Rise of Merlin review
Play’n GO released Rise of Merlin on 17 June 2019; it tells the story of a young Merlin long before he became an Arthurian legend. The setting is a grand castle hall, and Merlin’s key tool is his Magical Orb. Its grid is 5×3 with up to 10 paylines. Mechanically it’s a book-style slot in the Book of Dead mould, with one important upgrade: retriggering the bonus adds more expanding symbols, so a long round can have several working at once. Half a year later the studio reused the exact formula for an Egyptian game, which says a lot about how well it worked.
The castle, coins and active lines
A gold frame holds the reels in the middle of a hall of heavy arches and pillars, with old patterns and inscriptions on the walls. The developer stresses the soft pastel palette, meant to be easy on the eyes, and the specks of magical dust drifting up behind the reels. This Merlin is young; the story has him just starting to build his reputation, conjuring potions in his tower.
Card ranks 10 to A with a slightly mystical finish fill the bottom of the paytable, while an owl, two dragons and Merlin himself pay more. No separate Wild exists. The orb covers that job and doubles as the scatter.
Unlike most current slots, lines can be switched off. Anywhere from 1 to 10 can be active, always switched on in numerical order. Each line takes 1 to 5 coins, and a coin is worth €0.01 to €2. That produces the unusually wide range: the 0.01 minimum is one coin on one line, while the 100 maximum is five €2 coins on all ten lines.
Expansions pay only active lines. One line reduces spin cost and the number of paid lines but is a valid mode. With all ten active the minimum is 0.10; for a fixed line count, the same total can be assembled using different coin counts and values. The table below expresses total-stake multiples specifically at ten lines.
Wins pay from left to right. Premiums and the orb already pay for a pair, while cards need at least three. Figures from rules sheet GRS1477, expressed as stakes at ten lines.
| Symbol | 5 on a line | 4 | 3 | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orb (Wild) | 500x | 100x | 10x | 1x |
| Merlin | 500x | 100x | 10x | 1x |
| Third premium | 160x | 30x | 3x | 0.5x |
| Other two premiums | 60x | 8x | 2x | 0.5x |
| A, K | 12x | 3x | 0.5x | — |
| Q, J, 10 | 8x | 2x | 0.5x | — |
The orb substitutes for any regular symbol on the lines, and five on a line pay the same as five Merlins. It also acts as the scatter: three or more anywhere pay a prize based on how many landed and start the bonus. One orb can therefore complete a line and count towards the trigger at the same time.
Orb count changes only the scatter prize, not the spin count, so three and five both give the same 8 free spins. Five orbs on a single line would additionally pay as five Wilds, worth 500x before the bonus even starts.
Expansion and additional special symbols
Eight free spins follow when three or more orbs land. Before the first one, the game picks a regular symbol (never the orb) at random to act as the special expanding symbol. What it needs depends on its tier: a premium expands from two copies on the reels, a card needs at least three.
Ordinary lines are paid first. The selected symbol then fills reels containing it and pays again on all active lines without adjacency: reels 1, 3 and 5 qualify like 1, 2 and 3. The threshold counts different reels rather than several copies on one. With ten active lines, three expanded Merlins pay 100x and five pay 5,000x; this is payout arithmetic rather than a promised bonus result.
Three orbs during free spins retrigger the round: 8 more spins plus an additional special symbol. The previous one stays, so after one retrigger two symbols can expand, after two there are three. Free spins can’t be purchased, so orbs are the only way in. Retriggers have no limit, and with nine regular symbols in the game, the studio notes that all nine can end up expanding.
The orb cannot become an expanding symbol. Retriggers are unlimited, while nine regular symbol types are available. An expansion threshold and a premium’s higher value do not establish its occurrence rate: expansion probabilities for cards and Merlin cannot be compared without weights. There is no separate accumulating multiplier.
Builds, the card gamble and related releases
RTP builds are 96.58%, 94.51%, 91.51%, 87.56% or 84.55%. The first lists a hit once per 3.22 spins, about 31%; this includes any amount rather than only profit. Bonus frequency is unknown. The rules sheet rates volatility 10/10 Very High, while the studio card gives 8/10 High. Maximum is 5,000x, estimated less often than once per 8,771,930 spins; early bonus termination at the cap is unspecified.
A card gamble may follow ordinary wins if the operator enables it: correct colour doubles the amount, correct suit quadruples it, and an error loses the entire staked win. It is unavailable in free spins. It risks an already awarded amount and does not affect expanding-symbol selection or bonus entry.
Book of Dead from January 2016 starts with ten free spins and adds ten on a retrigger, retaining one special symbol (96.21% RTP). Legacy of Dead from January 2020 moves Merlin’s mechanics and maths to Egypt. Lord Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, released 28 January 2021, gives eight free spins, 96.20% RTP and a 10,000x limit: Excalibur triggers the bonus, a symbol is selected each spin, and two more swords open nested spins with a locked symbol.
Rise of Dead arrived two months after Merlin: a stacked-symbol game sharing 2018’s Gold King maths. Similar titles do not imply shared bonus mechanics.
