How does an expanding symbol pay in Sword of Khans?
When the Bonus Game starts, the game picks one symbol other than the Sword at random, and it stays the expanding symbol for the rest of the round. In our log it grew to cover its reels only when it landed on enough reels to pay, and it then paid on all ten lines, even across reels that were not side by side. A retrigger picks again: a new symbol becomes a second expanding symbol, while the same one gains a multiplier, up to x3. Our biggest expansion came in a bought round: Khans on three reels, 100.00 at a €1.00 bet.
Free spins that pick a symbol and let it fill whole reels
Land three or more Swords, in any position, and the Bonus Game begins. They also pay as scatters: three Swords are worth 2.00 at a €1.00 bet, four 20.00 and five 200.00. The number of free spins that follows is drawn at random from 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 or 15. Our two natural rounds drew 8 and 10, the bought one 7.
At the same moment, one of the nine other symbols is chosen to expand for the rest of the bonus, and a bar under the reels lights the one picked. Our log shows it stretching over its whole reel only when it landed on enough reels to pay. The Sword still substitutes on ordinary lines, but not in expanding wins. In our log the expanded symbol paid on all ten lines at once, and it did not need its reels to be next to each other or to start on reel 1.
That frame is the paytable doing simple arithmetic. Three Khans are worth 10.00 on one line, the expansion counts them on all ten, and 10 × 10.00 makes 100.00. A cheaper pick works the same way on a smaller scale: in both natural rounds the game chose a symbol worth 0.50 a line for three, so three expanded reels paid 5.00 and four paid 20.00. That single four-reel hit on free spin 4 made up most of the 31x the round from spin 112 paid.
Two or more Swords during the free spins retrigger the bonus with another random batch and another pick. If the pick is a new symbol, it becomes a second expanding symbol; if it is one already expanding, that symbol gains a multiplier, which the rules cap at x3. The round from spin 376 retriggered on its 7th free spin, added 8 spins for 18 in all, and picked a second, different symbol, so both stayed without a multiplier while it paid 71.5x.
Ten lines, a Khan's portrait and a Sword with two jobs
The reels sit in a red lacquered frame beneath a pagoda roof, with snow-capped mountains and a pink sky behind; in the free spins the frame turns gold. There are 10 paylines: three straight rows, two that dip or rise through the middle three reels, two V shapes, two that step from one corner to the other and one zigzag. Wins pay left to right from reel 1, and only the longest win on each line counts.
The Khan, a bearded warrior in a steel helmet with a red plume and a fur collar, tops the table: two Khans on a line are worth 1.50, three 10.00, four 50.00 and five 250.00. The helmet's ladder is 0.50, 4.00, 15.00 and 50.00. A suit of armour, a shield with crossed spears and the ranks A to 10 also appear; their values are below the part of the Symbols page that our frames show.
The Sword has two jobs. As a wild it stands in for every symbol, in the base game and the bonus alike, except in expanding wins. As a scatter it pays wherever it lands and opens the bonus. It is busy as a wild: in our log, 94 of the 240 winning spins had a Sword in at least one winning line.
Most base-game wins are small. 146 of our 240 winning spins paid exactly half the stake, and the median win was 0.5x. The best base-game spin, number 729, paid 14.5x: 12.50 for a five-symbol line with a Sword on the middle reel, plus 2.00 on a second line.
750 spins and a running total that never got back to €5,000.00
Our 750 spins, each a €1.00 stake, returned €419.00 on €750.00 staked, 55.9%, far below the published 95.36%. On a game Thunderkick rates high volatility, a short session can fall that far without anything being wrong with it.
- 750paid spins at €1.00 in the demo
- 55.9%of the stakes paid back
- 71.5xbest round, free spins included
- 2free spins rounds triggered
240 spins, 32.0%, paid something, 8 wins reached 10x, and the longest run without a win was 13 spins. The running total peaked at €4,999.00 after spin 1 and never returned to its starting €5,000.00. The two natural bonuses came 264 spins apart and together paid €102.50 of the €419.00 we got back; after the second one, 374 spins passed without another. The low point, €4,656.50, came on spin 728, just before the best base-game hit, and the running total ended at €4,669.00.
