5 Lions Dance

7.2/10

Release September 2020· Updated September 2026

The lion dance across five reels and 1,024 ways to win, with a multiplier reel that pays on the spot and free spins that turn every lion into the same one.

RTP

96.5%

Volatility

Medium

Max Win

2 700x

Grid

5 reels, 4 rows

Bonus Buy

1,024 ways to winLion Reel Bonus (multipliers 5x to 200x)10 free spinsLions transformed into free spinsUnlimited respins

7.2

BetsRank Verdict

Our read of the game, based on the data the studio publishes

5 Lions Dance is the most balanced link in the series, and also the most dated. Balanced, because the twin mechanics work: the Lion Reel Bonus hands you an immediate result when the base game goes quiet, and the free spins offer genuine accumulation potential through the lion transformation. You do not sit through a ten-minute animation to collect 3x your stake, which is rarer than it sounds on a Pragmatic Play title. Dated, because the 2,700x ceiling now files it in a category the studio itself no longer feeds: its recent releases aim at 5,000x, 10,000x, sometimes more. Who is it for? Someone playing short sessions at a modest stake, who would rather watch the balance move regularly than chase one single hit. The rhythm is decent and the game is honest about its ambitions. If you came for the adrenaline of a modern Megaways, though, keep walking: one bonus every 204 spins on average means long runs of nothing, and the multiplier reel will most often hand back 10x or 25x for your patience. Two reservations deserve to be stated plainly. First, the absence of a bonus buy, which is not disqualifying but does weigh on a game whose triggers are this rare. Second, the throttled 95.50% and 94.50% builds: they exist, they circulate, and a point and a half of RTP lost on a medium volatility game is felt very quickly. Check the figure shown in the rules before your first stake — thirty seconds well spent.

Strengths

+1,024 ways to win, markedly more generous in combinations than the 243 ways of the original 5 Lions
+The Lion Reel Bonus pays instantly, with no drawn-out mini-game or endless animation
+The lion transformation during free spins can fill the entire grid in a single rotation
+96.50% default RTP, above the market average for this format
+Uncapped free spins retriggers, which leaves the door open to genuinely long bonus rounds

To consider

−Maximum win limited to 2,700x, a very low ceiling for a title still being promoted in 2026
−Roughly one bonus every 204 spins: the dry stretches are long and expensive
−The multiplier reel mostly hands out single and double-digit values; the 200x stays anecdotal
−No bonus buy option, so there is no way to force a trigger when the base game goes quiet
−95.50% and 96.5% RTP builds circulate at some operators — check the game rules before you stake

Understanding 5 Lions Dance

Released in September 2020, 5 Lions Dance arrived two years after the original 5 Lions and quietly redrew the geometry of the series. The 243-ways grid is gone: this one plays across five reels of four rows, giving 1,024 possible combinations with no lines to activate. The backdrop is a rooftop terrace of Chinese architecture, drums and lanterns behind, with the lion dance itself front of stage. Pragmatic Play has recycled that dressing a good dozen times since, but the execution holds up and the game runs cleanly on mobile. Two mechanics actually carry the session. The first is the Lion Reel Bonus. It fires as soon as three or more Lion Reel symbols land on the same spin. Reels 1 and 2 then merge into a single oversized reel showing nothing but multipliers: 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, 75x, 100x, 150x or 200x. One spin is played, whichever multiplier stops in position pays your stake, and that is the end of it. No picks, no wheel, no ladder to climb. That bluntness has one merit — you know immediately what you won — and one flaw: the distribution leans heavily towards the bottom of the table. The 200x is genuinely in the pool, but treat it as an outlier rather than a target. The second mechanic is the free spins round. Three drum scatters, landing specifically on reels 1, 3 and 5, award 10 free spins. During those spins, once the wins from the rotation have been paid, every lion head on the grid transforms into the same randomly chosen lion. That is where the real sequences come from: when the conversion picks the golden lion while the grid is loaded with heads, all 1,024 ways fill in one go. Scatters keep dropping during the feature and retriggers are not capped. On the numbers, the default RTP is 96.50%, Pragmatic Play's house figure. One caveat: the studio also ships 95.50% and 94.50% builds, and some operators install them without flagging it clearly. Stakes run from 0.20 to 100 per spin, and the win is capped at 2,700 times the bet, so 270,000 at the theoretical maximum. That ceiling is the most dated thing about the game: acceptable on a 2020 Pragmatic release, it looks cramped now that 5,000x and 15,000x have become the norm. There is a genuine trade-off, though — volatility stays medium and mid-sized wins arrive more often than on high-ceiling titles. Expect a free spins trigger roughly every 204 spins, and a one-in-638,104 chance of clearing 1,000x.

