reels whenever you spin. This results in an impressive 117,649 potential ways to win, if the max number of symbols lands on every reel.

All of the high-paying symbols are themed, so look out for the Roman warrior, the suit of armor, and the shield. Smaller wins pay if you land the A, K, Q, J, and 10 symbols, which have also been designed with intricate etchings and gold borders, to fit the theme. Once wins are paid out, the Tumble feature removes winning symbols, allowing others to replace them. At the same time, the number of symbols on a particular reel can increase.

Wilds, Bonuses, and Free Spins

The volcano symbol is the Wild and it can appear on reels 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. It can substitute for all other symbols except the Scatter, to complete winning combinations.

The Scatter symbol takes the form of a burning fireball and it can appear on all reels during the base game. You'll need four, five, or six Scatter symbols to receive 15, 20, or 25 Free Spins respectively. During Free Spins, winning symbols will explode during Tumbles, as usual. The win for each spin is then multiplied by the number of symbols that exploded.

Depending on your region, you might be able to buy your way into the Free Spins round, at a cost of 100x your stake value.

Bet Sizes, RTP, and Variance

Pompeii Megareels Megaways comes with a theoretical Return to Player (RTP) percentage of 96%, which is exactly equal to the slot game average. While this isn't great, it's not too bad, so it doesn't make us less likely to recommend the game. The volatility is high, so you should expect to wait a while before you trigger a win, but in general, wins tend to be a little bigger than on games with lower volatility.

The max win of the Pompeii Megareels Megaways game is 10,000x your stake, which holds up well against other Pragmatic Play slots. You can play for increments starting at $/€/£0.20, and the max bet is high at $/€/£240, which makes the 10,000x potential payout very attractive.

Conclusion

The theme was the first thing that drew us in when we tried Pompeii Megareels Megaways, but we stuck around because of the Free Spins round. We haven't seen a game where the Multiplier is directly connected to the number of symbols in the Tumble, making this one really unique, and giving good winning potential. While the average RTP of 96% is a bit of a downer, the high volatility gives this game extra points from us.