Buffalo Rising Megaways Review: Free Demo and the Unlimited Multiplier

Verdict: Blueprint's game has the most interesting round of the buffalo Megaways titles: the player picks the free spins, and the multiplier has no ceiling. The 92.02% build and the missing US license count against it, and US players find the same rules under the name Almighty Buffalo Megaways.

Bison Rising, Buffalo Rising: one game, two names

Blueprint Gaming’s own game page now titles the Buffalo Rising Megaways slot “Bison Rising MEGAWAYS”. The English help file, with the game ID BP_BisonRisingMegaways, still carries the heading “Buffalo Rising Megaways”, and so do most reviewers and casino lobbies. It is the same game. Slotcatalog’s Buffalo Rising page even serves a Bison Rising listing, which shows how far the rename has spread without replacing the original title.

There is a third name as well. In the US, White Hat Studios distributes the same rules sheet as Almighty Buffalo Megaways, and that is the version licensed US casinos carry. Three names, one set of mechanics.

Blueprint is part of the Merkur Group, owned by Gauselmann, and the Megaways mechanic comes under licence from Big Time Gaming. Slotcatalog and World Casino Directory date the original release to 2018. Blueprint’s own showcase lists October 18, 2019, which may be the date of the Bison-titled listing or of the All Action remake; 2018 is the year this review uses.

“Bison” is the zoologically accurate word for the North American animal, and “buffalo” the common one. Blueprint never explained the switch, and nothing in the game changed with it. Reviewers and most casino lobbies still use the old title.

How the Buffalo Rising Megaways slot pays

The game uses six reels of up to seven symbols, plus extra positions above reels two to five, for up to 117,649 ways. Those top positions are the only place the wild can land, which makes the top row the part of the screen worth watching.

Every win triggers a cascade. Winning symbols disappear, new ones drop in and the sequence continues while wins keep forming. Mystery symbols add a twist: when several land, they all reveal the same symbol, which can fill several positions with one symbol at once. A mystery symbol never turns into a scatter, so it cannot complete a free spins trigger.

Bets run from £0.10 to £10 per spin on Blueprint’s listed range, and the buy mode costs 100x, from £10 to £1,000. Operators in other currencies set their own equivalents.

Volatility is best read as very high. Blueprint’s own page leaves the field empty, but White Hat Studios rates the same rules sheet 5 out of 5, its maximum, for the US edition. Some reviewers put it lower: Bigwinboard calls it medium to high and Slotcatalog says medium. The free spins choice is the real control here, since the player decides how swingy the round will be.

Picking a free spins option

Four scatters trigger the free spins, and then the game asks for a decision. The choices are 15 free spins starting at x1, 10 free spins starting at x5, 5 free spins starting at x10, or a Mystery Choice that picks for you. Extra scatters in the trigger add spins to whichever option is chosen: four per extra scatter on the 15-spin option, two on the 10-spin option and one on the 5-spin option.

The multiplier is what makes the choice matter. During the free spins it rises by one after every cascade, and it has no upper limit. On the 15-spin option it starts low but has the most spins to climb. On the 5-spin option it starts at x10 and every cascade adds to an already large number, but five spins can end quickly. Three or four scatters on the top row during the round add five or ten more spins.

This is where Blueprint’s game parts company with Buffalo King Megaways. Pragmatic Play’s game builds its multiplier from wilds and resets it after every free spin. Blueprint’s is a win multiplier that climbs by one with every cascade, wild or no wild, and has no cap. The Buffalo King Megaways vs Buffalo Rising Megaways comparison goes through both rounds side by side.

There is no right answer among the options, and Blueprint publishes no return per choice. The 15-spin option gives more spins and more chances to build. The 5-spin option is the one for players who want the swing. You choose, and the round lives with it.

RTP builds and the Bison Bet

Blueprint lists the standard RTP at 96.50%. The buy mode, called the Bison Bet on the current page and the Buffalo Bet in the help file, runs at 97.01%. Blueprint also lists two lower builds, 93% and 92.02%, which operators can choose instead.

The higher figure applies only to the stake spent on the buy, not to normal spins. At 100x a spin, from £10 at the minimum to £1,000 at the top of the range, the buy is a large single outlay for a round whose result depends heavily on the option chosen and the cascades that follow. Some jurisdictions restrict bonus buys, so the button does not show in every lobby.

