Introduction to Lord Merlin and the Lady of the Lake
Lord Merlin and the Lady of the Lake is a 5x3, 10-payline slot from Play'n GO built around Arthurian legends and a familiar expanding symbol idea. I found it pretty easy to get into, mate. The big hook is in the bonus, where a random paying symbol can expand across reels, and that gives the game a decent bit more life than the plain base setup.
Visually, it leans hard into a quiet lake, forest, vines and proper mystical vibes, with Merlin and the Lady doing most of the heavy lifting. I like the mood here. The soundtrack sounds mournful and a bit eerie, which suits the theme well, even if the overall structure stays quite classic.
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Gameplay is straightforward. You play on 5 reels and 3 rows with 10 paylines, and bets run from 0.10 to 100. The RTP is 96.20%, though lower versions exist, and volatility is medium-high. Fair enough if you want a session with some quieter stretches, but the base game can drag a bit before the good stuff turns up.
Symbols are split into low and high payers. The low lot are 10, J, Q, K and A, paying 10x to 15x the bet for five on a line. Premium symbols are a shield, wizard's hat, magic staff and Merlin, with five of a kind paying from 75x up to 1,000x. Wild is the Lady framed by vines, and Scatter is Excalibur.
Symbol Payouts
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
3, 4 or 5 Scatters anywhere trigger 8 Free Spins and pay 1x, 10x or 100x the bet. During the feature, Scatters also count as Wilds. On every free spin, one random paying symbol is picked as the expanding symbol. If it lands on enough reels for a win, it expands to cover the full reels where it appears, and it pays across all 10 paylines even without the usual left-to-right, adjacent reel rule.
Extra Excalibur Spins kick in if 2 or more Wild Scatters land during free spins. You get as many of those spins as the number of triggering symbols, and the selected expanding symbol from that spin stays locked in place for the whole Excalibur bit. If 2 or more Wild Scatters land again, you get more, and re-triggers are unlimited, which is where the proper potential comes from.
Any regular win can also go into the Gamble Feature. You either pick red or black to double the win, or one of four suits to try for 4x. You can do that up to five times in a row, with a cap of 250x the bet. Nice enough if you like a cheeky risk, though I usually just collect.
Bonus Buy Options
3, 4, or 5 Scatters trigger 8 free spins and pay 1x, 10x, or 100x the bet. During the round, Scatters also work as Wilds, and one random paying symbol per spin becomes an expanding symbol.
Landing 2 or more Wild Scatters during free spins awards Excalibur Spins equal to the number of triggering symbols. The expanding symbol from the triggering spin stays locked, and unlimited re-triggers are possible.
After any win, you can gamble on red or black to double it, or pick one of four suits to quadruple it. You can gamble up to 5 times in a row, with a cap of 250x the bet.
