5 Lions Slot Review
Two golden Fu dogs sit atop the reels of 5 Lions, paws resting on their balls, a pink pearl glowing over night-blue clouds. All that gilded calm hides a strange promise for a low-volatility game: on every spin, a wild win can be multiplied by as much as 40x. Most slots this gentle save their big numbers for the bonus. This one leaves them live the whole time.
That’s the reason to open this one rather than 5 Lions Megaways, 5 Lions Megaways 2 or 5 Lions Reborn, where the same idea got louder and riskier. Pragmatic Play built it on a 5×4 grid paying 243 ways, at 96.5% RTP, with a ceiling of 3,520x the bet.
Base Game & Features
All symbols pay left to right on adjacent reels from the leftmost reel, and only the highest win per combination counts on each way. Wins on multiple ways are added together, and every win is multiplied by the base bet. There are no paylines to follow: any left-to-right run of matching symbols on consecutive reels counts.
That’s why 243 ways fits on a five-reel grid. Each of the first three reels can show any of its symbols, and the count multiplies out from there, so a winning combination only has to appear once per reel rather than on a fixed line. It makes the grid feel busier than a payline game, because more of what lands is technically in play.
The Wild Multiplier
The wild appears only on reels 2, 3 and 4, substituting for everything except the Yin Yang scatter. On every spin a multiplier is drawn at random, and any winning combination containing at least one wild is multiplied by it at the end of the spin. The draw happens every single spin, in the base game and the bonus alike.
The possible values, from the floor to the ceiling:
- 1x
- 2x
- 3x
- 5x
- 8x
- 10x
- 15x
- 30x
- 40x
That spread is the engine of the game. A wild in the right place can turn a modest ways win into something far larger than the raw symbol values suggest, and it’s live on every spin rather than only in the bonus. The gap between one draw and the next is wide enough that two identical looking wins can pay very differently.
Paytable
Values below are multiples of the total bet for three, four and five of a kind. The animal symbols sit above the royals, and the drop from the dragon to the 9 is steep.
- Dragon (red): 1x, 2x, 20x
- Phoenix: 0.7x, 2x, 16x
- Frog: 0.6x, 2x, 16x
- Fish: 0.4x, 1x, 6x
- Turtle: 0.3x, 0.7x, 6x
- A: 0.2x, 0.6x, 4x
- K: 0.2x, 0.4x, 4x
- Q and J: 0.2x, 0.3x, 2x
- 10: 0.1x, 0.3x, 2x
- 9: 0.1x, 0.2x, 2x
The premium end is all animals: dragon, phoenix, frog, fish and turtle, in descending order, with the dragon alone reaching 20x for five. The royals from A down to 9 fill the rest of the grid and pay modestly at every tier. Stakes run from 0.50 to 250.00 per spin.
The Yin Yang scatter is present on all reels and pays on arrival as well as triggering the feature. It’s the one symbol that isn’t a paytable row, and landing three of it from the left is enough to set the bonus in motion.
5 Lions Free Spins & Bonus Features
Three, four or five Yin Yang scatters on adjacent reels from the left trigger the Free Spins Feature. Before it starts, the reels change shape: three extra symbols are added to the top of reels 2, 3 and 4, and the game pays on 576 ways for the duration.
The middle reels grow taller than the outer ones, so winning runs through the centre of the grid carry more weight than they did before. A symbol that lands on the added rows can complete combinations that the base grid couldn’t hold, which is where the extra 333 ways come from.
Choosing Your Option
Seven options sit in front of you when the round begins, and the choice sets both how long the round runs and how hard a wild win can hit. The wild multiplier still applies to every win containing a wild, but the range it draws from depends on the option picked.
- 25 free spins: 2x, 3x or 5x wild multiplier
- 20 free spins: 3x, 5x or 8x wild multiplier
- 15 free spins: 5x, 8x or 10x wild multiplier
- 13 free spins: 8x, 10x or 15x wild multiplier
- 10 free spins: 10x, 15x or 30x wild multiplier
- 6 free spins: 15x, 30x or 40x wild multiplier
- Mystery: spins and multiplier range drawn from the other options
The six-spin option is the gambler’s pick: fewer spins, but every wild win is multiplied by at least 15x, and a 40x draw on a full-grid win is where the game’s biggest numbers live. Twenty-five spins at the low range is the patient alternative. The Mystery option hands both decisions back to the game.
Special reels are in play during the feature, so the symbol set isn’t identical to the base game’s. Whatever the option, the round plays out spin by spin with the multiplier redrawn each time, and the free spins win is added to the pay way win at the end.
Retriggers
Three or more scatters from the left during the round trigger a fresh Free Spins Feature, played after the current one finishes. A different option can be chosen before the new round starts, so a retrigger doesn’t have to repeat the same risk profile.
There’s no limit to the number of retriggers, so a long session inside the bonus can stack rounds one after another, each with its own spin count and multiplier range.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.8/10
This is a game of small regular wins with a live wire running through the middle of them. You don’t come to 5 Lions for the theme, pleasant as the gilded temple look is; you come because the wild multiplier makes even ordinary spins worth watching, and because the bonus hands you the controls over how brave to be.
The free spins choice is the best thing here: seven options means the round is yours to shape, and the growing reels give it a genuinely different feel. The weakness is the symbol paytable, which is thin enough that everything above pocket change depends on a wild showing up. Without one, even five dragons is only 20x.
It suits the long-session player who likes a gentle ride with the occasional jolt. High-volatility chasers will find the 3,520x ceiling tame and should look at the Megaways sequels instead. For everyone else, the Fu dogs guard a friendlier door than they let on.
5 Lions FAQs
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What is the RTP of 5 Lions?
96.5%. -
Is 5 Lions high volatility?
No, it’s a low volatility game, so it pays out more often in smaller amounts while still offering the chance of a big win. -
How do you trigger free spins in 5 Lions?
Hit 3, 4 or 5 Yin Yang scatter symbols on adjacent reels starting from the leftmost reel. The scatter also pays on arrival: 2x your total bet for three, 5x for four and 20x for five. -
What are the free spins options in 5 Lions?
Before the round starts you pick one of seven options: 25 spins with 2x-5x wild multipliers, 20 with 3x-8x, 15 with 5x-10x, 13 with 8x-15x, 10 with 10x-30x, 6 with 15x-40x, or a Mystery option that draws both the spin count and multiplier range from the others. -
How many paylines does 5 Lions have?
243 ways to win in the base game, expanding to 576 ways during free spins when reels 2, 3 and 4 each gain three extra symbol positions. -
What is the grid size of 5 Lions?
A 5×4 grid of five reels and four rows. -
What is the minimum and maximum bet on 5 Lions?
You can wager anything from 0.50 up to 250.00 on a single spin. -
What is the maximum win on 5 Lions?
3,520x your bet.
