Rome: The Golden Age

The wombat says: Ancient Rome; where democracy was founded. But, it was also where they washed their clothes in urine, and where Emperor Caligula tried to make his favourite horse the Chief Consul to the Republic. So were they really so civilised..? This game has that classical vibe like the Aureus slot, except the graphics are better.

Rome: The Golden Age slot from NetEnt is going to be legendary – just like the Romans – on account of the fact that it comes with a possible max win of up to 100000x their stake.

That’s right, you may need to adjust your specs, Wombat fans – we said 100,00x your bet.

NetEnt are usually know for putting out for low/medium variance slots but occasionally they will release a game that is so volatile it will blow our minds! Remember Dead Or Alive 2?!

‘How is this possible?’ I hear you ask. Well it’s all thanks to a Free Spins Win Multiplier that can reach the dizzy heights of 1,000x your bet. Read on, and we will go into more detail…

Grab your togas toute suite! Let’s get a piece of the Roman action…We love a game from the Ancient World. Try the Tomb of Akhenaten slot machine by the way if you fancy a trip over the other side of the Mediterranean

Look and Feel

Well, it’s all very grand, as you might expect. The base game takes place between 2 majestic marble plinths. There are also marble floors, red curtains and some marble statues. Most likely of a previous emperor – they were a vain bunch.

But, this all changes if you set off the bonus round. Now the action will move to the Colosseum with a front row seat! Where you’ll be watching tigers and gladiator’s battle it out behind the reels! Rather them than me…

All in all, some mice graphics and sound effects.

Game Play

Rome: The Golden Age slot is a 5-reel game with 3 rows and 20 pay- lines. Pretty standard on that front! If you want more bells and whistles we would recommend the Golden Osiris slot from Play ‘n Go, another game from the Ancient World.

Placing your bets from a minimum of 0.1 up to the max.bet of 50.00 per spin. As mentioned this game comes with some mega volatility so make sure you watch your golden nuggets!

The reels are not your standard grid – instead all 5 of them are set out in a diamond shape with a 3 -4-5 – 4- 3 formation – which opens up possibilities for more ways to win.

Pay Table
Your reel icons are made up of the 10, J, Q, K and A playing card symbols as the lower values, while the higher paying symbols include the gladiator sword, the helmet, an emperor’s gold ring and a golden aquila or eagle (which was the emblem of the Roman Army).

The tiger is the top paying icon on the pay table, and this ferocious fella will pay you a slightly less ferocious 5x your bet for 5 symbols on a pay line.

Free Spins and Bonus Features

Framed Wilds
When the Golden Age logo hits the reels it will add a frame around any position that it lands on. Now the Golden Age icon can also transform into a Rome symbol at random – and when this happens, the frame will activate and turn into wild symbols. These awesome little wilds can also transform adjacent icons into more wilds. Bonza!

Frames and active frames stay on the grid until they change into wild symbols or you unlock free spins. The frames disappear once the corresponding wilds help form wins. This can happen up to 5 times.

Free Spins
Land 3x of the scatter symbols on reels 2, 3, and 4 and you’ll set off the Free Spins. Here’s where the madness starts…

You’ll be awarded 3x Free Spins and a 1x multiplier to begin with. Plus all positions with frames on them from the triggering spin, and those active frames that didn’t transform into wilds, will now become sticky. Which is a nice appetiser of what is to come…

Random Cash Prize
During play, only the Rome symbols will land. If they hit the reels in any unlocked position you will scoop a cheeky cash win of between 1x to 50x your bet – and the free spins will be reset. Meaning it’s 3 more goes for you.

Plus, if you manage to get a whole ruddy screenful of the Rome icons, an extra 2x win multiplier will be added to your total wins. On top of the multiplier level you have reached! See below for more details!

Free Spins Multiplier
Look above the reels Wombat fans, and you’ll see a counter thingy and a Free Spins Multiplier gauge.

The counter will track every Golden Age symbol that lands during your play. It goes from 0 – 200. Golden Age icons will add +1 to the tracker if it lands framed, but it will add from +1-5 points when it hits a position that is both framed and active.

Best of all, in the Free Spins, the Multiplier will level up every time that the tracker is filled up to 200. The win multiplier will increase like this: 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 7x, 10x, 12x, 15x, 20x, 30x, 40x, 50x, 75x, 100x, 200x, 300x, 500x, 750x, and 1,000x.

Conclusion

So the question is, does Rome: The Golden Age slot get this Wombat emperor’s thumbs up or thumbs down?

Well, what with the unique gameplay mechanics and that insane win potential we’ve decided it’s an awesome addition to NetEnt’s portfolio of games.

What we like best about this slot is that all the extra features (framed wilds, win multipliers and the Free Spins) work together. So if you manage to trigger all three of them, all at the same time time, you really will walk away with some big wins. OK, the chances of you scoping that 100,000x your bet is slim to say the least – but never say ever Wombat fans!

But be prepared – you’ll need to have a Roman army of gold coins at your disposal because the volatility is higher than kite on the waccy baccy.

So it’s a thumbs up from us!

Wombat score: 5/5.

We’d give it a 6 if we could.