Game provider Slotmill is a fledgling software house with a short history, but the quality of its games speaks for itself in my experience. Merlin’s Fortune is another great looking title from the developer which boasts first-rate presentation and an attractive feature set, so I couldn’t wait to find out more by spinning the game myself. Merlin’s Fortune online slot has 4,096 pay ways which can be expanded up to a maximum of 262,144 by modifier or bonus game, a 96.27% RTP percentage, and a maximum win of 10,000x the players stake.
Slotmill have included their trademark fast track feature with several options including a UKGC-friendly mode, as well as their burst-mode super autoplay. The game employs “avalanche” payout mechanics (otherwise known as cascading or rolling reels) in addition to the expanding reel set, a symbol transformation mod, and a free spin-based bonus round.
Interested in playing the game for yourself? Fire up our free demo slot of Merlin’s Fortune below and enjoy all of the action on your desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
| Provider | Slotmill |
| Reels | 6 |
| Rows | 8 |
| Paylines | 262,144 |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 0.20 - 30 |
| Volatility | High |
| RTP | 96.27% |
| Our Rating | 8.1 |
Merlin’s Fortune Slot Casino Bonuses
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Merlin’s Fortune Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
The legend of Arthur and his knights of the round table has proven to be a reliable source of inspiration for dozens of movies, television shows, and video games over the past several decades. According to that legend, Merlin was a sorcerer of tremendous power who used his abilities to protect the once and future king as he fought his way through a series of extreme and dangerous challenges in a bid to prove himself worthy of the throne. It’s quite the story and has many characters who appear to be perfect protagonists for an online slot – alas, Merlin seems to get the glory more often than most!
I wasn’t expecting too much from the paytable of Merlin’s Fortune video slot considering that it is a many ways machine, but the numbers were actually a little bit higher than I had expected. Scatters and wilds have no paytable entry of their own, with highest-paying symbol honours going to the eponymous Wizard himself thanks to a return of 6x stake for a six-of-a-kind winning combination. The remainder of the high-paying symbols seem to be based around animals – the red one has a return of 3.5x for all six, whilst the green frog is set a little lower at 3x. The blue animal pays 2.5x your bet for six-of-a-kind. All these symbols can appear stacked on the reels to aid in your quest for many simultaneous winning pay ways, although the lower-paying royal symbols tend to appear in stacks much more often than their high-paying counterparts.
Slotmill have kept things sensible as far as bet limits are concerned, with the minimum bet per spin set at €0.20 and the maximum topping out at €30.00.
Base Game & Modifiers
At the beginning of your session, you can see that the playfield is set at six symbols wide by four symbols high. This arrangement gives you a total of 4,096 active pay ways before beginning to play, however the grid can expand randomly each time you hit the spin button and grow to a size of 6×5, 6×6, 6×7, or 6×8. Those configurations increase the number of pay ways to 16,625, 46,658, 117,649, or 262,144 respectively.
Avalanche Feature
This payout mechanic is given a different name by ever slot developer, but it’s nothing you haven’t seen before – the “avalanche” feature described on the paytable is simply referring to the fact that winning symbol combinations are removed from the reels immediately allowing new symbols to drop onto the screen from above. This process can repeat indefinitely provided at least one more winning combination lands on screen.
Merlin’s Expansion Feature
This is the modifier spoken about in the introduction to this section whereby the size of the playfield can expand at the beginning of any spin. Sometimes you will only get an extra row or two from this modifier, whereas other times the entire screen will become filled by a double sized reel set. You can also pay to trigger this modifier using the “fast track” feature.
Transform Modifier
A small consolation prize is awarded whenever two bonus symbols land, but you fail to catch the third one needed to trigger a free spin bonus round. All the low-paying royal symbols will be removed from the reels and replaced by a “medium-paying” gem symbol of the same colour. The transform feature stays active even after winning combinations are removed from the screen, so it is possible to win several times from a single trigger of this mod.
Merlin’s Fortune Slot Bonus Features
The base game of the Merlin’s Fortune slot game is a lot of fun, and the two modifiers do a good job of breaking up the monotony of just spinning an online slot. Let’s be honest, we are all spending most of our sessions playing these games hoping to hit the scatters or bonus rounds, and why not? This is where the biggest wins can be found, after all!
Hitting three bonus symbols will award you the minimum of 12 free spins, while four awards 14 spins, five awards 16 spins, and six will give you the maximum starting counter of 18 free spins.
Free Spins Feature
The headline feature of this bonus round is the symbol removal mechanic which is active from the moment you begin your first spin. Once 14 Jack symbols have landed on the grid you will be awarded an extra free spin and the grid will expand with an additional row, and this process then continues with the Queens, Kings, and Aces until all low-paying symbols have been removed from the reels.
I spent a considerable amount of time playing this bonus round but never managed to start with more than 12 free spins, even whilst using the bonus buy feature to skip the wait between scatters. I managed to get to the final level where you are trying to remove the Aces from the reels a few times, but never quite got there.
Fast Track Feature
Slotmill usually offers a few options in their bonus buy feature, including something that is acceptable under UKGC regulations. The options in Merlin’s Fortune are as follows:
- 80x Stake – The games RTP is increased slightly to 96.49% by using this option. Your next game round will complete with at least three bonus symbols and the free spins round will be awarded.
- 15x Stake – The games RTP is increased slightly to 96.32% in this mode as well. For 15x your bet you can guarantee yourself an expansion to between six and eight rows on the next spin. The game does not mention if a win is guaranteed in this mode, but in experience it seems to be.
- 5x Stake – Finally, for 5x your stake you can guarantee yourself a win on the next spin. This has the effect of bumping the RTP slightly to 96.34% as well.
Merlin’s Fortune Slot Review Final Thoughts
Another hit for Slotmill, these guys can’t seem to go wrong at the moment! I spent much longer than intended playing this game before writing this review and will probably go back to it later this evening. Definitely recommended!
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