Rise of Merlin is a Play'n GO book-style slot based on the Arthurian wizard. It uses five reels, three rows and ten paylines, with a crystal ball that acts as wild and scatter. The free spins round adds an expanding symbol, and retriggers can add more, which gives the bonus more room to grow than a standard book slot. It suits players who like the book format with a fantasy theme.
How does Rise of Merlin work?
You play on a 5x3 grid with ten paylines. The Magical Orb symbol substitutes for other symbols and also triggers the bonus when three or more land.
Low wins come from card royals, while Merlin, the dragon and other magic-themed symbols pay more. Bets start around 0.01 per line and go up to 100 per spin.
The game uses a gamble option after base game wins in some versions, letting you guess a card colour or suit. It is optional, and it raises risk without changing the long-term RTP in your favour.
What are the Rise of Merlin bonus features?
Three or more Magical Orb scatters award 8 free spins. One symbol is selected to expand during the round, covering its reels whenever it forms a win, even on non-adjacent reels.
Retriggering the round adds more spins and an additional expanding symbol, so long bonus rounds can have several symbols expanding together.
The best results, up to 5,000x your stake, come from a high-paying symbol expanding across all five reels.
Because the bonus can add expanding symbols on retrigger, a long round is where the big wins come from. A short round with a low-paying symbol may return only a modest amount.
Is Rise of Merlin worth playing? RTP and volatility explained
The default RTP is 96.58%, with lower settings such as 94.51% available to operators. Volatility is high, and some reviewers rate it very high.
Rise of Merlin is a sound choice if you already like Book of Dead and want a bonus that can stack expanding symbols. The base game alone pays modestly.
An RTP of 96.58% is a long-run average over millions of spins: in theory the game keeps about 3.42 of every 100 units wagered. It does not predict a single session. High volatility means long runs of small or no wins are normal, and a large share of the total return is packed into rare feature rounds.
Tips before you play Rise of Merlin
- Open the paytable or game rules before your first spin and check the RTP figure shown there, because Play'n GO offers several RTP settings and the casino picks one.
- Keep all paylines active so expanding symbols pay on every line.
- Plan for long gaps between bonus rounds and set a firm stop-loss.
- Use the demo to see how retriggers add expanding symbols.