80x for a random number of spins: the buy and the Reborn build
The BUY FEATURE button leads to a single choice, the Bonus Game, which costs 80x the stake (€80.00 on a €1.00 spin) and is confirmed with Yes or No. Thunderkick certifies the bought round at 95.49%, a little above the 95.36% of normal play.
Those figures describe the version on Thunderkick's game page, the one this demo runs. Thunderkick also certifies a version at 87.16%; the casino picks which one it offers, and in some markets the feature buy is switched off.
| Option | Price | At €1.00 | RTP of the buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonus Game buy | 80x | €80.00 | 95.49% |
The price is fixed; what it buys is not. Both the number of free spins and the expanding symbol are drawn at random, so a buy can bring 5 spins with a low card or 15 with the Khan. Ours brought 7 spins and the Khan and paid €133.50 for €80.00: one draw, not a measure of the 95.49%.
The buy is also what makes this the Reborn version. Thunderkick has never announced what Reborn means, but its eCOGRA test reports describe a new build of the 2019 slot, certified separately in 2024 under its own game ID, which adds the Feature Buy with its own RTP and a set of RTP versions. The theme, the 5x3 reels, the 10 paylines and the bonus features are unchanged.
Midas, the Kraken and the carnival: the nearest relatives here
Midas Golden Touch is the closest in shape: 5x3 reels with 15 paylines, the same high rating and the same 80x buy price, with an RTP of 96.17% and a cap of 10,100x.
Kraken's Lair also has expanding wins, in its base game, and free spins that retrigger, on 9 paylines rated very high, but it has no feature buy and caps a round at 7,777x.
Carnival Queen shares this game's history, a 2019 original rebuilt in 2024 with an 80x buy, but plays on 4,096 pay ways at medium volatility. Its 750 logged spins gave back 95.5% of the stakes; this game's gave back 55.9%.
Verdict: a quiet base game and a bonus that does the work
Sword of Khans is easy to read. Ten lines, one wild that is also the scatter, and a bonus whose whole idea fits in a sentence: one symbol is chosen, and from then on it covers its reels and pays on every line. When the pick is the Khan, three reels are enough for 100x the bet, which is how our bought round paid off.
The cost is the wait. The base game mostly returns half the stake, the spin count and the symbol in the bonus are both left to chance, and our session went 374 spins without a bonus at the end. In the demo, a bought round shows the expanding symbol at work without that wait.
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Answered from the rules screens, the demo server and our own log.
Is the number of free spins in Sword of Khans fixed?
No. Each time the Bonus Game starts or retriggers, the game awards a random number of free spins: 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 or 15. Our two natural rounds began with 8 and 10, and the one we bought had 7. Two or more Swords during the free spins retrigger the bonus, which adds another random batch and picks another expanding symbol.
Can an expanding symbol carry a multiplier?
Yes, but only through a retrigger. If the new random pick is a symbol that is already expanding, that symbol gets a multiplier on every win it is part of, and the rules cap it at x3. A different pick simply adds a second expanding symbol. Our one retrigger, on the round from spin 376, picked a different symbol, so we never saw a multiplier.
What can you change in the free Sword of Khans demo?
The stake, in 14 steps from €0.10 to €100.00, starting at €1.00. The play-money balance is €5,000.00, and the BUY FEATURE button works in the demo, so the 80x bonus can be tried with play money. No deposit is taken and nothing real is paid out.
What does a 55.9% session say about Sword of Khans?
Very little about the game in the long run, which Thunderkick puts at 95.36%. It does show what high volatility can look like over 750 spins: two natural bonuses, worth 31x and 71.5x, and a base game that mostly handed back half the stake.