The Green Knight Oath of Thorns: Slot Overview
In many situations, loyalty is a highly desirable trait, and in online gambling, when some developers get their hooks into something, they clutch onto that thing with unswerving allegiance. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but software provider Play'n GO has, for example, shown an impressive tendency to follow up a good idea with sequels and remakes. Case in point is The Green Knight, released in 2021 as a relative of The Sword and The Grail, followed up in 2023 with Return of the Green Knight along with The Sword and the Grail Excalibur in 2024 - and here we are in 2025, about to embark upon The Green Knight Oath of Thorns. As before, lines of wild multipliers are what you want to encounter, as well as a free spins within free spins feature.
Play'n GO's talent for producing the grandeur of ancient stories such as the Arthurian Legends or the Green Knight tale on the reels is immediately apparent. The studio has a lot of experience making these sorts of slots, and The Green Knight Oath of Thorns is another handsome example. The base game is set in a natural spot of trees and greenery, while across the lake, partly visible through the gaming grid, is what is presumably Camelot perched on a hill. It's hearty stuff, and if playing a slot should feel like pulling on a pair of spiked gauntlets to do battle with the forces of evil, then thematically, The Green Knight Oath of Thorns is right up there.
Sturdy is one way of describing The Green Knight Oath of Thorns' math model, which is highly volatile and puts out a maximum RTP of 96.27%. There is one way to play the game, and that is choosing a stake of 10 c to $/€100 and battering the spin button. Each spin lands 15 symbols on a 5x3 grid where there are 20 paylines evaluating winning combinations of 3 to 5 OAK.
Bits of coloured stone with 10-A on them are the low-pay symbols, awarding 2x to 4x the bet for a 5-of-a-kind winning combination. Up from them are four character symbols paying players 7.5x to 25x the bet for 5 OAK. When wilds are on the reels, they are able to replace any regular paying symbol and are worth up to 100x for a five-wild symbol-only win.
The Green Knight Oath of Thorns: Slot Features
The prickly part of The Green Knight Oath of Thorns refers to Thorn Spins, which can trigger while free spins are active. Other features are a Sword Meter and wild multipliers.
Sword Meter
The Sword Meter can apply multipliers to all wilds that land on any spin. The possible multiplier values are x2, x5, x10, x25, and x100. If a multiplier wild is part of a win, it multiplies the win by the value shown on the wild and the Sword Meter at the top of the reels. Wild wins with a multiplier are not cumulative on the same payline.
Free Spins
Hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatters in the base game awards 5 free spins, along with a payout of 2.5x, 5x, or 100x the bet, respectively. In free spins, all wilds that land are multiplier wilds. The Sword Meter progressively increases its multiplier on each spin, starting from x2 and going up to the maximum of x100.
Thorn Spins
Landing 2 or more scatters during free spins awards their respective payout, plus 5 Thorn Spins are triggered. Thorn Spins are played with the current Sword Meter value locked in, and they land 2 to 3 guaranteed wilds per spin. Additional multiplier wilds cannot land, nor do scatters. When Thorn Spins finish, free spins continue if there are any remaining.
The Green Knight Oath of Thorns: Slot Verdict
The Green Knight Oath of Thorns is a solid example of this style of uncomplicated, punchy gaming, but a feeling of diminishing returns did creep in as we ploughed through the third Green Knight slot in the series. The good news is the game retains the attractive looks and a beefy simplicity these slots have exhibited in the past, and those warm to previous Green Knight releases should be able to effortlessly slip into The Green Knight Oath of Thorns to explore its familiar features and the requisite twist.
The not-so-good news is The Green Knight Oath of Thorns did come across as more of the same, with very little in the way of major surprises. A lot has happened with online gambling since 2021, and The Green Knight Oath of Thorns did have a slightly dated feel. As in the past, wild multipliers kick start excitement when they appear in the base game, while the bonus round is a cocktail of rising multiplier value and, if lucky, triggering free spins within free spins. It's a strong mix, but the third time around, though fine, was not exactly the charm, as the saying goes. Admittedly, The Green Knight Oath of Thorns has a twist, and that is guaranteed multiplier wilds on each Thorn Spin with the current multiplier level. To be fair, this is quite an enticing idea which should get the attention of Green Knight fans.
What's not so enticing is that while the max win is a respectable 14,000x, The Green Knight Oath of Thorns has by far and away the worst max win probability of the three. Where part one had around a 1 in 55m chance, part two approximately 1 in 333 million, The Green Knight Oath of Thorns falls back to 1 in a billion, and that stat alone might be compelling enough to encourage some gamblers to stick with the previous slots. As it stands, The Green Knight Oath of Thorns is a fine example of a style of gaming Play'n GO excels at making, but due to the passage of time and repetition, it failed to make as great an impact as its siblings have done.
The Green Knight Oath of Thorns offers solid gameplay and familiar features, but its lack of major innovation and progress make it less impactful than its predecessors.
