King Arthur's pal, the mysterious wizard Merlin conjures his way onto the reels once again, courtesy of developer Pragmatic Play in the online slot Power of Merlin Megaways. Popular in literature, tv, movies, and of course, online gambling, the mere mention of the name Merlin is enough to evoke images of magic, fantasy, and deep lore. At least these are some of the words that swirled around while reviewing Power of Merlin Megaways, while its more concrete gaming elements include tumbles, Lighting Bolt wild transformations, and free spins with an increasing win multiplier.
Power of Merlin Megaways thickens the esoteric atmosphere by plunging players into a dense, mossy woodland area, a place where you can almost cut the magic in the air with a sharp knife. We're talking about a place that looks like it hosted civilization once but has long since evaporated and been forgotten about, then reclaimed by nature. Forgotten by all except perhaps Merlin, whose wisdom has led to the location's rediscovery. Perhaps we've been swept away by Power of Merlin Megaways, which sets up a pretty neat scene for players who appreciate an arcane angle on life, and like the idea of rubbing shoulders with one of the most famous wizards in a natural environment. Moving on…
>Next on the agenda is the decidedly non-arcane facts and figures. Here we come across Power of Merlin Megaways' highly volatile math model and its three RTP models - 96.09% being the preferred one. Users pick a stake of 20 p/c to $/€100, and when hitting the spin button, 2 to 7 symbols land on each of the 6 reels (including the top 4 cell row). This means ways to win may vary as well from spin to spin, reaching a maximum of 117,649 when all reels are filled to capacity.
When winning combinations are formed, the constituent symbols disappear from the grid and are replaced with symbols left on the reel strips by the tumbling mechanic. If a new win forms after a symbol tumble, another tumble will trigger. At the end of a tumble sequence, the total winning amount is awarded. The reward for hitting a one-off 6 OAK win comes out at 0.6 to 1.5 times the bet when made up of the low pay 9 to A royals, or 2 to 20 times the bet for the high pay potion bottle, staff, owl, or Merlin symbol. Helping players do so is the red orb wild which is able to substitute any regular pay symbol. Wilds land on all but the leftmost reel.
>Merlin is famous for his wisdom and the ability to come up with good ideas. Power of Merlin Megaways possesses a few good ideas as well. Not many original ideas, but good ones all the same.
One of these ideas is the Lightning Bolt symbol. When a Lightning Bolt lands on the tracker reel at the top, it randomly picks one of the pay symbol types. Then all instances of the chosen symbol type on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5 transform into wilds. If the Lightning Bolt changes position as a result of a tumble, its effect triggers again.
The flaming book symbol is Power of Merlin Megaways' scatter, and it may land on any reel. When 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 scatters are in view, they award 10, 14, 18, 22, 26, or 30 free spins. Next, players are given a chance to gamble on a prize wheel for the chance to increase their allotted number of free spins. Successful gambles award extra spins (up to 30); failed gambles lose the lot. It's easy to get tilted on the wheel, so make sure you're able to walk away if needed. Now, during free spins, a win multiplier of x1 is conjured up. Following winning tumbles, the win multiplier increases by 1 and does not reset until the round comes to an end. Lightning Bolts are available in the bonus round, and landing at least 3 scatter symbols awards +4 free spins.
By clicking the bonus buy button, players may buy the bonus round for 150 times the bet. The highest RTP when doing so is 96.08%
>Power of Merlin Megaways is a good game, no doubt, but it might have been better if we hadn't seen this sort of thing multiple times in the past. We're not just talking about the Merlin and magic theme, which is numerous enough in its own right. No, Power of Merlin Megaways' gameplay is very close to other Pragmatic Play slots we've played, like Power of Thor Megaways, Spin & Score Megaways, Legend of Heroes Megaways, or Lucky Fishing Megaways. All are very close in the gaming department, relying on a wild transformation system in both phases of play, as well as free spins with a rising win multiplier, which on its own is an uber-common Megaways feature.
One way Power of Merlin Megaways spins off from its predecessors is its method of pay symbol to wild transformation. So far, the others have generally had a special top reel wild, like a Fishing Boat or whatever, which, when it lands, changes all symbols below it wild – no random symbol selection required. Power of Merlin Megaways is different, being both more specific with its symbol choice and more scattershot in its transformation distribution. Instead of the reels below the triggering symbol getting the transformation treatment, any of the middle four reels do, provided they are of the chosen type of course. Another way Power of Merlin Megaways deviates wildly from those that came before it is when it comes to the all-important max win figure. Perhaps it really is the power of Merlin; perhaps Power of Merlin Megaways is a personal pet project for someone on a high pay grade at Pragmatic play? Whatever the case, Power of Merlin Megaways makes all those that came before it seem small with its 40,000x the bet max win, and this is where the main selling point lies.
As always, impressive numbers aren't the be-all and end-all of an online slot, but they can be quite a sweetener. The benzoic sulfimide of a game, if you will. If so, then Power of Merlin Megaways is likely to be the most alluring of these Pragmatic Play wild transformation Megaways games. Even if eye-watering potential means nothing to you, the rest of what Power of Merlin Megaways does makes it worth a look if the prior related games managed to thrill.
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