5 Lions Megaways — RTP, volatility and max win

5 Lions Megaways by Pragmatic Play brings China's lucky symbols to the reels: lucky lions, dragons, a phoenix, the fortune frog and golden yuan bao ingots against a deep blue and violet backdrop. Winning symbols vanish after every hit to make room for new ones, and before the free spins you choose how many rounds you play and with which multiplier.

The theme is all about Asian good-luck charms: the five lions from the title, dragons and a phoenix as mythical creatures, the fortune frog and gold ingots standing for wealth. The lions roam a 7×8×8×8×8×7 grid, six reels holding up to seven or eight symbols, with 200,704 ways. A spin is priced from €0.20 to €125. Pragmatic Play released 5 Lions Megaways on June 14, 2021 as the follow-up to the original lions slot, now with shifting reel heights.

5 Lions Megaways pays on ways rather than fixed lines: a symbol has to repeat reel after reel starting at the left edge, in any row. Because the number of symbols per reel changes on every spin, the number of ways changes too, up to a maximum of 200,704 ways. After each win the cascade kicks in: winning symbols disappear, new ones drop in from above, and as long as new wins form the chain keeps going within the same spin. The bet you pick, €0.20 to €125, sets how much each combination pays.

Scatters open the bonus. Before it begins you pick a mode: more spins come with smaller multipliers, fewer spins with bigger ones. The free spins multipliers apply to the round's wins and get extra value from the cascades, since one chain can deliver several wins in a row. The wild fills in missing symbols on the ways.

The bonus bet raises your stake per spin so scatters land more often and the free spins trigger more frequently. Skipping the wait is possible too: the bonus buy opens the free spins immediately.

Since every win in 5 Lions Megaways sets off a cascade that can keep running within the same spin, it is worth setting against other inferno slots with cascading reels.

RTP 95.5%. Background: how RTP works on a slot. Volatility High, like 192 of the 399 Inferno slots. Background: what slot volatility means. Max win 5,000× (€625,000 at the highest stake). Background: what max win means on a slot.

The 5,000× biggest prize outdoes about 51% of the catalogue, and the volatility is high: the big payouts mostly come when long cascade chains meet the free spins multipliers.

Because Pragmatic Play publishes an RTP range for 5 Lions Megaways and the game sits in the lower part of the catalogue, a look at RTP of inferno slots is useful.

The table lists the original lions slot and its sequel. Both share the theme, the provider and high volatility, and their RTP figures are almost level. The difference lies in the mechanics: the sequel changes the number of symbols per reel on every spin, adds cascades and sets a clearly higher max win than the original.

If you want to see how 5 Lions Megaways differs from the original lions slot, both titles are in the 5 Lions slot family.

Close to 5 Lions Megaways: picks with a high-volatility profile plus a very similar RTP.