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Wisdom of Athena 1000 arrived roughly a year after its predecessor. Pragmatic Play kept the scatter-pays grid, the cascading tumble system, and the free spins structure intact but pushed the multiplier and win cap higher. Athena has traded her white chiton for golden armour, but the game underneath is the same engine with more room at the top end
The base game capped multiplier symbols at 500x with a maximum win of 5,000x the bet. This version doubles both. Multiplier symbols can now range from 2x to 1,000x, and the win cap is 10,000x.
In free spins, the extended range matters most. Multiplier values still feed into a persistent total that carries between spins, and with the cap now at 1,000x, a single well-placed symbol can push that total further than before.
The backdrop has shifted from the original’s marble colonnade to a grassy mountaintop, with clouds still drifting gently at the base of the reels. During free spins, the scene changes to a view overlooking a Greek city at dusk, with the music stepping up in tempo to match.
The most noticeable improvement in the audio is the elimination of her voiceover lines, which repeated a few phrases that soon wore thin. This version removes them completely, allowing the soundtrack to set the mood instead. The instrumentation is similar, but the overall tone is more relaxed during regular play, suiting the outdoor setting
The core structure is unchanged. Wins form through scatter pays, where eight or more matching symbols anywhere on the 6×5 grid count regardless of position. The locked sixth row opens one position at a time through consecutive tumbles, following the same thresholds as before. Free spins award ten spins with persistent unlock progress and a multiplier total that builds across the round. The Ante Bet and Buy Free Spins options return unchanged, and the paytable is identical.
The playing rules in this instalment remain unchanged. A win occurs when eight or more matching symbols appear anywhere on the 6×5 grid, causing tumbles that cascade until the chain is broken. The locked top row opens one position at a time through consecutive cascades. There are no wild symbols.
Bets range from $0.20 to $125.00, with high volatility still present.
The only new gameplay feature is the fifth multiplier symbol, now increasing up to 1,000x, along with the extended maximum win of 5,000x.
Symbol values are identical to the original and are shown below at $1.00 per spin.
| Symbol | 8–9 | 10–11 | 12–14 | 15–30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Coin | $5.00 | $10.00 | $20.00 | $50.00 |
| Helmet | $2.50 | $5.00 | $10.00 | $25.00 |
| Chalice | $1.50 | $3.00 | $6.00 | $15.00 |
| Scroll | $1.00 | $2.00 | $4.00 | $10.00 |
| Red Warrior | $0.75 | $1.50 | $3.00 | $7.50 |
| Purple Orb | $0.50 | $1.00 | $2.00 | $5.00 |
| Blue Swords | $0.40 | $0.75 | $1.50 | $4.00 |
| Purple Shield | $0.30 | $0.50 | $1.00 | $3.00 |
| Green Wheel | $0.25 | $0.40 | $0.75 | $2.50 |
| Scatters | Payout |
|---|---|
| 4 | $2.00 |
| 5 | $15.00 |
| 6 | $100.00 |
The RTP has decreased slightly from the original, now at 96.00% across all three modes, down from 96.07%. If the total win from a round reaches the 10,000x cap, the round ends immediately, and any remaining features are forfeited.
The original Wisdom of Athena earned a 3/5 in our review for doing one thing well but lacking variety beyond it. The 1000 variant shifts the ceiling without changing the room. Multiplier values now reach 1,000x and the win cap sits at 10,000x, giving the free spins round more theoretical reach. But with the paytable and grid untouched, and no new features beyond the expanded multiplier range, the improvement is mathematical, not experiential. It's a marginally better version of the same slot.
If you played the original and wanted more headroom on the multiplier, this is the version to load. The 1,000x cap and 10,000x win potential give free spins rounds a longer runway, and the removal of Athena’s voiceover lines is a welcome change. The more relaxed soundtrack during regular play and the shifted outdoor backdrop give the session a slightly different feel, even if the game underneath is structurally identical.
Anyone expecting new features won’t find them. The grid, paytable, unlock system, and free spins structure are all unchanged. If the base game didn’t hold your attention through more than a few sessions, a higher multiplier cap alone won’t fix that. The RTP has also slipped from 96.07% to 96.00%, and during most sessions, the extended multiplier range makes no difference to the result.
Regular play felt familiar. Tumble chains fired frequently but stayed short, topping out at six consecutive cascades, and three row unlocks across our session. The balance held steady with small returns. Without the voiceover interruptions from the previous instalment, the soundtrack carried more weight, and the relaxed tone during regular spins suited the longer stretches between features.
We bought into the free spins twice. The first round found its footing on spin three, when a 6x multiplier landed alongside a $36.75 tumble win. An 8x followed on spin five and a 10x on spin seven, by which point four rows had unlocked. No scatters appeared for a retrigger, so the round ran its ten spins, finishing on a 13x total multiplier and $216.85. Marginally up from the $200 buy-in, but only just.
Halfway through the free spins, with the multiplier at 8x and 3 top rows unlocked.
The second round built a higher multiplier of 15x, but the larger wins didn’t arrive until the final two spins. By then, it was too late to recover ground, and the payout came in at $85.65.
The second bought round closes at $85.65 with a 13x multiplier.
Two bought rounds, the same 1,000x multiplier potential, and two completely different outcomes. Neither came close to testing the upper limit. That contrast sums up the 1000 variant. The upper limit is higher, but the floor hasn’t moved. With the same paytable and feature set, the only route to a bigger result is for multiplier symbols to land at higher values. When they don’t, the session plays out just like before. The difference between the two versions is one of possibility, not probability.
