Slots Like 5 Lions: Six Games Where You Pick the Volatility
5 Lions is Pragmatic Play’s longest-running Asian series, and its calling card is a bonus round that asks you a question no comparison table can dodge: lots of spins with small multipliers, or a handful of spins chasing a 40x wild? If you’re hunting slots like 5 Lions, there are six official games spanning 2018 to 2025, and, unusually, every single one carries the same 96.50% default RTP, so the choice comes down to mechanics rather than maths.
Where to Play 5 Lions Slots
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Reviewed by Brian TaylorPublished: August 2026
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All six 5 Lions games at a glance
Every entry confirmed on Pragmatic Play’s own game pages, checked 12 July 2026:
| Game | Year | Layout | RTP | Max win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Lions | 2018 | 5×3, 243 ways (576 in free spins) | 96.50% | 3,520x* |
| 5 Lions Gold | 2019 | 5×3, 243 ways | 96.50% | 7,342x* |
| 5 Lions Dance | 2020 | 5×4, 1,024 ways | 96.50% | 2,700x* |
| 5 Lions Megaways | 2021 | 6 reels, up to 117,649 ways | 96.50% | 5,000x* |
| 5 Lions Megaways 2 | 2025 | 6 reels, up to 262,144 ways | 96.50% | 8,000x† |
| 5 Lions Reborn | 2025 | 5 reels, 243 ways | 96.50% | 5,000x* |
*Pragmatic Play publishes RTPs but not max wins or release dates on its game pages; starred figures and years come from independent databases (AboutSlots, BigWinBoard, SlotCatalog). †The 8,000x for Megaways 2 is the exception, Pragmatic’s own page states the sequel’s 100x wild multipliers “boost win potential from 5,000x to 8,000x”.
Every game, reviewed
1. 5 Lions (2018)
The 2018 original set the template the whole family still follows. It’s a 5×3, 243-ways game where every win featuring the golden lion wild gets a random multiplier of up to 40x, and three to five scatters open the bonus menu: seven free-spins options running from 25 spins with the weakest multipliers down to a short, brutal handful chasing the full 40x. Pragmatic’s own page confirms one more wrinkle that reviews often skip, an extra row of symbols enters play on the middle reels during free spins, lifting the base game’s 243 ways to 576. Independent databases date it to 14 June 2018 and put the ceiling at 3,520x.
2. 5 Lions Gold (2019)
A year later, Gold kept the seven-option bonus menu and bolted a jackpot game on top. Wilds land with 1x, 40x multipliers attached on every spin, and during free spins whole reels can randomly turn gold, three, four or five golden reels award the minor, major or grand jackpot, worth up to 2,000x. There’s also the Caishen Random Award, where the god of wealth himself drops in mid-feature to hand out free spins or a jackpot bonus game. Reviews track its release to 13 June 2019 and cite a 7,342x max win, more than double the original’s.
3. 5 Lions Dance (2020)
Dance is the structural outlier. The grid grows to 5×4 with 1,024 ways, and instead of the pick-your-spins menu, lion dancers can merge reels 1 and 2 into a single expanded reel holding nothing but multipliers. In the free spins round, every lion-head symbol transforms into another random lion symbol and pays again on the new symbol’s paytable, a genuinely different idea from anything else in the series. The trade-off is the family’s lowest ceiling: reviews put it at 2,700x, with an October 2020 release.
4. 5 Lions Megaways (2021)
The series’ turn on the licensed Megaways engine arrived in June 2021: six reels showing up to seven symbols each, for up to 117,649 ways, with tumbling wins clearing the way for new symbols. Crucially, Pragmatic didn’t touch the selling point, the same seven free-spins options and 1x, 40x base-game multiplier wilds carry straight over. BigWinBoard’s review rated it the full 5/5 for volatility while noting the 5,000x cap is modest by Megaways standards; that tension is the game in a sentence.
5. 5 Lions Megaways 2 (2025)
After a four-year gap, the sequel pushed the engine to up to 262,144 ways and raised the wild multipliers to 100x, which, per Pragmatic’s own page, lifts win potential from 5,000x to 8,000x, the family’s highest. The bonus choice is slimmed to two poles plus a mystery pick: 5 spins with 20x, 100x multipliers, or 25 spins with 2x, 8x. Super Free Spins (triggered with super scatters) add 1 to 10 extra spins, and Level Up coins collected during the round strip out the lowest multiplier for every three banked, a slow ratchet the series hadn’t tried before. Released 27 February 2025 per independent databases.