Features in detail

▸Lion Reel Bonus: three or more Lion Reel symbols merge reels 1 and 2 into a multiplier reel running from 5x to 200x, paid on a single spin with no respin.
▸10 free spins triggered by three drum scatters landing on reels 1, 3 and 5, with unlimited retriggers as long as the scatter combination keeps returning.
▸Lion transformation: on every free spin, once the win is settled, all visible lion heads on the grid become one single randomly drawn lion symbol.
▸1,024 ways to win spread over five reels and four rows, with no paylines to select: symbols pay left to right on adjacent reels.
▸A golden ball wild that substitutes for every symbol except the drum scatter and the Lion Reel trigger symbol.
▸Stakes from 0.20 to 100 per spin, for a maximum win capped at 2,700 times the amount wagered, meaning 270,000 at the ceiling.

❓Frequently asked questions about 5 Lions Dance

What is the RTP of 5 Lions Dance?▾

The default return to player published by Pragmatic Play is 96.

50%. As on most of its titles, the studio also offers configurable 95. 50% and 94. 50% variants, chosen by the operator at installation. The figure actually in force is shown in the game's help pages at the casino where you play, and that is the only source that counts.

What is the maximum win on 5 Lions Dance?▾

The ceiling is 2,700 times your stake.

At the maximum bet of 100, that comes to 270,000. It is a low cap by Pragmatic Play's current standards, and it should be read as a balancing decision: the game returns more through mid-sized wins rather than concentrating its potential in one near-unreachable event.

How do you trigger the free spins in 5 Lions Dance?▾

You need three drum scatters at the same time, and specifically on reels 1, 3 and 5.

No other position counts. The trigger awards 10 free spins, and scatters keep appearing during the feature to top the counter back up, with no limit on the number of retriggers.

What exactly does the Lion Reel Bonus do?▾

When three or more Lion Reel symbols land on the same spin, the first two reels merge into an oversized reel filled with multipliers.

A single rotation is played and the multiplier shown is applied to your stake. The possible values are 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, 75x, 100x, 150x and 200x.

Can you buy the bonus on 5 Lions Dance?▾

No.

5 Lions Dance has no bonus buy function, unlike 5 Lions Megaways or 5 Lions Reborn. Both the free spins and the Lion Reel Bonus have to trigger naturally during play. It is one of the clearest dividing lines between this title and the more recent entries in the series.

Is 5 Lions Dance a high volatility slot?▾

No, it sits in the middle.

Specialist databases rate it around 3 out of 5. With a 2,700x ceiling and a bonus roughly every 204 spins, the risk profile is considerably gentler than 5 Lions Megaways 2. Sessions stay readable, but four-figure multipliers are vanishingly rare: a one-in-638,104 chance of clearing 1,000x.

How does it differ from 5 Lions and 5 Lions Gold?▾

5 Lions, from 2018, offers 243 ways on a 5x3 grid and a plain free spins round with random multipliers.

5 Lions Gold adds a Hold and Win mechanic with four fixed jackpots. 5 Lions Dance widens the grid to four rows for 1,024 ways and introduces the multiplier reel. All three share the theme, but not the rhythm of play at all.