Lord Merlin and the Lady of the Lake slot review

By Playn GO

Lord Merlin and the Lady of the Lake Basic info

Game provider Playn GO

Release Date 1/2021

RTP 96.20%

Game Technology HTML5

Popularity Medium

Min bet $0.10

Max bet $50

Max Win bet x 10000

Gamble Feature Max. win, Freespins, Re-spins, Scatter symbols, Stacked symbols

Layout 5x3

Devices Support all devices

Configurable Winlines No

Volatility High

Progressive Jackpot No

Lord Merlin And The Lady Of The Lake focuses on a specific part of the King Arthur legend, bringing to life the meeting between the famous wizard and the lady that grants Arthur the sword Excalibur. The game features free spins, re-spins and stacked symbols.

Released by studio Play ‘n GO in 2021, this game is one of the latest slots to show off the producer’s abilities. The use of a popular medieval theme is spiced up by depending on the popular legend, although I feel they could have done a little more when it comes to the symbols. In the background of the game, we can see the eponymous lake which is framed by green shores and has water lilies on the surface.

The symbols in the 5-reel, 3-row playing field are large and detailed but not terribly original. The low-paying symbols are the usual card letters that are made to look like they’re shaped out of wood, which I did like, but don’t fit the theme at all. The high-paying symbols are different items and characters from the lore, which become animated when part of a win. In total, players can get a win by hitting one of 10 paylines.

Lord Merlin And The Lady Of The Lake slot win combination

Symbols

Lord Merlin And The Lady Of The Lake has High Volatility as the game has a large number of symbols as well as a low number of paylines. The features that are present in the game do help in creating big wins, but none of them are very common and only grant big wins on occasion.

Players should take care of placing bets that are too high, but the game allows them to pick a bet between $0.10 and $50 per spin. The max. win of 10,000x your bet is actually quite good but considering the difficulty I had getting any wins I would not hold out for it.

The symbols include:

  • Scatter: Get 3 or more Scatters to activate the free spins mode. Max. 10,000x your bet with five scatters on the screen at the same time.
  • Wild: Max. 10,000x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line. Substitutes all regular symbols in the game except the Scatter symbol.
  • Merlin: Max. 10,000x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
  • Staff: Max. 2,000x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
  • Hat: Max. 750x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
  • Crest: Max. 750x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
  • Ace: Max. 150x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
  • King: Max. 150x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
  • Queen: Max. 100x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
  • Jack: Max. 100x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.
  • 10: Max. 100x your bet with five-of-a-kind on a win line.

As you can tell, the payouts for full win lines are very high but that means that the game is not very forthcoming with these. Getting a smaller win is really underwhelming and three-of-a-kind wins will rarely pay back a single spin. Players should not expect any big wins on a regular basis.

Features

Lord Merlin And The Lady Of The Lake has a few features that slightly change the gameplay in different ways to make it a bit easier for players to get bigger wins. None of these are very common, especially considering the extremely large payouts if a player would ever get five-of-a-kind on any high-paying symbol.

  • Wilds: Wilds substitute all regular symbols in the game.
  • Re-Spins: Get 2 or more Wild Scatters on the screen to trigger Excalibur Spins, 1 spin for each Wild Scatter.
  • Free Spins: Get 3 or more Scatter symbols on the screen to activate the free spins mode with 8 free spins.
  • Random Symbol: During the free spins mode, a random symbol is chosen. If that symbol appears on the screen it will expand to fill the reel.

Lord Merlin And The Lady Of The Lake slot wild feature

Getting any of the features to appear at all is already a big accomplishment, as most of the time players will find themselves without much happening for multiple spins. Occasionally a Scatter might show up but since you will need at least 3 to activate the free spins mode, this is pretty meaningless. Similarly, Wilds are extremely rare and almost feel like they’re not a part of the game at all.

Players will usually get wins from normal symbols appearing on a win line, without any aid from a feature. This makes the features feel pretty useless and the whole game rather bland. They do occasionally appear of course, but even then their effectiveness can’t be assumed.

The most likely feature to activate for me was the Wild, but even so, wins were not guaranteed. This is normal in other slots too but then it is compensated by having them show up more regularly. Since Wilds are so rare in this game already, having them appear without helping at all makes it frustrating.

Free Spins were also possible to activate, even if it took more than a hundred spins to do it in my case. The player receives 8 free spins with the opportunity to re-trigger additional ones. However, this all seems extremely unlikely as Scatters in the free spins mode are just as rare as in the base game.

Conclusion

Lord Merlin And The Lady Of The Lake is a pretty-looking slot that still manages to appear very bland. The graphics are well-done and I liked the animations that played when symbols were part of a win but it was not enough to keep me interested.

What could have helped would be the features but these are extremely rare to the point where they barely feel like part of the game. Players will immediately sense the features are important in helping get any big wins but due to their rarity the volatility spikes through the roof. During my time playing, I only saw a steady decline in my funds.

Players who enjoy a standard slot and occasionally being surprised by a feature activating might get something out of this game, but the people that prefer something a bit more involved and forthcoming with bigger wins might want to look elsewhere.

Leticia Miranda

Leticia Miranda

Slot Games Analyst

Leticia Miranda is a former gambling reporter who knows everything about slot games and is happy to share her knowledge. She has covered a broad swath of topics and trends on gambling and is always full of new ideas and energy. Leticia also has a master’s degree in journalism from New York University and is passionate about writing.