6. 5 Lions Reborn (2025)
Barely two months after Megaways 2, Reborn returned the series to its 243-ways roots but reworked the maths of the choice itself. The seven options now combine up to 20 free spins with up to 15x starting multipliers, and each time a winning combination contains a wild, that wild’s multiplier grows by its starting value, with 1 to 3 bonus spins randomly tacked on. A Golden Scatter or Super Scatter can trigger Super Free Spins, opening at 20 spins with a 15x multiplier already running. Reviews date it to 17 April 2025 with a 5,000x cap.
5 Lions: quick facts
| Provider | Pragmatic Play |
|---|---|
| First released | 14 June 2018 (per independent databases; Pragmatic doesn’t date its pages) |
| Layout | 5×3, 243 ways; extra middle-reel row in free spins takes it to 576 |
| RTP | 96.50% default (Pragmatic’s own figure; lower operator builds exist) |
| Volatility | High, and adjustable, via the free-spins choice |
| Max win | 3,520x stake (independent reviews; not published by Pragmatic) |
| Signature feature | Seven-option free spins menu, 25 gentle spins at one end, a 40x-multiplier gamble at the other |
✓ Facts checked 12 July 2026 against Pragmatic Play’s own game pages
The maths: one RTP, six different rides
This is the rare franchise where the RTP column is genuinely useless for choosing a game, every entry defaults to exactly 96.50%:
| Game | House edge | £1 × 100 spins |
|---|---|---|
| All six 5 Lions games (96.50%) | 3.50% | £3.50 |
✓ Calculated from the 96.50% default RTP shown on all six of Pragmatic Play’s own game pages, checked 12 July 2026
Two caveats matter. First, Pragmatic supplies operators with lower alternative RTP builds, so check the paytable at your casino, the 96.50% is the ceiling, not a guarantee. Second, the free-spins menu means you set the volatility inside a fixed RTP: taking 25 low-multiplier spins and taking 6 spins at 40x are the same long-run maths delivering very different sessions. Our free spins field guide covers how these selectable bonuses compare across studios, and session tools live on our Responsible Gambling page.
History and legacy
The series maps Pragmatic Play’s whole modern arc. The 2018 original arrived when the studio was still building its reputation; Gold (2019) added the jackpot layer as Pragmatic pushed into jackpot-driven markets; Dance (2020) experimented with reel-merging; and the 2021 Megaways entry came in the same wave that produced the studio’s other engine licences. Then nothing for four years, until 2025 delivered two entries inside two months, Megaways 2 in February and Reborn in April, an unusually aggressive revival for a dormant series. The pick-your-own free spins idea has meanwhile spread across Pragmatic’s wider catalogue, from The Dog House Megaways to fishing and mythology titles like Gates of Olympus’s ante-bet variants.
Why this matters for UK players
Bonus-buy shortcuts are off the table for UK real-money play under the UKGC’s rules, but 5 Lions’ volatility menu is a different thing entirely. It’s a free choice inside a naturally triggered bonus, so the full range of options survives intact at licensed UK casinos.
Beyond the reels
Pragmatic Play (Gibraltar) Limited holds UK Gambling Commission account 56015 with an active Gambling Software (Remote) licence, confirmed against the UKGC public register on 12 July 2026, with no regulatory actions recorded on the account.
What players say
The recurring debate in player threads is Gold versus the original: jackpot chasers treat Gold as the definitive version, while purists prefer the 2018 game’s cleaner sheet. Megaways players tend to grumble about the 5,000x cap and gravitate to Megaways 2 now it exists, and Dance splits opinion, its symbol-transform feature has fans, but plenty of players miss the bonus menu that defines the rest of the family.
Big wins: nothing we can verify
Streamers have posted plenty of four-figure-multiplier 5 Lions clips over the years, but Pragmatic Play doesn’t publish win replays or announce max-win events for this series, and none of the compilation footage we reviewed comes with a checkable stake, date and operator. Rather than dress up a YouTube thumbnail as a record, we’ll say it plainly: no independently verifiable max-win story exists for this family as of 12 July 2026.
