Coven Rising

Coven Rising is a dark witchcraft slot from Pragmatic Play, built around a round ritual table where four witches gather to cast their spells. Instead of reels, the symbols sit on a circular grid of 43 positions, and a single special spot in the middle decides which witch joins each spin.

The game was released on 10 September 2026, with a wide release on 17 September. It uses Cluster Pays on a 1-4-7-6-7-6-7-4-1 grid, RTP is 96.42% (other versions are available to casinos), and volatility is medium. The maximum win is capped at 5,000x the bet, the listed hit frequency is 35.33%, and the bet range starts at 0.20.

Cluster Pays and Respins

Symbols pay in clusters of 5 or more, connected horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Each symbol has a value per instance, and a cluster pays that value multiplied by the number of symbols in it. After a win, only the winning symbols respin to reveal new symbols in the same positions, and the middle spot respins together with them – so a new witch can arrive in the middle of a winning chain.

Symbol Levels

The paying symbols are six coloured rune stones, and each of them has five levels. At level 1 the stones are rough crystals worth as little as 0.05x the bet per symbol; at level 5 they become ornate jewelled amulets, with the red stone reaching 50x the bet per symbol. Every level step raises the value substantially, so upgrading the symbols is the heart of the game.

The grid also contains Blank symbols – bundles of tied sticks with no value – and the Wild, a golden W that substitutes for all paying symbols except the Scatter, the Coins and the witches.

Coin Symbols

Coins land with random values of 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, 100x, 250x or 500x the bet. They are only paid when the Green Witch collects them.

The Four Witches

Four special symbols can hit randomly in the middle position, each in a normal or an upgraded version.

The Green Witch collects and pays the values of all Coins on the screen; her upgraded version first adds 1 to 5 extra Coins on Blank positions. The Red Witch raises one random paying symbol by one level, while her upgraded version raises every paying symbol by one level. The Yellow Witch turns up to 5 Blanks into random symbols, or all Blanks in her upgraded form. The Blue Witch turns the middle position into a Wild, and her upgraded version adds two more Wilds at random positions.

Free Spins

Three, four, five or six Scatters award 12, 16, 20 or 24 free spins. All four witches and their modifiers are available in the round, and special reels are used.

Two rules make the bonus stronger. Level increases from the Red Witch stay active until the end of the round, so the stones keep getting more valuable. And after a Green Witch collection, the total collected is added to the highest-valued Coin, which then stays on the grid until it is collected again or replaced by a higher Coin. Two or more Scatters during the round award 2 extra free spins each.

Ante Bet and Buy Feature

The Ante Bet raises the bet multiplier from 20x to 60x, three times the normal stake, and makes the free spins seven times more likely to trigger. With it, the RTP rises to 96.50%.

The Buy Feature menu offers two options. For 100x the base bet you trigger Free Spins (RTP 96.48%), and for 200x you get Super Free Spins (RTP 96.49%), in which Blank symbols cannot land in the middle position – so a witch or another useful symbol appears there on every spin. A Rebuy button for Super Free Spins can also appear.

How the Pieces Work Together

The real charm of Coven Rising is how the witches feed each other. A Yellow Witch can turn empty Blanks into paying stones and complete a cluster; the respin that follows can bring a Red Witch into the middle, which raises a stone by a level just as the cluster pays again. A Blue Witch adds a Wild exactly in the centre of the grid, where it touches the most neighbours, and the upgraded version spreads two more Wilds around the circle.

The Green Witch is the one that turns Coins into cash. In the base game Coins often sit on the grid unpaid, so every collection is a small event of its own, and an upgraded Green Witch that drops extra Coins on empty Blank positions before collecting can produce a sudden jump in the balance.

Because only the winning symbols respin, one good spin can turn into a long chain: each respin is a fresh chance for a new cluster and a new witch, and the levels raised by the Red Witch stay in effect for the rest of the chain.

Why the Free Spins Matter

In the base game, symbol upgrades last only for the current chain. In the free spins they stay until the round ends, so every Red Witch makes the following spins more valuable. A round that collects two or three upgrades early can end with stones worth many times their starting value, which is how the game reaches its 5,000x ceiling.

The growing Coin is the second engine of the round. Each Green Witch collection adds its total to the highest Coin on the grid, and that Coin stays in place, waiting to be collected again. Several collections in a row can stack a very large value onto a single Coin. Super Free Spins make both engines turn faster, because the middle position never lands empty.

Theme and Graphics

The grid is a large carved stone circle lying on the forest floor, with a Latin incantation running around its rim. Four hooded witches in yellow, green, red and blue robes stand around it, and a raven with glowing red eyes watches from a branch next to the logo. When a witch is activated, purple lightning crackles across the circle and the stones glow.

The palette is dark and earthy, with roots, moss and stones around the edges, which makes the coloured runes and the bright spell effects stand out. The soundtrack is subdued, letting the witch effects do most of the work.

Verdict

It suits players who like cluster slots with an unusual layout and a lot happening on each spin. The symbol levels and the persistent upgrades in free spins give the round a real sense of building up, while medium volatility keeps the base game from being too dry. The 5,000x ceiling is modest for a modern Pragmatic release, but the mechanics are fresh.

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