Pompeii Slot Machine

Pompeii Theme & Game Basics

In the year 79 A.D., a massive volcano known as Mount Vesuvius erupted in a particularly devastating explosion. What followed was a wave of burning ash which instantly enveloped the city of Pompeii, burying its buildings and citizens before the vast majority could even attempt to escape.

While the story of Pompeii is indeed a tragic tale, today the city remains eerily intact, preserved as it once was by the instantaneous rush of ash. In the "Garden of the Fugitives" the bodies of victims can still be seen, lying in situ in the very spot where they fell nearly two millennia ago.

Tourists have been visiting the archeological site in Pompeii for more than 250 years, marveling both at the awesome power of nature's fury, and the ultimate fragility of their own humanity.

With that in mind, Aristocrat sought to design their Pompeii slot machine game to be at once historically intriguing and realistic to the experience. Of course, you won't see hot ash spewing from the machine. But when you happen to land a big winner, the game screen will shake violently while coins shoot up from the center of the screen and rain down like lava.

The title screen for Pompeii also helps to enhance the gravity of the game's theme. You'll see the word Pompeii written in large capitalized letters, with the last two letters appearing as II to further the Roman connection. On either side of the foreground are familiar Roman architecture, with high columns and arches, but the center of the screen is where the action happens. Mount Vesuvius looms large, with the mountaintop already exploding in a volcanic eruption for the ages. The skies are filled with ash clouds which cover the entire title screen, as gold coins raining down on the doomed city.

The background screen during the Pompeii base game is simply a replica of the title screen, with smaller buildings being claimed by the same massive eruption in the background.

As an Aristocrat classic, you'll find the basic card rank reel symbols of 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A, which the company uses on most slot games. As for the themed reel symbols, you'll be playing with the dolphin amulet, the Roman helmet, the gold coin, the sword and shield, the horse-drawn chariot, and the erupting volcano.

The level of detail Aristocrat managed to include in Pompeii's design scheme is certainly impressive. In addition, to the screen eruptions when you land big winners, pay close attention to the gold coin reel symbol. History buffs might notice that the coins are actually inscribed with the words "Veni, Vidi, Vici," which represent a famous quote from Julius Caesar meaning "I came, I saw, I conquered."

Gameplay Features and Mechanics

For players sitting down at a Pompeii slot machine for the first time, the absence of traditional pay lines may be a bit jarring. After all, the pay line system is used by most slot machines to determine whether or not you've landed winning combinations.

In Pompeii, however, Aristocrat has built in the company's Reel Power gameplay engine. Reel Power games remove the concept of pay lines altogether, presenting players with a set of five reels displaying three symbols each. Players land winning combinations whenever matching symbols appear on adjacent reels, no matter where along the reel they happen to land.

Pompeii is classified as a penny slot because the minimum coin denomination stands at just $0.01, although for Reel Power games like this, you must pay for all of the reels in play. This puts the minimum cost to cover per spin at $0.25, so for players accustomed to the pay line system, simply think of Pompeii as a five reel, 25 pay line, fixed pay line game.

You can wager in increments of 25 credits per spin, escalating to 50 credits, 75 credits, 100 credits, and topping out at 125 credits.

The coin denominations escalate in increments of pennies up through $0.10, before jumping to $0.25, $0.50, $1.00, $2.00, $5.00, $10.00, and $25.00. For the most part, however, penny slot players typically play for $0.01 or $0.05 increments, with the latter amount equating to a $1.25 cost to cover per spin.

In the Legends version of Pompeii, the game is set up slightly differently, as players have the option to choose how many reels they'd like to purchase. The cost per reel breaks down as follows:

• Reel 1 = 1 credit
• Reels 1 - 2 = 5 credits
• Reels 1 - 3 = 10 credits
• Reels 1 - 4 = 20 credits
• Reels 1 - 5 = 30 credits

As you can see, the cost to play all five reels in Pompeii Legends has gone up by a total of five credits. This is simply an ante bet, also known as the Power Pay feature on many Aristocrat slot titles, which entitles players to a full complement of bonus games and additional payouts.

