Reign of the Mountain King: Slot Overview

Reign of the Mountain King is another Edvard Greig-inspired online slot from SG Digital, created as a continuation of the original, Rise of the Mountain King. Launched in early 2020, Rise of the Mountain King stood out as one of NextGen’s strongest releases before the studio was absorbed by SG Digital and effectively disappeared as a brand. It combined striking presentation, huge upside, strong features, and a superb metal take on Grieg’s classic ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King‘. Making a sequel was always going to be both challenging and tempting—how could the developer possibly outdo it? In a surprising move, SG Digital has gone the other way, dialing back the visuals, the maths model, and the feature set.

The change is noticeable immediately in the look and feel. Rather than the uplifting, cloud-filled backdrop of the first game, this time the action takes place inside the Mountain King’s castle. With no separate bonus game to break things up, this is the only environment you’ll see, and while it’s serviceable, it doesn’t capture the same otherworldly vibe as before. Mechanically, most of the key figures have been reduced too. That includes the payways, dropping from 30 to 10 ways to win across the 5-reel, 3-row layout. The RTP has also been lowered, though it still sits at a solid 96%, and volatility remains high.

You can play from 10 p/c to $/€10 per spin, and wins land when at least three matching symbols connect left to right across a payline starting from reel one. The game contains 10 standard paying symbols plus a wild, but there are no scatters—so there’s no separate bonus round to trigger. From lowest to highest, the pay symbols are 9-A royals, axes, shields, trolls, and queens, with premium symbols paying 6 to 20x the bet for five of a kind. The King symbol is the top payer at 20x the bet for five on a line, and it also acts as a wild. Kings substitute for any other symbol and can activate features when enough of them appear. On base spins, if only one wild is visible and it contributes to a 4 or 5 of a kind win, that wild can receive a multiplier of x5, x8, x64, or x512.

Reign of the Mountain King: Slot Features

Mountain King Respins is the sole additional feature in Reign of the Mountain King. It activates when 3 wild symbols land on reels 2, 3, or 4. Once triggered, each wild shows a multiplier of x1. The wilds then lock in place and the respins begin. If another wild lands anywhere on reels 1-5, it also locks, though only wilds positioned on the middle three reels can receive multipliers.

While the respins are running, gem symbols may appear as overlays on top of regular symbols. When gems land, they are collected into a meter above the reels, and every 3 collected unlocks the next multiplier on the trail. The available steps are x2, x3, x5, or x8. Each time a new multiplier is achieved, it is applied to all locked wilds on the middle three reels. If a win uses multiple wilds, their multiplier values are multiplied together before being applied to the payout—so x3, x3, x3 becomes x27, for instance. Respins finish when no new wilds or gems are showing on the reels, or when the max win has been hit.

Reign of the Mountain King: Slot Verdict

It’s understandable that SG Digital would want to build on the success of Rise of the Mountain King, but a sequel needed to push forward to leave an even stronger mark. Sadly, the reverse is true, and Reign of the Mountain King feels like a step down in nearly every area. The visuals are fine, yet they don’t reach the same quality as the earlier title and come across a touch more budget. It also lacks Rise of the Mountain King’s heavenly, atmospheric style. On the plus side, the thunderous metal version of Grieg’s ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King‘ bursting through the features is still a highlight. The issue is that respins often end quickly, sending you back to base play where the shorter audio bursts can feel a bit clunky compared to the smoother flow of the first game. Overall, Reign of the Mountain King doesn’t have the same polished sheen as its predecessor.

Feature-wise, Mountain King Respins can certainly deliver. Here, longer is better—the more you can extend the sequence, the more opportunity you have to stack meaningful multipliers. The gem collection mechanic resembles what was used in Rise’s free spins bonus, and the multiplier potential is undeniably massive. Even so, Reign rarely hits the same heights as the original. There was something about the mix of Rise’s Wild Multipliers and King Respins that could become ridiculously rewarding. Another drawback is the reduced top-end payout. While Rise could reach 50,000x, Reign caps out at 10,000x the bet. That’s still an impressive number in general, but it’s unusual to see a sequel shave 40k off the maximum win.

In short, the RTP is lower, the potential is far smaller than Rise’s, the features feel pared back, and the overall presentation isn’t as striking. If SG Digital had used a different theme and avoided positioning Reign of the Mountain King as a direct sequel, it might have had more room to stand on its own without constant comparison to a better slot. As it stands, yes, Mountain King Respins can be exciting—but the long list of shortcomings ends up defining the experience.