The best 5 Lions slot for each kind of session
| If you want… | Play | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The highest ceiling | 5 Lions Megaways 2 | 8,000x per Pragmatic’s own page, with 100x wilds and the Level Up ratchet |
| Jackpots on top of the menu | 5 Lions Gold | Golden reels worth up to 2,000x plus the Caishen Random Award |
| The pure original formula | 5 Lions | The cleanest version of the seven-option choice that built the series |
| Something structurally different | 5 Lions Dance | Merged multiplier reels and paying symbol transforms, no bonus menu at all |
| Growing multipliers | 5 Lions Reborn | Wild multipliers that compound during the round instead of staying fixed |
Our verdict on 5 Lions
SlotsLike score: 7/10, the family that turned volatility into a player decision, held back only by mid-table win ceilings.
| Features | 8/10, the seven-option bonus menu remains one of the best player-choice mechanics in mainstream slots |
|---|---|
| Win potential | 6/10, 8,000x at the top is respectable, but nothing here troubles the genuinely extreme franchises |
| Design | 7/10, consistent gold-and-red identity across seven years, with Dance the visual standout |
| Playability | 8/10, the volatility menu means one family genuinely covers cautious and aggressive sessions alike |
Play here if you want to set your own risk level inside the bonus rather than have the game dictate it. Look elsewhere if you’re ceiling-hunting, several franchises on our series hub pay five and six figures times stake.
5 Lions FAQs
Who makes the 5 Lions slots?
Pragmatic Play.
How many 5 Lions games are there?
Six, all confirmed on Pragmatic Play’s own site: 5 Lions (2018), 5 Lions Gold (2019), 5 Lions Dance (2020), 5 Lions Megaways (2021), 5 Lions Megaways 2 (2025) and 5 Lions Reborn (2025).
Which 5 Lions game has the best RTP?
None of them, all six share the same 96.50% default RTP on Pragmatic’s own pages. Pick on mechanics and ceiling instead.
Which game has the biggest max win?
5 Lions Megaways 2, at 8,000x stake per Pragmatic’s own page.
What is the free spins choice in 5 Lions?
Triggering the bonus opens a menu, seven options in most entries, trading spin count against wild-multiplier size, from around 25 spins with small multipliers to a few spins chasing 40x (100x in Megaways 2).
Is 5 Lions Dance like the others?
Not really, it drops the bonus menu for merged multiplier reels and symbols that transform and pay twice, and it has the family’s lowest ceiling at around 2,700x.
Are these slots fair?
Yes, Pragmatic Play (Gibraltar) Limited holds an active UK Gambling Commission licence (account 56015) with independently tested RNGs.
Slots like 5 Lions from outside the family
None of these are 5 Lions sequels, they’re games sharing at least one of the family’s defining traits: a player-selectable free spins round, an Asian fortune theme, or big attached wild multipliers. Published RTPs can vary by casino build; “operator unchecked” means we verified the supplier’s GB registration but didn’t confirm a specific UK casino currently carries the title.
| Alternative | Studio | Year | Shared trait | Theme | RTP | Volatility | Max win | Why it is close | Important difference | UK availability and evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dead or Alive 2 | NetEnt | 2019 | Pick-your-volatility free spins (three modes) | Western | 96.80% | Extreme | 111,111x | The purest cross-studio match for the choose-your-own-bonus idea, three free spins modes spanning steady to savage; our Dead or Alive guide covers the whole family | Vastly higher ceiling and far harsher variance; no Asian theme | Supplier registration verified; operator lobby unchecked (12 Jul 2026). NetEnt official game page; UKGC account 39360 |
| Danger High Voltage | Big Time Gaming | 2017 | Two-mode free spins choice | Disco / fire | Not published on BTG’s page; independent reviews cite 95.67% | High | Not published by BTG | BTG’s own page bills “two incredible features to choose from”, one built on a sticky wild symbol for the whole feature, the same spins-versus-risk trade as 5 Lions’ menu | Only two options rather than seven, and a 4,096-ways grid with no Asian theming | Supplier registration verified; operator lobby unchecked (12 Jul 2026). Big Time Gaming official game page; UKGC account 38696 |