In both cases, players almost always activate all five reels in Pompeii to take advantage of the game's built-in features.

Aristocrat instilled Pompeii with many of the company's most popular gameplay features, including the presence of wild symbols, scatter symbols, free spins, bonus games, and multipliers. Unfortunately for progressive jackpot hunters, the original version of Pompeii is not connected with any larger prize pools, although the Legends update version does offer a progressive component in most casinos.

• Wilds: Yes
• Free Spins: Yes
• Multiplier: Yes, up to 15x
• Bonus Game: Yes
• Progressive: Not on original Pompeii, but Yes on Pompeii Legends
• Return to Player: 94.999%

When playing the Pompeii base game at the minimum 25 credit level, the largest payout available comes when you land five of the dolphin amulet symbols on the screen. This pays out 2,500 credits while four of a kind in golden amulets is good for 1,000 credits, and three of a kind will return 500 credits.

The Roman helmet symbol pays out 2,000 credits for landing five of a kind, followed by the gold coin symbol, which returns 1,250 credits for five on the screen. Both the sword and shield symbol and the horse drawn chariot symbol offer 1,000 credits for landing five of a kind. As for the card rank symbols, you'll receive 200 credits for landing five As or five Ks while five Qs, Js, 10s, or 9s will pay out 100 credits.

All of the base game payouts listed above are multiplied in kind when you increase the amount of credits being wagered per spin. Jumping from 25 to 50 credits turns the payout for five dolphin amulet symbols from 2,500 to 5,000 credits, and increasing the credit amount to the maximum 125 credits per spin returns a payout of 12,500 credits when you land five dolphin amulet symbols.

The wild symbol during the Pompeii base game is the erupting volcano symbol, and it can substitute for any other symbol except the wild symbol to form winning combinations.

The erupting volcano wild symbol will only appear on the second and fourth reels, but when it appears in a winning combination, you'll automatically receive a multiplier on all associated payouts. The multiplier stands at 3x when you land a winner using the erupting volcano wild symbol on the second reel, and 5x when it appears on the fourth reel to form a winner. When the erupting volcano wild symbol appears on both reels to form a winner, your multiplier rises to 15x on the associated payouts.

The scatter symbol during the Pompeii base game is the gold coin symbol, which can generate winning combinations from anywhere on the reels. Even better, the gold coin scatter symbol provides the power to enter Pompeii's free spins bonus round.

Free Spins Bonus Round

Whenever you land three or more of the gold coin scatter symbols on the screen, the game's free spins bonus round will be triggered.

The number of free spins you'll receive depends on the amount of gold coin scatter symbols you land. For the minimum required three gold coins scatter symbols, your allotment of free spins will begin at 10, but that number jumps to 15 when you land four, and 20 if you fill the reels with five.

While the free spins are a great treat, what separates Pompeii from many other Aristocrat titles is that the scatter symbol provides large payouts in addition to triggering the free spins bonus round. Many Aristocrat games offer no payout at all for landing the scatters, aside from the winning combinations they help create, but in Pompeii landing, just three of these gold coin scatter symbols will boost your account by 125 credits when playing the 25 credit minimum.

Up the ante to 125 credits, or $1.25 per spin for penny slot players, and landing five of the gold coin scatters will pay out a whopping 6,250 credits along with the maximum of 20 free spins.

Another added treat during the Pompeii free spins bonus round is that the erupting volcano wild symbol can replace the gold coin scatter symbol to generate even larger wins. The 3x and 5x multipliers are still in effect when the erupting volcano wild symbol appears on either the second or fourth reel during a free spin, so this is where significant winnings can be racked up.

Consider what happens when you manage to land five of the dolphin amulet symbols in a row, with the erupting volcano appearing in both the second and fourth reels for a 15x multiplier, when playing at just the minimum 25 credit level. The total payout for this dream spin would be 37,500 credits or a huge $375.00 on a $0.25 investment. Pump the stakes up to the maximum $1.25 per spin, and that dream reel result will payout 187,500 credits, or $1,875.