Mercy of the Gods Slot – Review, Free Play Demo & Free Spins

You’ll be thanking the gods if you hit the progressive on this new Mercy of the Gods slot game from NetEnt, launched from May (exclusively) and July 2019.

It’s an Egyptian-themed take on the company’s previous big hit, Divine Fortune, which span its tales of progressive-prize gods in Ancient Greece. Along with the trip back in time comes more volatility and a bigger prize below the progressive level. The progressive jackpot should be bigger, but the chances of hitting it are less.

The sleek modern design puts a set of Ancient Egyptian mythical and religious symbols on the reels, with a beautiful archaeologist chasing down the mysteries of the Pyramids. (Slots players might potentially be among the best-informed people in the world on Ancient history!)

NetEnt are reliable performers who have earned their massive market share for a reason, and players love history theming. Chuck in a big prize and some great gameplay and there look like a lot of reasons to try out this game.

But should you pack up your little archaeologist’s spade and go digging in this desert?

Let’s have a look in this Mercy of the Gods slot review!

The Developer

NetEnt are the biggest slot company in the UK market. They have an enormous market share – around 1/5^th of the global market and ¼ in Europe. They don’t just produce games they also make casino software, so it’s no surprise that their games are highly featured and they can be found in almost all UK casinos.

Currently, the company is reckoned to have around 304 games in the UK market.

They’ve been around for a while. The company was founded in 1996 in Sweden. But they’re completely up to date, and they churn out new titles every month that reliably climb into the top 10 in the UK market.

Their biggest hits are oldies: Starburst is still the number one game in the UK, and Gonzo’s Quest is at number four.

These titles show NetEnt’s range. Starburst is a classic retro slot with a futuristic sci-fi look and massive prizes. Gonzo’s Quest (from 2011) is a character-based game with a load of gameplay innovations. One simple, one sophisticated, and both massive hits.

The Facts and Figures

This game comes with an attractive set of stats, particularly for a progressive. The 96.64% theoretical return to player is bang on the market average. Progressive games take a small slice of each stake and put it aside in order to build the prize pot so sometimes have much lower RTPs in their base game.

The volatility – also called variance – is “high”. This is unusual. It means that the (base) game is more likely to pay out bigger prizes, but it is likely to pay out its prizes less often. This shouldn’t have too much of an effect on your experience with the game, but such games are often said to be aimed at “higher rollers” or players who are interested in making cash rather than enjoying games. That’s a mistake, but it’s how it is.

A big top prize of 160,000 coins awaits winners at the top of a betting scale from 20p to £100.

A classic five-by-three grid delivers 15 symbols across which run a very classic 20 pay lines.

You can play this game on any device so long as it supports JavaScript and HTML5. (Always remember to keep your browsers and online software up to date for security reasons.)

The Game

If you’ve played a NetEnt game you’ll find this set-up friendly and familiar.

The information button is at the bottom left of the control panel which sits below the reels.

To the right of that is the total bet, which is set with a level toggle to the right.

As usual, a central console holds a themed spin button flanked by Autoplay and Max bet controls.

Set your coin value to the right of that and keep an eye on your balance at the far right of the screen.

Further controls can be found in the game frame.

Mercy of the Gods Slot – How to Win

The paytable is Egyptian themed.

We start with the usual cards, running from twice stake to 3.5-times stake for full houses of five.

The higher paying symbols, which look great, are Tutankhamun, who pays 35-times stake for a full house. Scarabs and Cobras pay-out a maximum of 45-times stake. The Falcon god, Horus pays up to 60-times stake for a full house. And finally, the archaeologist pays 80-times stake for a set of five.

There are scatters for jackpots, and an eye of Horus scatter for free spins. Wilds are labelled and become special symbols in the bonus games.

Mercy of the Gods Slot Bonuses

In the base games, wilds operate as a nudge/respin feature too. One wild or more triggers Gift of Life respins with wild nudging down one row at a time until they leave the reels. Wilds that land together become expanding wilds and can fill whole reels.

The free spins are triggered by the Eye of Horus scatter, coming in sets of 5 (for 3 scatters), 8 (4), and 12 (5). This game turns all wilds into expanding reel-sized symbols, which still operate the Gift of Life feature.

The progressive is triggered via the bonus symbol. Three of these open the Gift of Wealth Jackpot. The bonuses spread out across the reels and you’re allowed three free spins. If you land another bonus you get three more spins and so on. The jackpot is awarded when the feature ends with a major jackpot for two lines of bonuses. Fill all three rows and you’ve hit the progressive.

The Verdict

You know what to expect from NetEnt and Mercy of the Gods slot delivers on all fronts. This fantastic looking game plays beautifully – with great bonus features that keep you interested and spinning time after time – and delivers a really serious top prize, even outside the progressive.

High volatility might scare off some players, but this is a definite improvement on its sister game and one you should surely dig into at your favourite online casino site.