Rise Of Merlin

Rise of Merlin is a 5-reel, 10-payline slot from Play'n GO that draws on Arthurian legend, casting you as an observer of Merlin the sorcerer at the height of his power. Released in June 2019, the game follows the "book of" template where a single symbol serves as both wild and scatter, unlocking free spins with expanding symbols that can cover entire reels. With an RTP of 96.58% and high volatility rated 10 out of 10, Rise of Merlin aims squarely at players chasing large wins through its free spins mechanic rather than steady base game returns.

Theme and Visual Design

The game places Merlin inside what appears to be a grand hall or study, framed by stone arches and lit by candlelight. The colour palette is heavy on deep purples, blues and golds, giving it a dark fantasy atmosphere without straying into horror territory. The reels sit centrally against this backdrop, and the animations are restrained by modern standards. Wins trigger subtle lighting effects rather than elaborate cutscenes, which keeps the pace moving.

The symbol set splits into two tiers. Low-value positions are filled by playing card values from 10 through Ace, rendered in a medieval script style. The premium symbols are an owl, a red dragon, a blue dragon and Merlin himself. Merlin is the highest-paying regular symbol, awarding 500x your stake for five across a payline. The crystal orb acts as the wild and scatter combined, central to every meaningful feature in the game.

How the Crystal Orb Works

The crystal orb is the defining symbol in Rise of Merlin. It substitutes for all other symbols to complete winning combinations, functioning as a standard wild. Simultaneously, it acts as the scatter that triggers the free spins round. Three or more crystal orbs landing anywhere on the reels in a single spin award eight free spins.

This dual-purpose design is borrowed from the "book of" slot template popularised by games like Book of Dead and Legacy of Egypt. The mechanic means there is no separate scatter symbol cluttering the paytable. Every crystal orb that appears contributes to both line wins and scatter counts, making it the most valuable symbol on every spin regardless of where it lands.

Free Spins and Expanding Symbols

When three or more crystal orbs trigger the free spins round, the game randomly selects one symbol from the paytable to become the expanding symbol for that entire session. If the chosen symbol appears on a reel during a free spin, it expands to fill all three rows of that reel before wins are calculated. This means the expanding symbol effectively pays like a scatter, counting across non-adjacent reels rather than needing to sit on consecutive paylines.

The real power comes from retriggering. Landing three or more crystal orbs during free spins awards an additional eight spins and selects a second expanding symbol. Each subsequent retrigger adds yet another expanding symbol to the active set. In theory, you could accumulate up to nine different expanding symbols simultaneously, though the probability drops sharply with each retrigger.

The maximum win of 5,000x your total stake comes from stacking multiple expanding symbols across the reels during a prolonged free spins session. Even two or three expanding symbols running at once can produce runs of consecutive winning spins, since expanded symbols cover entire reels and pay across all ten lines.

Base Game and Gamble Feature

Outside of free spins, the base game is straightforward. Ten paylines run left to right across a 5x3 grid. The paylines are adjustable, though reducing them lowers both your bet and your chances of hitting the scatter trigger. Most players keep all ten active.

Bet sizes range from 0.10 to 100 per spin, giving a wide spread for different bankroll sizes. At high volatility, dry spells in the base game are common and expected. The game's maths model concentrates its return into the free spins round rather than distributing it evenly across base game wins.

There is also a gamble feature available after any base game win. You can risk your winnings on a card colour guess (red or black for a double) or a suit guess (for a quadruple). This is entirely optional and doesn't affect the game's RTP. Players focused on building towards free spins tend to skip it, since gambling away a win that could fund more spins is counterproductive at this volatility level.

How Rise of Merlin Compares

Rise of Merlin sits within Play'n GO's growing library of "book of" style slots. The studio has several entries in this format, each with a different theme but the same core expanding symbol mechanic. Compared to something like Fire Joker, which is a simpler three-reel game, Rise of Merlin offers more feature depth. Against Reactoonz, which uses cluster pays and cascading wins, it represents a more traditional approach with fixed paylines and standard reel spins.

The 5,000x maximum win is respectable but not extreme by current standards. Some newer high-volatility slots push into 10,000x or beyond, but Rise of Merlin compensates with a relatively generous base RTP and the cumulative retrigger mechanic that gives each free spins session genuine escalation potential. Super Flip offers a different Play'n GO experience with its multiplier-driven features if you prefer that style.

For a fuller look at what Play'n GO offers across their catalogue, the Play'n GO software page covers the studio's full range, from simple classic-style games through to their more complex grid-based releases.

Technical Specifications

Rise of Merlin is built in HTML5 and runs natively on desktop browsers, iOS and Android devices. The game adapts to both portrait and landscape orientation on mobile, with the interface scaling to fit smaller screens without losing readability. Load times are quick, and the game does not require any additional software or plugins beyond a modern web browser.

The RTP of 96.58% applies to the default configuration, but operators can select from alternative RTP settings of 94.51%, 91.51%, 87.56% or 84.55%. Which version a particular casino runs is not always disclosed in the game itself, so checking with the operator directly is the most reliable way to confirm.