Every classic pokie gets remembered for one thing. With Pompeii it is geometry: the Vesuvius wild lands on reels 2 and 4 only, worth x3 and x5, and x15 when both catch the same winning way. Aristocrat built the maths around those two positions, and venue regulars have been watching them since the mid-2000s. This page covers the wilds, the free spins, the demo RTP, and the honest answer on where you can play it.
How the Vesuvius wilds work
x3 on reel 2, x5 on reel 4
The volcano never appears on reels 1, 3 or 5. When it completes a win through reel 2, that win is tripled. Through reel 4, it is multiplied by five. When a single winning way runs through both wilds at once, the two figures combine for x15 - the hit the whole game is built around.
Why players memorised the layout
Fixed positions make the game readable. You always know where help can come from, so a session becomes a wait on two known reels rather than on a random modifier. Reel 2 wins land often enough to keep things moving; the double-wild x15 way is the rare event that turns a night around.
Format, free spins and the demo RTP
5 reels, 243 ways
Pompeii runs on Aristocrat's Reel Power format - 5 reels and 243 ways instead of paylines. Symbols pay on adjacent reels from the left, whatever row they occupy, and the wild multipliers apply to those way wins.
Free spins in three tiers
Gold coins are the trigger. Land them on adjacent reels and the count sets the award: 3 coins pay 10 free spins, 4 coins pay 15, and 5 coins pay 20. The feature can retrigger.
The demo RTP, read with care
Independent game databases cite 95.45% RTP for Pompeii, and that figure belongs to the free online demo build. Land cabinets carry whatever return setting their state permits, so the machine at your local club can pay less. Our what is RTP guide explains the metric in one read.
Where you can play it
Not for cash at the sites we review
Aristocrat reserves its real-money library for regulated markets, so not one of the ten operators we rate stocks Pompeii for Australian dollars. An offshore lobby spruiking the real thing for cash is running a clone or a fake, which tells you plenty about the rest of its shelf.
Free through the Cashman Casino app
The official online home is social play: Product Madness, an Aristocrat company, names Pompeii in the Cashman Casino app description. Virtual coins only, so nothing converts to withdrawable money. Demo builds on review databases work the same way; our free pokies page explains what demo play can and cannot teach you.
Real-money pokies with the same appetite
If fixed-reel multiplier maths is the draw, Gates of Olympus is the closest match you can play for cash at our sites - its multiplier orbs stack onto wins in a way Pompeii fans tend to click with. Inside the Aristocrat family, Red Baron locks a multiplying wild to reel 3, one reel instead of two. The pokies games index lists every title we have checked, and the Aristocrat hub maps the studio's line-up and availability in full.
Frequently asked questions
Not online through the sites we cover. Aristocrat supplies its real-money games to regulated venues, not offshore casinos, so Pompeii for cash means a licensed pub, club or casino floor that holds the cabinet. Online, the choice is the free social version or a demo.
The volcano wild lands on reels 2 and 4 only. A win completed through reel 2 is tripled, a win through reel 4 is multiplied by five, and one winning way through both wilds pays x15. Reels 1, 3 and 5 never show it.
Game databases list 95.45%, and that number describes the free online demo version. Venue machines run state-configured builds with different return settings, so never read 95.45% as the payback of a specific pub or club cabinet. Check the help screen on whichever build you load.
Cashman Casino, a social-casino title that Aristocrat's Product Madness division publishes, names Pompeii in its official store description. Play uses virtual coins, so there is nothing to deposit and nothing to cash out. Several review databases also host free demo builds of the game.
Responsible gambling
Fixed wild positions make Pompeii feel readable, but a volcano on reel 2 with nothing behind it is variance, not a signal, and no reel placement changes the maths of a random game. Set a spend limit before your first spin and stop when it stops being fun. Free, confidential support is available from Gambling Help Online on 1800 858 858. Pompeii is for players aged 18+.