Buffalo King Megaways vs Buffalo Rising Megaways: Which to Play

The difference in one sentence

Buffalo King Megaways pays its free spins through wild multipliers that reset every spin; Buffalo Rising Megaways pays through one multiplier that climbs with every cascade and keeps climbing until the round ends.

Everything else follows from that. Both run on six reels of up to seven symbols, both have a row of extra positions over reels two to five, and both clear winning symbols so new ones can fall. They feel similar for the first few base-game spins and nothing alike once free spins start.

How each free spins round builds

Buffalo King Megaways gives its wilds x2, x3 or x5 during free spins. Values add up across a tumble sequence, then reset at the start of the next free spin. Four to six scatters award 12, 17 or 22 spins plus an instant 5x, 20x or 100x the bet, and three or more scatters in the round add five more.

Buffalo Rising, made by Blueprint Gaming in 2018, takes a different route. Four scatters trigger the round, and the player picks how to play it: 15 spins starting at x1, 10 spins starting at x5, 5 spins starting at x10, or a Mystery Choice. After every cascade the multiplier rises by one, and it has no upper limit. A long cascade on spin three carries its multiplier into spin four.

That pick is the most interesting decision in either game. Fifteen spins at x1 gives the multiplier more time to build. Five spins at x10 starts high and has little room for error. Players who like to choose their own risk will prefer Buffalo Rising for that alone.

The ceilings reflect the design. Reviewers quote 10,000x for Buffalo Rising, while Blueprint’s page gives no figure; Buffalo King Megaways lists 5,000x.

Ways, symbols and wilds

Buffalo King Megaways offers up to 200,704 ways because its top reel holds four symbols. Buffalo Rising’s ceiling is 117,649 ways. Buffalo Rising adds a Mystery symbol: every Mystery on the screen reveals the same symbol, never a scatter. Its wild appears only in the top positions. Buffalo King Megaways places its wild on reels two to five through the top reel.

Volatility labels differ. Bigwinboard rates Buffalo King Megaways high; for Buffalo Rising, Blueprint leaves the field empty, White Hat Studios rates the same rules 5 out of 5 for its US edition, and reviewers who go lower split between medium and medium-high.

RTP and stakes

Blueprint publishes 96.50% for Buffalo Rising, rising to 97.01% when the Buffalo Bet, a 100x feature buy, is used. Lower builds at 93% and 92.02% also exist. Buffalo King Megaways lists 96.52%, with a 94.51% version in circulation, and its own feature buy also costs 100x where allowed.

Stakes differ more. Buffalo Rising runs from 0.10 to 10 in the main game. Buffalo King Megaways runs from 0.20 to 125, with US operators capping it at $100 to $200. High-stakes players have only one real option here.

Where to play each

This is where US players hit a wall with Buffalo Rising. Blueprint’s supported jurisdictions list no US state, and the game itself is not in US lobbies. Its maths reaches US casinos under another name: Almighty Buffalo Megaways from White Hat Studios uses the same rules sheet word for word, and it is live in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Buffalo King Megaways is confirmed in the same three states, at BetMGM, Caesars Palace Online, Golden Nugget, Borgata and Hard Rock Bet, and in Michigan at DraftKings and FanDuel. A US player choosing between these two styles is really choosing between Buffalo King Megaways and Almighty Buffalo, compared on the Buffalo King Megaways vs Almighty Buffalo Megaways page. The Megaways hub covers the rest of the format.