One of the Greek pantheon’s most famous goddesses is Athena. She is a woman who values wisdom and smarts, and those qualities are what the Golden Owl of Athena slot promotes. Play it smart, and you’ll be able to walk home with a big win in your pocket!
Mythology has always been a popular theme pick for many software providers. Developers usually default to ancient Egyptian, as the most stylish and recognizable of the bunch.
But going about it that way misses out on a great deal of deities waiting for their time to shine. And today, it’s time for the goddess of wisdom to show her stuff!
The Golden Owl of Athena Slot Review
Golden Owl of Athena is played on a five reel board, where each reel is three symbols tall. There are a total of ten fixed paylines, meaning they cannot be turned on or off at will. To win, collect three or more identical icons in adjacent positions, starting with the leftmost reel. All wins must follow one of these active paylines, or else their cash prize won’t be awarded.
Yes, dear reader, we know what you’re thinking right now. What kind of blessings does the goddess grant? First off, her golden owl acts as both Wild and Scatter at the same time. Collecting enough of them will activate the free spins bonus. During these extra turns, one symbol will be randomly chosen to become an expanding icon. As the name implies, it will expand whenever there are enough of them to form a win.
Theme & Symbols
Greek mythology is criminally underused, in our opinion. Some elements of it do break through from time to time, don’t get us wrong. But we’d rather see more of slots with a theme like this than the ten thousandth take on Cleopatra and Anubis. Sadly, we can only hope that Betsoft continues to deliver on this front.
Despite being completely static, the background image still looking stunning! Honestly, we’re having a hard time picking where to look! Our first bet would be the maze. You wouldn’t want to get lost in that – not unless you want to meet the minotaur! There’s also a sprawling temple on top, housing all of the offering people made to Athena. The Golden Owl of Athena Free Spins Mode Of course, being the goddess of wisdom also means knowing when to prepare for war. This game shows both Athena’s generosity and fierceness. Unique symbol designs include ancient Greek pottery, a spear, a helmet, an enchanted tree, a massive temple and Athena herself. Contrast this with the four playing card royals: J, Q, K and A, and you can see the giant chasm in quality between the two.
How do You Play The Golden Owl of Athena?
Betsoft’s release is played on a 5×3 board with 10 fixed paylines. Golden Owl of Athena has a medium variance, and a maximum win worth 56,200 coins. Getting to that win is something that’s quite difficult under normal circumstances. Thankfully, this slots’ special feature makes landing that maximum prize that much more likely! Of course, a closer look will reveal that bonus isn’t as unique as it first seems.
We’re sure some of you picked up on this already. Wild-Scatters? Free spins with expanding icons? Said expanding symbols paying in non-consecutive positions? Yes, we’re sad to report this game is actually ripping off Novomatic’s Book of Ra. It’s not just the mechanics that are similar, but so are the RTPs!
This time around, Betsoft made it even simpler to set your total bet. Increase your line bet up and down, and watch as your total stake is adjusted to match. Your minimum wager playing this release is €0.10, while the maximum goes up to €10 on each spin. Not the best betting spread in the world. If we had to guess, we’re assuming this was done on purpose to stop players from betting big and winning bigger!
Bonus Features
Free Spins
Collect three, four or five Scatters to win eight, twelve or twenty extra turns, respectively. During these free spins, one of the icons from the paytable will randomly be chosen to become the expanding symbol.
This icon not only expands when it will lead to a win, but it can also grant prizes using Scatter Pays. So long as there are enough symbols for a win, it will be granted, disregarding previous rules about following active paylines.
Double Up
Online gamblers are always seeking for ways to increase their total win! After each normal win, you’re able to do a coin flip. Guess right, and your prize is doubled! However, get even one answer wrong, and you lose all the money you’ve earned so far.
Buy Feature
Impatient players are able to skip the grind by pressing the Buy button. Upon paying the cost, which is relative depending on your current wager, gamblers are able to directly purchase 20 free spins this way.
Payouts
Golden Owl of Athena has a medium variance with a jackpot worth 56,200 Coins. The slot’s RTP is 95.05%, which is below Novomatic’s Book of Ra, which sits at 95.1%.
We wish we could say we fell in love with the game, and that it’s our new favourite. Unfortunately, we’re unable to do that. It’s a shame, because the visual side of things is quite appealing. It’s everything else that’s causing problems for this Betsoft release.
The Positives!
Golden Owl of Athena has been and remains a visually superb slot! There’s a lot of attention to detail for the background and every symbol! Well, almost every icon, if we don’t count the playing card royals.
Being able to buy a free spin and skip the grind is amazing. The price is steep, but well worth paying if you’re ever stuck.
The Negatives…
This game borrows heavily from Book of Ra without bringing anything new to the table. If they went out of their way to improve some part of this Betsoft release, we wouldn’t mind it as much. But it’s the exact same special feature with a slightly worse RTP.
On all accounts, we should be singing the praises of Golden Owl of Athena. And we would, if it wasn’t a blatant clone with no redeeming qualities. Apart from prettier visuals, there’s no reason to pick this slot compared to Book of Ra. Our advice? Stay clear from Athena’s familiar.
