Hope that a master magician can conjure up a stack of golden coins in Rise of Merlin, a 5 reel, 10 payline video slot from Play ’N Go. The highlight here is the bonus round that awards infinite free spins with special expanding symbols that can fill whole reels as well as paying scatter style. Play this high variance game on your PC, tablet or mobile from between 10p and £100 per spin.
Like many of their video slots, Play ’N Go has kept things simple here. That’s the case with the design and the features. The action takes place within the chamber of a stone castle. Joining the lower value royals are a wise old owl and 2 different dragon symbols. Master magician Merlin is the top payer, awarding 1, 10, 100 or 500 times your bet if you land 2, 3, 4 or 5 in combination.
Those same amounts are on offer from the crystal ball symbols which acts as both the wild and the scatter. Land 3 or more of the crystal ball on the same spin triggers the game’s Free Spins feature. After the payout has been made, you can look forward to 8 free spins.
Before the start of the round, 1 standard symbol is picked. This will be the special expanding symbol. When this hits during the free spins, it expands and fills the whole reel. The special expanding symbol pays scatter style during the feature so even if you matching symbols aren’t all on the same payline, you can still create a winning combo.
Landing 3 crystal balls results in a re-trigger and another round of 8 free spins. Another special expanding symbol is thrown into the mix with the re-trigger too. You can retrigger the feature to give you up to 9 special expanding symbols with an unlimited amount of free spins on offer.
Play ’N Go video slots are often volatile affairs and Rise of Merlin doesn’t disappoint on that score. This is a high risk, high reward game. You could easily see your bankroll disappear into dust. Get a high value special symbol in the free spins, especially if you add various retriggers and the action can really fly. There’s up to 5,000 times your bet to be won from every free spin.
This is just what we’ve come to expect from a Play ’N Go offering. Expect simple gameplay and volcanic volatility. If that sounds like an enticing combination, Rise of Merlin can deliver some magical action. I would also opt for Novomatic’s Book of Ra Magic which is basically the same video slot but can give you up to 9 special expanding symbols.