That range is wide. At 96.50% the game is in line with the stronger buffalo titles; at 92.02% it is the lowest RTP figure listed for any online buffalo game covered on this site. The game’s help screen shows the build a given casino uses, and it is the first thing to check before a real-money session.

The maximum win is listed at 10,000x the stake by Bigwinboard and Slotcatalog. Blueprint’s own page does not state one, so the figure rests on reviewers.

Buffalo Rising Megaways free play in the demo

Buffalo Rising Megaways free play is the easiest way to see the free spins choice before committing to one with real money, and it shows how quickly the multiplier climbs on a long cascade chain.

The demo also makes the Mystery Choice less of a gamble. On real money, handing the decision to the game is a leap; in the demo, a few rounds show how the random pick lands across the three fixed options, and whether you would rather keep the choice yourself.

It is worth playing the free demo several times with different options. The 15-spin and 5-spin rounds feel like two different games, and a description does not capture that. What the demo cannot show is the RTP build of a real-money casino, because Blueprint lists four RTP figures for the game.

Set the demo stake to the amount you would actually bet. The multiplier and the cascades behave the same at any stake, but Buffalo Rising Megaways free play at a realistic bet gives a far better sense of how a high-swing round would feel with real money, and of how many base spins a typical wait for four scatters can take.

Matching the free spins option to a bankroll

The free spins decision is the closest thing this game has to a strategy, and it works best when it follows the stake and the session budget. A player on a small bankroll who has waited a long time for four scatters has the most to lose from a five-spin round that ends without a cascade chain. The 15-spin option at x1 spreads the round across more spins, so a slow start still leaves time for the multiplier to climb.

The 5-spin option at x10 suits the opposite case: a player with room for swings who would rather take one large shot than a longer, steadier round. Every cascade in that option lands on a multiplier that starts ten times higher, and a single long chain can carry the whole round. A round that misses, though, misses fast.

The 10-spin option at x5 is the compromise between the two. None of the three changes the RTP that Blueprint lists for the game, which is set by the build the casino runs. The choice changes how the result is spread, not its long-run average, so the best option is the one whose swing a player can live with. The Buffalo Rising Megaways slot hands the player that decision on every trigger. Among the other buffalo games covered here, only Playtech’s Buffalo Blitz Megaways offers a comparable pick, with four free spins modes.

Review notes against the other buffalo Megaways titles

This review places the game eighth in the ranked list of buffalo slots. It has the most interesting free spins of the buffalo Megaways games: a real choice, an unlimited multiplier and retriggers on the top row. It still ranks below Buffalo King Megaways and Almighty Buffalo Megaways, the two Megaways titles confirmed at US online casinos, and it is not confirmed there under its own name.

Against Buffalo King Megaways, it offers up to 117,649 ways against 200,704, a higher listed maximum win at 10,000x against 5,000x, and a far more dramatic free spins round. Buffalo King Megaways has the cleaner base game and confirmed US availability. Against BGaming’s Savage Buffalo Spirit Megaways, which awards a random multiplier from x2 to x25 and is offshore-only, Buffalo Rising gives the player more control.

The weak point is the low RTP builds. A casino running 92.02% turns a good design into a poor bet, and the lobby gives no hint of it.

Remakes, jackpots and a land version

Blueprint has reused the game more than once. Buffalo Rising Megaways All Action came out in 2019 with a 97.01% RTP, and a Jackpot King progressive version, Bison Rising Megaways Jackpot King, was added in 2020. A land-based B3 version also exists in the UK through Blueprint Operations, with a £500 jackpot and stakes from £0.20 to £2. Those limits are far below anything the online version allows, but the cabinet shows how far the design travelled. None of the Pragmatic buffalo titles has a land version in the research behind this site.

US players and Almighty Buffalo Megaways

Blueprint’s supported-jurisdiction list includes no US state, so the Buffalo Rising Megaways slot is not confirmed at US online casinos. The US market gets the same game math as Almighty Buffalo Megaways, released by White Hat Studios with the same 96.50% and 97.01% figures, the same free spins options and the same bets of 0.10 to 10. A separate Jackpot Royale edition with jackpots followed in December 2023. Almighty Buffalo Megaways is confirmed at licensed casinos in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and the Megaways hub lists it with the other buffalo Megaways titles. Real-money play is for adults 21 and over.