Olympus: Wine & Wonders — review

All the more regrettable, then, that the data sheet is the thinnest in the whole field. RTP: not disclosed. Volatility: not disclosed. The only fixed number is the maximum win of 5.000 times the stake. The rest must be read from the feature list, and it's an uncertain exercise, which I make clear throughout.

01A well-chosen theme on an empty data sheet

The theme list mentions wine, vines, fruit, beverages, card suits as well as red and green. That points to a symbol set where the low-paying tiles are card suits — a classic, almost old-fashioned solution — while the high-paying ones are wine-related items. The fruit motif also suggests a nod to the old fruit machines.

It is a concrete trick, and it deserves recognition. But a theme cannot carry a game on its own, and when neither the payout percentage nor the volatility indication is provided, the player is left without the two pieces of information that determine what a session costs.

I don't guess at numbers I don't have. The only responsible advice is to open the game's information screen at the operator you're with and read the percentage there. If it's not available, I'd choose a different title.

02Bonus games and fixed jackpots

The feature list includes Bonus Game, Bonus symbols and Fixed Jackpots. Fixed jackpots mean prize tiers with predetermined values — typically four or five levels — that are triggered via the bonus round rather than through a running multiplier. The amounts are not specified here, and I'm not inventing them.

That construction effectively sets a cap on how large the variance can become. Fixed jackpots delimit the top, which fits well with an overall cap of 5.000 x. It's a game with an upper limit on a leash, not an open multiplier ladder.

Free Spins, Additional Free Spins, Multiplier and Random multiplier are also listed, so a free spins round that can be extended and multiplied. It's standard fare in the genre, and nothing on the sheet suggests Champion Studio does anything unusual with it.

03Energy collection as a slow engine

Symbols collection (Energy) is the most interesting entry on the list. It's a savings mechanic where certain symbols fill a meter over multiple spins. When the meter is full, something happens — in some games free spins, in others a jackpot round. What Champion Studio has chosen is not described.

Save-up mechanics change the rhythm of a session. They provide a progression goal that exists independently of an individual spin, and they work best in games with moderate variance, where you actually have time to fill the meter. Whether that is the case here I cannot say, precisely because the volatility is not stated.

Risk/Gamble (Double) game is also included. As always, my position is that double-or-nothing neither raises nor lowers the expectation, but only increases variance. It's a button you can refrain from pressing.

04What missing numbers mean in practice

There is a tendency to treat a missing datasheet as a minor detail. It's not. Without the payout percentage you can't compare two games, and without a volatility indication you can't sensibly choose a stake size. You're effectively playing without knowing the price.

This is especially true here, where the 5.000 x cap is neither low enough to signal a calm game nor high enough to signal a wild one. The title can be anywhere on the scale, and the sheet doesn't help.

Champion Studio has created the most thoughtfully designed theme in this batch of Olympus titles. That's just not enough when the basic information isn't in place. Play with operators under the Danish Gambling Authority's license, where the figures must be available in‑game, and use ROFUS if your spending gets out of control.