King of Cats Slot Review
The savanna at midday, all golden grass and flat-topped acacias, hides a rare thing in slots: a game that hands you the design decisions instead of making them for you. King of Cats doesn’t offer a choice of bonus rounds or a gamble on your winnings. It offers two complete games, lion and puma, each with its own wilds and its own free spins, and lets you decide which one deserves your stake. Few studios would build twice the content for one reel set. Big Time Gaming did, and the payout maths says they meant it: six reels of Megaways with up to 117,649 ways to win, 96.72% RTP, a hit rate of 29.98% and a ceiling of 56,620x the stake.
That ceiling puts it in serious company alongside the studio’s Bonanza Megaways and Extra Chilli, though neither of those asks you to choose your predator before the first spin.
PLAYERSELECT
Before a single reel turns, the game asks a question most slots never pose: which game do you want to play? PLAYERSELECT puts the Lion Game and the Puma Game side by side, each with its own wild behaviour, its own free spins round and its own rhythm. Press one to start; the other waits, and a Switch button lets you change your mind whenever you like.
Underneath both choices sits the same engine. Six reels with a variable number of rows per spin, paying left to right on adjacent symbols regardless of size, with only the highest win paid per combination and all winning combinations added together. The way count swings widely from spin to spin, which is standard Megaways behaviour.
Wilds substitute for every symbol except the Scatter and only land on reels two to five. That’s the shared rulebook. Everything else about the wilds depends on which cat you back.
The Lion Game
Choose the lion and the wilds arrive in bulk. Lion Wilds land as oversized blocks, and the bigger the block, the bigger the multiplier:
- 2×2 Lion Wild carries a x4 multiplier
- 3×3 Lion Wild carries a x9 multiplier
- 4×4 Lion Wild carries a x16 multiplier
A 4×4 wild filling most of the middle reels is a striking sight, and any win it substitutes in gets multiplied accordingly. Wins pay left to right, so a block on the early reels does the most work.
Lion Free Spins
Scatters can land on any reel, and three or more in any position trigger the round:
- 3 Scatters award 8 Lion Free Spins
- 4 Scatters award 12 Lion Free Spins
- 5 Scatters award 16 Lion Free Spins
- 6 Scatters award 20 Lion Free Spins
Inside the round, the wild blocks come in cheaper and grow faster. They start at x2, x5 and x8 for the 2×2, 3×3 and 4×4 sizes respectively, and every time any Lion Wild appears, all three multipliers climb by 2, 5 and 8 before wins are paid. Each new block pushes every multiplier on the grid higher, so a round with regular wild appearances escalates quickly.
More Scatters during the round add 4, 8, 12 or 16 further spins for three, four, five or six respectively. Multipliers reset when the round ends, and the triggering stake applies throughout.
The Puma Game
The puma takes the opposite approach. Instead of a few huge blocks, up to three full-reel Puma Wilds can appear in a single spin, each revealing a x2, x3 or x4 multiplier. Where the lion deals in single heavy blows, the puma deals in volume.
The two modes share reels, symbols and the Scatter trigger, so the choice really is about how you want the wilds delivered. A full reel of wilds on an early reel is worth as much in position as the lion’s blocks, just spread differently across the grid.
Puma Free Spins
Scatter counts are more generous here, at the cost of a slightly different multiplier engine:
- 3 Scatters award 15 Puma Free Spins
- 4 Scatters award 18 Puma Free Spins
- 5 Scatters award 21 Puma Free Spins
- 6 Scatters award 24 Puma Free Spins
The first Puma Wild on any reel reveals a x2, x4 or x6 multiplier, and each further Puma Wild on that same reel bumps it by 1, 2 or 3 respectively, after wins are paid. The sharpening detail is the combination rule: when multiple Puma Wilds substitute in the same win, their multipliers multiply together rather than add. Two stacked reels with grown multipliers can produce a number well beyond either alone.
Retriggers award 6, 9, 12 or 15 extra spins for three, four, five or six Scatters, multipliers reset at the end, and the triggering stake carries through the round.
Bonus Buy
Both rounds can be bought directly from the menu, at prices set as multiples of a Free Spins Stake you adjust yourself:
- Lion Free Spins Buy – 8 Lion Free Spins for 75 times the Free Spins Stake
- Puma Free Spins Buy – 15 Puma Free Spins for 60 times the Free Spins Stake
The Puma round is the cheaper entry at 60x against 75x, which tracks with its higher base spin count and gentler multipliers. Buys run at their own RTP of 96.75%, a touch above the standard game’s 96.72%. Availability depends on where you’re playing, as some jurisdictions restrict the feature.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.9/10
You’ll spend your first session hopping between the two cats, and that hopping is the reason to show up at all. Most slots give you one set of wilds and call it a day; this one runs a proper fork in the road before the first spin. Picking a side, then switching when the mood takes you, is genuinely novel five years on.
The strongest thing here is that the two modes actually feel different. The puma’s stacked multipliers compound into wins the lion can’t match without its biggest block landing, and that difference is real in the maths, not just the paint job. The weak spot is the Lion Game: a mode that needs a 4×4 wild to really pay will sit quiet for long stretches, and a maximum bet of 16 gives high rollers little room to work with a 56,620x ceiling above it.
This suits players who like steering, who enjoy a second mode waiting when the first goes cold. If you want one game that plays itself while you watch, the savanna will feel crowded. For everyone else, there are worse fates than ruling over two kingdoms instead of one.
King of Cats FAQs
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What is the RTP of King of Cats?
King of Cats runs at an overall RTP of 96.72%. Bonus buys operate at their own RTP of 96.75%. -
What is the difference between the Lion Game and the Puma Game?
The Lion Game uses oversized 2×2, 3×3 and 4×4 Lion Wilds with x4, x9 and x16 multipliers, while the Puma Game uses up to three full-reel Puma Wilds with x2, x3 or x4 multipliers. Their free spins rounds also differ in spin counts and how multipliers grow. -
How do you trigger free spins in King of Cats?
Three or more Scatter symbols in any position trigger free spins. In the Lion Game, 3, 4, 5 or 6 Scatters award 8, 12, 16 or 20 free spins. In the Puma Game, the same Scatter counts award 15, 18, 21 or 24 free spins. -
Can free spins retrigger in King of Cats?
Yes. During Lion Free Spins, 3, 4, 5 or 6 Scatters add 4, 8, 12 or 16 extra spins. During Puma Free Spins, they add 6, 9, 12 or 15 extra spins. -
How much does the Bonus Buy cost in King of Cats?
You can buy 8 Lion Free Spins for 75 times the Free Spins Stake, or 15 Puma Free Spins for 60 times the Free Spins Stake. The Free Spins Stake is adjustable and applies to every spin in the round. -
What is the maximum win on King of Cats?
The maximum win is 56,620x your stake. -
How many ways to win does King of Cats have?
King of Cats uses the Megaways engine on six reels with up to 117,649 ways to win. The number of rows varies per reel on each spin. -
What is the hit frequency of King of Cats?
The hit frequency is 29.98%, meaning roughly three in ten spins produce a win on average.
