Towering Pays Excalibur

King Arthur's legend supplies the theme for Towering Pays Excalibur from Reelplay, released in February 2022. Behind the reels stand a square grey castle and a bridge across water, a cooler and plainer look than the earlier Norse entry in the same line, and the grid itself is the star: it begins at five reels by three rows with 15 paylines and grows a row at a time, up to eight rows and 65 paylines.

Volatility is rated high. Bets run from 0.25 to 40, and the top of that range depends on Quest Bet, an optional setting that also makes the Hold & Spin round reachable. Without it, that round cannot start.

Three matching symbols from the left make a win across ten regular pay symbols. Four card suits pay 0.6x to 0.8x for five of a kind, and above them come wolves, horses and four human characters worth 1x to 6x. The King Arthur wild lands on any reel, replaces every pay symbol, and pays 10x for five on a line.

Excalibur Magic is the central mechanic. The sword symbol lands on reels 1 to 3 in ordinary play and in the Lancelot and Merlin rounds, adds reel 4 in the Arthur and Camelot rounds, and can cover every reel on the 5x8 grid of Camelot. Any that land turn into one shared random symbol and may fill part or all of a reel. Stage Play uses them for growth: when each reel that can hold a sword has at least one, the game climbs a stage, gaining a row and ten more paylines until it reaches eight rows. A prize multiplier between 2x and 10x can strike any winning spin, with higher values possible as more rows become active.

Three Feature Wheel symbols on reels 1, 3 and 5 launch the wheel. Its outcomes are a Wheel Upgrade that improves the odds on the next turn, a Win Spins run, a Hold & Spin round, or one of four free spins rounds. The four free spins rounds, Lancelot, Merlin, Arthur and Camelot, each start on the 5x3 grid with 6 spins and grant an extra spin whenever every active reel carries a sword. Lancelot and Merlin add random prize multipliers to wins.

During Win Spins, Excalibur fills reels 1 to 3 while reels 4 and 5 spin; the grid stays the same size and each spin is designed to produce a win. Avalon triggers from the base game when the sword lands on reels 1, 2 and 4 of the full 5x8 grid, and it spins the wheel.

With Quest Bet on, Excalibur may reveal shields. Six or more start Hold & Spin, and each additional shield adds a row, capped at eight. Three respins begin with the triggering shields held, only shields can land, each landing refreshes the respins, and the prizes on the locked shields are paid at the end. Filling the whole board adds a 1,000x bonus. A feature buy comes in two versions: 50x the bet for a pool holding upgrades, the Win Spins run and Lancelot's round, or 80x, which adds Merlin Spins to that pool.