King Arthur

King Arthur is a 5-reel, 3-row video slot from NextGen Gaming, released in February 2019 in partnership with BetDigital. It runs on 10 fixed paylines, carries an RTP of 95.03%, and sits in the medium volatility bracket. The theme pulls from Arthurian legend - King Arthur, Merlin, knights, and the Holy Grail fill the reels - but the mechanics are built around a random jousting modifier and an optional expanding-symbol system that sets it apart from the usual free-spins-and-wilds formula.

King Arthur Slot at a Glance

Stakes run from £0.10 to £10 per spin, making this one of NextGen's lower-ceiling games. With 10 fixed paylines and a medium volatility profile, wins arrive at a decent clip without the feast-or-famine swings of high-variance titles. The maximum single-spin payout is 500x the stake, rising to around 1,000x across a session. That ceiling is modest by modern standards, but the game was designed for consistency rather than jackpot chasing.

The symbol set features five premium characters - King Arthur, Merlin, Queen Guinevere, a knight, and the Holy Grail - alongside lower-value card-rank symbols from 9 through Ace. Stacked versions of the premium symbols appear regularly, which contributes to the game's slot-pay-first approach. Wild symbols substitute across all positions except scatter.

Random Jousting Feature

The standout mechanic is the Random Jousting feature, which can fire on any base game spin. Two mounted knights charge from opposite edges of the screen, and the outcome depends on which rows they occupy. If both knights are on the same row, they collide in the centre and scatter a batch of random wilds across the reels. If they ride on different rows, they transform a minimum of three regular symbols into wilds instead. Either outcome resets the spin with the new wilds in place before the final result is calculated.

Because it triggers randomly rather than on a specific symbol, the Jousting feature keeps base game sessions unpredictable. You cannot plan for it, but when it fires on a reel already partially stacked with premium symbols, the effect is immediate and visible. NextGen have used a similar random-modifier approach in other titles, and it works particularly well here given the combat theme.

Fortune Bet and the Table Wheel

Fortune Bet is an optional side wager that activates the Table Wheel - a spinning wheel displayed above the reels each round. The wheel selects one symbol per spin, and all matching instances of that symbol on the reels expand to fill their column and award scatter pays. Scatter pays count regardless of payline position, so a column-filling expansion from a non-adjacent reel still contributes to your total.

Activating Fortune Bet costs 2x to 10x your base stake, depending on the level you choose. At higher levels, lower-value symbols are stripped from the wheel, increasing the probability that the selected expanding symbol is a premium one. At the maximum 10x cost, only the highest-paying characters remain as candidates. That trade-off - more stake, better odds of a valuable expansion - makes Fortune Bet genuinely strategic rather than just a blanket bet-up option. Whether the expected value justifies the cost is debatable, but it changes the texture of the session noticeably.

Free Spins

Landing scatter symbols triggers the free spins feature. Three scatters awards 10 free spins, four gives 15, and five awards 20. Landing two scatters during a spin - which does not trigger the round by itself - awards five additional spins if you are already in the feature. Free spins retrigger indefinitely, so long sessions are possible if the scatters keep appearing.

During the feature, the Table Wheel continues to operate: each spin still selects an expanding symbol, which means the same scatter-pay mechanic from the Fortune Bet option applies throughout free spins without any additional cost. A grail symbol pays its base value for each stacked wild on the reels during the feature, adding an extra multiplier layer when wilds accumulate. The combination of retriggerable spins, expanding symbols, and the grail-wild interaction gives the free spins round genuine depth.

How It Compares to Other Arthurian Slots

The Arthurian slot category is well populated. Avalon and Avalon 2: Quest for the Grail from Microgaming both use the same mythology, while Play'n GO's Rise of Merlin takes a high-variance, expanding-symbol approach that shares some DNA with this game's Table Wheel. NextGen's King Arthur sits between the two in terms of variance and complexity - more feature-rich than the original Avalon, less volatile than Merlin-branded titles that aim for 5,000x+ max wins. Excalibur by NetEnt is another comparable option if you prefer lower stakes and a simpler structure.

What distinguishes NextGen's version is the Fortune Bet's scalable risk level and the Jousting feature's randomness. Most expanding-symbol games lock the expanding symbol for an entire bonus round; King Arthur re-selects it each spin, which keeps the free spins from feeling formulaic. For players who like knowing they have some control over the game's risk profile, the Fortune Bet levels offer a cleaner way to dial that in than the all-or-nothing bet-up buttons on many competing titles.

Verdict

King Arthur from NextGen Gaming is a competent medium-variance slot with a genuinely interesting core mechanic in the Fortune Bet / Table Wheel system. The 95.03% RTP is below the industry standard of 96%, and the £10 maximum stake limits it to casual and mid-range players. The random Jousting feature adds welcome unpredictability to the base game, and the free spins round - with its retriggering potential and grail-wild interaction - provides enough depth to justify extended sessions.

It is a better game than its modest stake ceiling and modest max-win suggest. If you enjoy expanding-symbol mechanics and want something with a strategic element (the Fortune Bet tiers give you genuine choices), this is worth an extended session. Check the NextGen Gaming software page for other titles from the same studio, or browse the casino reviews to find sites where it appears in the lobby.

Where to Play King Arthur

These online casinos carry NextGen Gaming games including King Arthur. Read our Lord Of The Spins review or browse all casino reviews.

King Arthur RTP and Variance

King Arthur has an RTP of 95.03%, which is around the industry average. See our highest RTP slots for the best returning games. High volatility means wins come less often but tend to be significantly larger. Explore our high volatility slots guide.

At the minimum bet of £0.10 per spin, a £10 deposit gives you 100 spins with a statistical expected return of £9.50. Read our slot betting strategy guide for tips on managing your bankroll.

More NextGen Gaming Slots

If you enjoy King Arthur, try these other NextGen Gaming games available at the same casinos.