Gladiator

Gladiator is an action-packed online slot by Playtech that’s based on the 2000 film of the same name starring Russell Crowe as the downtrodden slave-turned-fighter, Maximus Decimus Meridius, and Joaquin Phoenix as the sadistic heir to the Roman Empire, Commodus.

As you enter the arena to take on your opponents, you’ll find a prize worth fighting for in the form of a progressive jackpot. Plus, there are other generous cash rewards on offer through the helmets that you get to select in the Jackpot Bonus.

In the Colosseum Bonus, you get to pick stones that award different numbers of free spins, win multipliers, extra scatter symbols, and extra wilds, ensuring that no two free games features are the same.

Playtech, the software company behind Gladiator, is globally renowned for making progressive jackpot slots such as Monty Python’s Spamalot and the Marvel Comics and Age of the Gods series. But, there are several of its online slots games which are worth checking out, despite not offering a progressive prize, including Thai Paradise.

Considering that Playtech’s Gladiator is a progressive jackpot slot, it’s great to see that it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to play. The betting range runs from 25p to just £25, and according to internet jackpot tracker websites, the PJP pays out around every twelve weeks and awards an average of £1.2m to each winner. However, some players have been known to carry off much higher amounts.

Whether you’ve watched the Hollywood blockbuster or not, there are many reasons to take the Gladiator online slot for a spin, including the fact that the progressive jackpot isn’t weighted in favour of high-stakes players.

Design

The Gladiator online slot opens to an image of a gladiator stood in a packed amphitheatre wearing a spiked helmet and holding a shield as the blazing sun beats down. The sky is bright yellow – almost gold – which makes the game look visually appealing on both big and small screens.

Many of the paytable symbols featuring characters from the 2000 Ridley Scott film, Gladiator. They include Commodus (the power-hungry son of Marcus Aurelius), Lucilla (Commodus’ brother and the ex-lover of Maximus), Antonius Proximo (the kindly gladiator trainer), Gracchus (a Roman senate member who is against Commodus’ rule), and Juba (a tribesman from Numidia who’s also best friends with Maximus). The other symbols consist of the Colosseum, a silver helmet, and six playing card symbols (A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9).

The game uses five reels, twenty-five non-fixed paylines, and three rows of symbols, and allows you to create winning combinations from left-to-right.

You may wish to access the game controls at the start of, or during your playing session. The paytable is accessed by clicking the button marked “INFO” while you can adjust the number of paylines that are used by clicking the plus and minus icons beneath the reels. You can also select a Line Bet of between £0.01 and £1.00 to give a minimum and maximum bet-per-spin of 25p and £25 if all twenty-five paylines are active.

In addition, there are two buttons marked Turbo and Auto Play, the former of which spins the reels more quickly and the latter of which spins the reels automatically.

Wild Symbol

The Gladiator online slot uses a gleaming silver helmet for its wild symbol. And, as well as being able to award the Jackpot Bonus, the wild can also help you achieve more winning combinations by replacing all symbols except the scatter when it lands on second, third or fourth reel.

Scatter Symbol

In the Gladiator online slot, the Colosseum represents the scatter symbol, and it awards instant cash prizes (called scatter wins) regardless of where it appears on the reels. It can also trigger the Colosseum Bonus.

Bonus Round

Gladiator has several special features, the first of which is the Jackpot Bonus. To trigger it, you need to get the Helmet (the wild symbol) on Reels 2, 3, and 4 of the same spin. The bonus game chooses nine random helmets featuring different prize amounts which can be bronze, silver or gold, and adds them up before crediting them to you. However, if you’re awarded nine gold helmets, you get the progressive jackpot rather than a bonus win. N.B., you cannot win the jackpot if the bonus is triggered during the Free Games Feature.

Three or more scatter symbols (the Colosseum) anywhere on the screen grants you entry to the Free Games Feature. Using a new screen featuring a five-by-four grid of stones, the game prompts you to pick a block from the two lower rows. The bottom row contains free games while the second row contains multipliers. If you’re lucky, you’ll receive one or more additional picks which let you choose stones from the top two rows. The third row awards extra scatter symbols which can improve your chances of retriggering the feature while the top row contains additional wild symbols.

Reels: 5

Paylines: 25

Min Bet: 0.25p

Max Bet: £25.00

Progressive JP: Yes

RTP:  94.08%