| Big Bamboo | Push Gaming | 2022 | Collect-or-gamble free spins decision | Asian / bamboo | 96.13% default; 94.13% build also published | High (Push’s own rating) | 50,000x | Asian setting plus a bonus round you actively shape, gamble the awarded spins and symbol conversions for a better package, or bank them | The choice is a gamble step rather than a fixed menu, and the 50,000x ceiling puts it in a different volatility class entirely | Supplier registration verified; operator lobby unchecked (12 Jul 2026). Push Gaming official game page; UKGC account 54984 |
| Sakura Fortune | Quickspin | 2017 | Asian theme, stacked wild respins | Japanese princess | 96% top model; a 90% build is also published by Quickspin | “Extremely volatile” (Quickspin’s words) | Not published by Quickspin | The closest big-name Asian-theme match, stacked princess wilds that nudge full-height and trigger respins, echoing 5 Lions’ full-reel wild moments | Japanese rather than Chinese aesthetic, no free-spins menu, and a 40-payline grid instead of ways | Supplier registration verified; operator lobby unchecked (12 Jul 2026). Quickspin official game page; distributes via Playtech Plc, UKGC account 38516 |
| 88 Fortunes | Light & Wonder | 2017 | Asian fortune theme with gold symbols | Chinese prosperity | 96% | Not published on L&W’s page | 250,000-credit top prize | The land-casino giant of the genre, same 243-ways structure as the 5 Lions original, with four-level jackpots in place of the bonus menu | Jackpot-driven rather than choice-driven; its ALL UP bet mechanic raises stake to unlock symbols, a different lever entirely | Supplier registration verified; operator lobby unchecked (12 Jul 2026). Light & Wonder official game page; UKGC account 41115 |
| Dancing Drums | Light & Wonder | 2018 | Asian theme plus a pick feature | Chinese drums | 96% | Not published on L&W’s page | 250,000-credit top prize | Sister game to 88 Fortunes with a Pick Feature, free games and a jackpot bonus, the nearest thing land-first studios have to 5 Lions’ decision point | The pick reveals rather than lets you weigh odds; 243 ways with no multiplier wilds | Supplier registration verified; operator lobby unchecked (12 Jul 2026). Light & Wonder official game page; UKGC account 41115 |
| Caishen’s Gold | Pragmatic Play | 2020 (per reviews) | Same Caishen deity, same studio | Chinese god of wealth | 97.08%, higher than any 5 Lions game | Not published on the page | Not published by Pragmatic | Caishen headlines here rather than cameoing as 5 Lions Gold’s random award; the free spins strip out all low-value symbols | Jackpot pick-and-reveal instead of a spins menu, and that 97.08% RTP quietly beats the whole family | Supplier registration verified; operator lobby unchecked (12 Jul 2026). Pragmatic Play official game page; UKGC account 56015 |
| Master Chen’s Fortune | Pragmatic Play | 2020 (per reviews) | Asian theme, multiplier wild | Kung-fu master | 96.48% | Not published on the page | Not published by Pragmatic | Pragmatic’s low-intensity Asian option, a 2x multiplier wild and wins paid both left-to-right and right-to-left on 9 lines | A deliberately small, gentle game: no bonus menu, no 40x wilds, nine lines instead of hundreds of ways | Supplier registration verified; operator lobby unchecked (12 Jul 2026). Pragmatic Play official game page; UKGC account 56015 |
| Buffalo Blitz Megaways | Playtech | 2021 | Player choice that sets the maths | North American wildlife | 95.19%, 96.29%, set by your feature choice | High | Not published by Playtech | Takes 5 Lions’ idea one step further, the free-games menu choice literally sets the RTP, as we verify in our Buffalo Blitz family guide | Animal theme, Megaways-style reels, and the choice changes return rather than just variance | Supplier registration verified; operator lobby unchecked (12 Jul 2026). Playtech Plc, UKGC account 38516 |
Source status is row-specific. A GB supplier licence does not confirm that every build, RTP or title is currently live at a particular UK operator, always check the game’s own help screen before play.
Sources & Verification
Primary sources checked 12 July 2026: Pragmatic Play’s own game pages for 5 Lions, 5 Lions Gold, 5 Lions Dance, 5 Lions Megaways, 5 Lions Megaways 2 and 5 Lions Reborn, covering each game’s RTP and feature set; AboutSlots, BigWinBoard and SlotCatalog for release dates and the max-win figures Pragmatic doesn’t publish; and the UK Gambling Commission’s public register (Pragmatic Play (Gibraltar) Limited, account 56015).