Mercy of the Gods

Mercy of the Gods Review

Fans of NetEnt's progressive jackpot slot Divine Fortune (2017) will find themselves right at home with the mechanics of Mercy of the Gods. Essentially a near replica of its predecessor, Mercy of the Gods initially debuted as an exclusive release before becoming available across all NetEnt casinos. Apart from the fresh theme, minor adjustments to the paytable, and a slight 0.05% bump in the theoretical return to player, there's little new ground to explore if you're already acquainted with the original. Nevertheless, there are some key distinctions between the two, which we'll delve into in our assessment.

With smaller yet more attainable progressive jackpots, Divine Fortune has already delivered numerous life-altering wins since its inception, as evidenced by Casumo's monthly big win reports. For instance, in January 2019, a fortunate player scooped up the fifth-largest win of the month with a $109,272.44 jackpot. In February 2019, it claimed the top spot with a player landing a €45,107.63 win on a mere €0.40 wager. And just last September, there was a story of a player who bagged $146k on a $1 spin!

Both Divine Fortune and Mercy of the Gods fall under the category of local progressive jackpot slots, meaning the jackpots are accumulated within the hosting casino rather than across a network, as seen in multi-million progressives like Mega Fortune Dreams and Mega Moolah. Despite their smaller size, these jackpots tend to drop more frequently.

Set against the backdrop of ancient Egypt, with a fittingly faux-Arabic soundtrack, Mercy of the Gods features a configuration of 5 reels, 3 rows, and 20 paylines. It introduces the Gift of Life Re-Spins, where wilds gradually descend one position with each re-spin, continuing if additional wilds land on the reels. Additionally, the Gift of Double Wilds feature expands wilds to cover entire reels for boosted wins while reigniting the re-spin feature. Furthermore, a Free Spins round incorporates both aforementioned features, but the main draw of this slot is undoubtedly the progressive jackpot, which can be triggered in the Gift of Wealth Jackpot game. Playable across all devices, bets range from 20 cents to €100 per spin.

True to NetEnt's reputation, the artwork is exceptional, with meticulous attention to detail evident throughout. Against the backdrop of a pyramid's gates, flanked by statues of Anubis, the reels showcase standard A to J royals alongside higher-value symbols like Tutankhamun, scarab beetles, and Horus (the God of the sky). The top-paying symbol is the female explorer, offering 80 times your stake for five on a payline. Additionally, there's a wild symbol that substitutes for all regular symbols.

The most frequently activated feature is the Gift of Life Re-Spins, triggered whenever one or more wilds land on the reels. Each wild then descends one row per re-spin until it disappears from view. If a wild lands behind another during the re-spins, it expands to cover the entire reel, triggering the Gift of Life Re-Spins once more - a feature known as the Gift of Double Wilds.

Mercy of the Gods also boasts a Free Spins feature, triggered by landing 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols anywhere on the reels, awarding 5, 8, or 12 free spins, respectively. During free spins, a single wild is sufficient to trigger the Gift of Double Wilds feature, while also activating the Gift of Life Re-Spins in the same manner as the base game.

Lastly, the main attraction of this slot is the Gift of Wealth Jackpot game, accessed by collecting 3 or more bonus symbols during a base game spin or the Gift of Life Re-Spins feature. Once triggered, your accumulated symbols are randomly placed on the jackpot game reel set. Starting with 3 spins, each bonus symbol landing resets the spin count to 3.

While each bonus symbol carries a random cash prize (ranging from 10 to 200 times your stake), the ultimate goal is to fill entire rows with bonus symbols. Completing one row triggers the Minor jackpot, equivalent to 20 times your stake. Filling two rows awards the Major jackpot, equal to 100 times your stake. Achieving a full screen of bonus symbols unlocks the progressive Mega jackpot!

Though identical in terms of mechanics and features, Divine Fortune and Mercy of the Gods differ mathematically in some crucial aspects. Notably, Mercy of the Gods benefits from an enhanced paytable, offering higher payouts outside of the jackpots (1600x vs 600x). It also appears to be slightly more volatile, with a lower hit frequency (17.64% vs 20.33%), and allocates more RTP to the free spins compared to Divine Fortune.

However, these improvements come with a trade-off. While the progressive jackpot on Mercy of the Gods is likely to grow larger, the odds of triggering it are lower. For instance, the chance of triggering the Major jackpot in Divine Fortune is 1 in 3355, whereas in Mercy of the Gods, it's 1 in 3674. Consequently, Mercy of the Gods offers a more balanced experience, with decent potential throughout. On the other hand, Divine Fortune remains a ruthless slot focused primarily on the progressive jackpot.

Overall, both titles stand as formidable jackpot slots with stellar graphics and exceptional production quality. Given the original's reputation as one of the finest jackpot slots available, there's a strong likelihood that Mercy of the Gods will follow suit.

Mercy of the Gods Slot Information

Title: Mercy of the Gods
Developer: NetEnt
Reels: 5
Rows: 3
Paylines: 20
RTP: 96.64%
Hit Freq: N/A
Max Win: 1,600x
Volatility: Medium/High
Min/Max Bet: 0.20/100
Release Date: Out Now