Ways of Athena Slot Review

Ways of Athena - Slot Overview

Thunderkick's Ways of Athena drops me straight into a myth soaked slice of ancient Greece, with Athena herself front and centre. The base game runs on a 5 reel, 3 row grid that at first glance looks fairly standard, but the ways to win setup soon shows its teeth. Wins land for three or more matching symbols on consecutive reels from the left, starting with a modest 243 ways in play.

Under the hood, Ways of Athena is a high volatility slot with a default RTP of 94.21 percent and a hit frequency around twenty three percent, so wins are not constant but can be chunky when things line up. Stakes run from ten pence to one hundred pounds per spin, with a 25,000 times bet win cap, Matching Mystery symbols, free spins, Extra Bets and a Feature Buy doing the heavy lifting.

Visuals and Theme in Ways of Athena

Ways of Athena wraps the action in a golden hued fantasyland, with the reel set framed by temple pillars and rolling hills in the background. The base game feels calm and almost idyllic, helped by an orchestral soundtrack that leans more towards adventure than chaos. Trigger the bonus and the mood shifts as you move inside a darker temple lit by candles, though the triumphant music keeps the energy up.

Symbols and Paytable in Ways of Athena

On the symbol side, Ways of Athena sticks to a clear split between royals and themed icons. The lower paying set runs from ten through to ace, all wrapped in laurel wreaths, paying between 0.2 and 1 times the stake for five of a kind. The premium group covers vases, harps, shields, helmets and Athena herself, worth from 0.4 up to 5 times bet for full way hits.

The wild symbol is a bold W that substitutes for any regular pay symbol and also carries its own prize, paying 5 times the bet when you land a full way of wilds. Bonus symbols act as scatters for free spins, while the fire lit Matching Mystery symbols are the key to the slot's expanding ways, copying symbols from reel one to create doubles and, in the bonus, even more splits.

Because the game uses win ways rather than fixed lines, every extra symbol split expands the potential. The starting layout gives 243 ways, calculated as three rows across five reels. When Matching Mystery icons split, they count as two or more symbols on the same reel, so the number of ways can ramp up dramatically, reaching a stated maximum of 43,923 win ways when the feature is fully powered.

Symbols and Paytable

Symbol	Quantity	Payout
	Wild
	5	x5
	5	x5
	4	x2
	3	x1
	5	x2.5
	4	x1
	3	x0.5
	5	x2.5
	4	x1
	3	x0.5
	5	x2
	4	x0.8
	3	x0.4
	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	x0.7
	4	x0.3
	3	x0.2
	5	x0.7
	4	x0.3
	3	x0.2
	5	x0.7
	4	x0.3
	3	x0.2
	Scatter

Bonus Features in Ways of Athena

Matching Mystery Symbols sit at the heart of Ways of Athena and can appear on reels two to five on any spin, up to two per reel. Each one randomly locks on to a symbol on the first reel, then flips into a double of that symbol, giving two pay ways per position. When they latch on to bonus symbols they can even create double bonus icons and trigger the feature.

Three bonus symbols award eight free spins, with every extra scatter adding two spins up to a hard cap of forty four. Scatters themselves drop out once you are inside the bonus, and from that point the focus shifts to Mystery Symbol Orbs that fill a meter below the reels. The first completion upgrades Matching Mysteries to triple symbols, and the second takes them to five of the same symbol, each stage adding two more spins.

On top of that, Ways of Athena offers Extra Bets under the BET plus banner, letting you pay a higher stake for more frequent bonus triggers or guaranteed Matching Mysteries on every spin. There is also a straight Feature Buy at one hundred times bet to jump straight into free spins with a slightly higher theoretical return. I tend to use BET plus rather than the buy button, as it keeps the ride more organic.

How to Win on Ways of Athena

Playing Ways of Athena is straightforward, which suits me when I just want to spin without juggling complex modifiers. I start by picking a bet between ten pence and one hundred pounds, then hit spin or set up autoplay and let the ways system do its work. Wins come from chains of three or more matching symbols from the left, helped by wilds and the occasional Matching Mystery hit.

Because of the high volatility, I keep stakes modest and give the game time to cycle through cold patches in search of those big orb filled bonus rounds. Extra Bets can make sense if you are chasing features, but they eat through a balance faster, so I only switch them on for short spells. The Feature Buy is handy when I am impatient and just want to test the free spins.

RTP, Volatility and Max Win in Ways of Athena

Ways of Athena runs on a below average RTP figure by modern standards, sitting at 94.21 percent in the base configuration, though buying the bonus nudges that a little higher. The slot is firmly in high volatility territory, so long stretches of light returns are part of the package, offset by punchy potential. With a maximum exposure of 25,000 times stake per spin, the game does at least offer serious top end payouts.

Ways of Athena Slot Verdict

After a good number of sessions, Ways of Athena feels like a classic Thunderkick effort to me, mixing simple mechanics with sharp peaks of excitement. The core gameplay is not dense or fiddly, which means I can relax into the rhythm and let the Matching Mysteries and orbs bring the drama. Without BET plus it can feel a touch samey in the base, though the occasional split does liven things up.

Where the slot really shines is during free spins with the meter pushed to its highest stage, when every Matching Mystery can explode the win ways and the screen starts filling with premium symbols. Those rounds are hard to land and often miss, which is the high risk trade off, but when Athena favours you, Ways of Athena shows why it deserves a spot in a Greek themed rotation.

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