Since the launch of Microgaming's 9 Masks of Fire, many developers have tried to replicate the success of the title. Its Scatter Pay system proved to be a huge success with players, and as such, it has produced various copycats. The slot game to adopt this approach is Ascension: Rise to Riches from Old Skool Studios, released as part of the Microgaming partner’s program. Does the slot offer any more than this, though? Let's take a more detailed look at this Ascension Rise slot review.

The Ascension: Rise to Riches online slot is another title that uses the Ancient Egypt theme. As such, the design of the slot does feel fairly by the numbers. The grid is set to a glowing gold and black background with shimmers of gold around the borders. The symbols are as you would expect, with images of Egyptian gods, a pharaoh, a scarab beetle, and various other ancient Egyptian artifacts making an appearance in the game.

Old Skool Studios lives up to its name by providing players with some really simple gameplay. To get the game started, you will need to adjust your stake. All wagers in the game are placed using coins. The minimum size of a coin is $0.20, with a minimum of one coin per line. The maximum coin size is $20, and you are able to place up to six per line, making the maximum overall wager $120.

There is very little to note in terms of gameplay mechanics here, with the slot taking place on a 5x3 grid with 20 paylines. There is also the Autospin feature available similar to the one you will find in other top online slots.

As a slot released under the Microgaming umbrella, it’s no surprise that the Ascension: Rise to Riches slot has been optimized to work on a range of different devices. The game works well on both Android and iOS operating systems and runs smoothly on popular mobile devices. Many top online casinos will now have mobile applications too, and these are likely to support the Ascension: Rise to Riches online slot.

The first bonus feature you are likely to encounter in the Ascension: Rise to Riches slot is the Epic Strike Scatter jackpot bonus. This is basically a reskin of the Scatter Pay system from the 9 Masks of Fire slot. On the left-hand side of the reels, you will see the prizes on offer for landing different numbers of Scatters. The highest prize in the game is 2,000x your stake and is rewarded for landing 9 Scatter symbols on the reels.

The other main bonus in the game is the Free Spins Round. This is triggered by landing three or more of the free spins Scatters, which appear on reels 2, 3, and 4. This will reward you with one free spin of the Bonus Wheel. The Bonus Wheel will reward between 10 and 30 free spins, as well as 2x or 3x Multipliers that will be applied to all of your free spins. During the round, it is possible to retrigger the Free Spins Round by landing a further 3 or more Scatters. If this happens, you will be rewarded the same number of free spins that you initially won.

The highest win you can record in the Ascension: Rise to Riches slot is 2,000x your stake. This is won through the Epic Strike feature. The Ascension: Rise to Riches RTP is listed as 96.24%, and the volatility is rated as low. This is not surprising, as outside of the Scatter Pay system, there are very few opportunities to score a big win in the base game.

Ascension: Rise to Riches has some good features to offer, but on the whole, there are better alternatives out there. The Scatter Pay jackpot system is a nice touch, but when spinning the reels, you are just wondering why you aren’t playing 9 Masks of Fire. It’s certainly not a bad slot game, but there are better options available at recommended online casinos.