Merlin’s Mania

Merlin's Mania: Slot Overview

Merlin is one of those mythical chaps who regularly pops in and out of the slot scene. Provider Play'n GO is one studio that has made particularly extensive use of the magical fellow in several of its slots as part of its love affair with all things Arthurian. Another casino game maker emerging from the shadows with a soft spot for the magician is Hacksaw Gaming partner Bullshark Games. The team already placed the wizard in Merlin's Alchemy not so long back and has since wheeled him out again for round two in a slot titled Merlin's Mania.

Fire up a Merlin game, and one can expect a touch of magic. If not on the reels, then at least thematically. In Merlin's Mania, magic abounds in a dark, candle-lit room, where Merlin stands with a book in one hand and a potion bottle in the other beside the gaming grid. This time, he's pulled a hood over his head, alluding to a deeper mystery perhaps, though when digging in, much of the features to be found here have been brought over from Merlin's Alchemy.

Merlin's Mania is played on a 6x5 grid where scatter pays rule the day, and cascades abound. This means winning combinations are created on the board when 8 or more of the same pay symbol are in view in any position. Winning symbols are removed from the grid and the holes they leave behind are filled by cascading symbols. Cascades repeat like this until no new win appears. While this is going on, a medium volatile math model chugs away behind the board. Up front, players can pick a stake of 10 c to $/€100 and get a 96.31% RTP at default level.

Merlin's Mania's lower value symbols are 10-A card ranks, while the higher pays are potion bottles, some sort of powder(?), pouches, books, and cauldrons. Winning combinations of 8 OAK pay players 0.4 to 2 times their bet, while the greatest wins of 19+ OAK are worth 50 to 400 times their bet. Wild symbols help complete or improve wins by substituting for any regular pay symbol. Wilds are removed from the reels after participating in a win and have the same value as the highest-paying symbol if the grid has only wilds.

Merlin's Mania: Slot Features

What Merlin cooks up in this game are Mystery symbols, various special symbols, a Global Multiplier, Wizard's Favor bonus round, Merlin's Insanity bonus round, and bonus buys.

Mystery Symbols

On each spin, 2 to 30 Mystery symbols may land. During the base game, these symbols may be revealed:

• Any of the paying symbols.
• Adder Wild symbol - increases the Global Multiplier by 1 to 100 before calculating wins. It replaces any paying symbols and is removed from the reels after participating in a win.
• Activator Wild symbol - applies the Global Multiplier to wins it is part of and substitutes for any pay symbol. If more than 1 Activator Wild or Sticky Activator Wild is in view, each applies the Global Multiplier, and their values are added together. Activator Wilds are removed after participating in a win.
• Regular Wild.

In free spins, Mystery symbols may also reveal Sticky Activator Wilds. These are the same as Activator Wilds, except they stay in place until the end of the free spins round.

Global Multiplier

The Global Multiplier has a default value of x1. The Global Multiplier resets for each new spin in the base game but is progressive until the end of free spins.

Wizard's Favor

Getting 3 scatter symbols starts the Wizard's Favor feature with 8 free spins. The Global Multiplier starts at x1 and increases progressively till the end of the round. Each scatter symbol landing in the feature awards +1 extra free spin.

Merlin's Insanity

Getting 4 scatter symbols starts the Merlin's Insanity round with 10 free spins. In this bonus, the Global Multiplier starts at x5 and increases progressively till the bonus ends. Each scatter symbol landing in the feature awards +1 extra free spin.

Bonus Buys

Players can trigger features and free spins from the bonus buy section with these four options: BonusHunt FeatureSpins (3x the bet) - Each spin is 5 times more likely to trigger free spins, Mystery Madness FeatureSpins (40x the bet) - Each spin guarantees at least 6 mystery symbols, including 1 Activator Wild and 1 Adder Wild, Wizard's Favor Bonus (100x the bet), or Merlin's Insanity Bonus (200x the bet).

Merlin's Mania: Slot Verdict

The peculiar thing about Merlin's Mania is that it was not hugely different from Merlin's Alchemy. The same general flow applies - land scatter wins, trigger cascades, and hit mystery symbols to release wilds, activate the global multiplier, and grow it. Any aspiring acolyte who was hoping to see a wider gulf between Merlin's Mania and Merlin's Alchemy or a significant switch-up in features is likely to be sorely disappointed. That's not to say that what players will find here is hackneyed illusions, though. Merlin's Mania, like its fantastical forebear, is able to pull off impressive tricks with the gaming devices it possesses.

One thing to acknowledge is the variety of wild symbols Merlin's Mania drops on the reels. A lot of scatter-paying slots steer away from any sort of wild shenanigans, but this is a slot that ploughs right into them, whether they're regular, Activator, or Adder. Naturally, Adders and Activators are the more exciting wilds since they bring the all-important global multiplier into the mix.

One change in Merlin's Manis is that values are only added to the global multiplier in Merlin's Mania, whereas Merlin's Alchemy had both adding values and multiplier values. However, this game does have a second, higher bonus round where the multiplier starts on x5, as well as higher winning potential of 12,000x the bet. Merlin's Mania goes to show that evolution can inch along in dribs and drabs as well as speed away in explosive transformations. Ultimately, it is a playable scatter wins slot but one which might be a tad too samey to get really excited about.