Kingfisher Rising Slot Review 2026

Kingfisher Slot Quick Overview

Kingfisher Rising slot is the second installment in the Wishbone slot series of the same name, which launched in September 2024.

The game brings back the beloved Kingfisher character in its natural setting, although at a different time of day. More importantly, it keeps the simple 5x4 grid, with 20 fixed paylines and a $0.20–$40 betting range, the perfect background for the egg-cracking mechanic and four bonus modifiers to shine.

With a slightly higher RTP (96.25%), volatility (medium-to-high), and maximum win (6,000x) than its prequel, it’s an exciting slot to try, whether you’ve played the original or not.

Kingfisher Rising Slot Demo

Soon, we'll have a Kingfisher Rising slot demo for you to try out for free.

Behind the Scenes: The Story of Kingfisher Rising

The Kingfisher Rising slot game launched only a few months after the original, owing to its unexpected popularity. The team behind the game credits its unique protagonist and mechanics for the success.

According to Henna Vilimi and her colleagues from Wishbone, the idea for a game centered around a quirky bird came about at the end of 2023. It made such an impression within the company that the team immediately flew to Cardiff to brainstorm fitting mechanics. Teamwork led to the egg-cracking visuals and four modification features that so many players have come to love.

After the fantastic reaction to Kingfisher, releasing Kingfisher Rising seemed like an obvious choice. The creators made sure to bring back all the player-favorite features, with a few upgrades. The new game includes respins of all 4 bonus modifications, and a super feature hit rate lowered by about 2,000 spins so that more players could experience both. 

Unsurprisingly, Kingfisher Rising overtook the original as Wishbone’s top-performing slot in no time.

Where to Play the Kingfisher Rising Casino Game?

My go-to spot for playing the Kingfisher Rising slot online is BetMGM Casino. First and foremost, this casino is licensed and regulated in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, which gives you the reassurance of state oversight if you’re playing from any of those markets, and it is home to some of the best casino slot games from industry-leading developers.

Another huge plus is the BetMGM Casino welcome bonus, which you can get when you use our BetMGM promo code WSNCASINO. The casino offers a $25 no deposit and 100% deposit match up to $1,000, which can help you make the most of your Kingfisher Rising gameplay. If you are in West Virginia that bonus becomes $50 no deposit, 100% deposit match up to $2,500 and you get 50 bonus spins.

The $25 deal will be credited right after registration, so you can test the game without dipping into your bankroll. If you like it, a $10 minimum deposit can help you trigger the rest of the offer, fuel more Kingfisher Rising spins, and stack up some wins.

With a 1x rollover on the no deposit bonus and 15x on the match, the wagering shouldn’t feel like a chore. I enjoyed my Kingfisher Rising slot experience throughout and cashed out in a flash.

Kingfisher Rising Slot RTP, Payout, and Volatility

The Kingfisher Rising slot has a return to player (RTP) of 96.25%, medium-to-high volatility, and a maximum payout potential of 6,000x. All these numbers are fairly standard on paper, so let’s consider what they mean in real play.

The RTP is higher than in the first Kingfisher slot (96.14%), which softens the game's risk profile, but it doesn’t feel much different in practice. 

However, the slight rise in volatility compared to the original results in more dramatic swings, making the gameplay more dynamic. You’ll sit through longer dry spells, which can test your patience if you play cautiously, but the payoff will pack more of a punch when it finally hits.

The 6,000x max win, which is 700x higher than the OG Kingfisher’s, definitely feels worth chasing. While it’s easier to reach it with the help of bonus features, the base game can still deliver the 6,000x payout through a 5-Scatter combination. With the highest bet size ($40), that’s $240,000 on a single spin, far more weight than you’d expect from such a simple base game.

Kingfisher Rising Bonus Features

The bonus features drive gameplay, whether in Kingfisher Rising free play or real-money mode. Here’s what they are and how they work.

Wilds

Wilds are crown symbols that substitute for all others, except Scatters and Special symbols. In doing so, they help you complete winning combinations and score more rewards. They’re also the highest-paying symbols in the Kingfisher Rising slot paytable and the easiest to land out of all bonus features in the game, in my experience.

Scatters and the Egg-Cracking Mechanism

Scatters are Kingfisher symbols that can trigger the bonus round if they land on specific reels enough times. Each time a Kingfisher lands, it pecks the egg above the reel it hit. The more an egg is pecked, the more cracked it becomes, until it finally opens and launches the bonus round.

Theoretically, more than one egg can crack at once, in which case, you get 3 more free spins per extra egg, along with whatever special features it offers. However, this hasn’t happened for me, neither during my Kingfisher Rising slot demo nor real-money play, although I’ve put in plenty of spins.

Bonus Round

The Bonus Round awards 10 free spins for all eggs but the Golden one, which awards 19 free spins. During these, Fish and Upgrade Symbols fill the grid, so that the Kingfisher can collect them. Fish symbols hold values between 0.20x and 1,000x, and Upgrade symbols improves the gameplay in different ways.

I expected the bonus round to be harder to launch, but I managed to do it four times over a short spinning session. Changing the bet size didn’t seem to matter. The eggs broke just as easily on the lowest stakes as on the highest, which means anyone can get in on the action, just like the Wishbone team promised.

Bonus Enhancements and Modifiers

The enhancements available during your bonus round depend on the egg that cracked open to launch it.

• The Red Egg (reel 1) features the Multiplier Enhancement, which starts at 2x and increases by 1x with each new X symbol that lands on the grid, until it reaches 5x. Its multiplier applies to every Fish and Upgrade symbol that Kingfisher collects.

• The Green Egg (reel 2) features the Adder Enhancement, which starts at 1x and increases by 1x with each new Plus symbol that lands on the grid until it reaches 5x. Its total increases with every Fish and Upgrade symbol Kingfisher collects.

• The Blue Egg (reel 4) features the Symbol Upgrade Modifier, which activates each time an Arrow symbol lands. It adds value to the lowest-paying symbols that appear in the bonus round, starting with 10s, followed by Jacks, Queens, and Kings.  

• The Purple Egg (reel 5) features the Respin Upgrade Modifier, which triggers whenever a Heart symbol drops. It locks all existing Fish and Upgrade symbols and spins the rest of the grid until you run out of respins or the entire grid is filled with Fish and Upgrades. The Kingfisher collects all their values at the end of the round.

• The Golden Egg (reel 3) triggers all 4 Enhancements at once, and allows you to increase their value. 

The Golden Egg is supposed to be the longest and most rewarding bonus round, but I never managed to activate it myself. The Purple Egg, on the other hand, opened 4 times, stretching the bonus round over more respins than I could count.

Kingfisher Rising User Experience

Playing the Kingfisher Rising slot online proved to be more fun than I expected. While the game centers around a well-explored theme of fishing, it does so in a completely fresh way. The only reason you could find it stale is if you’ve already played a lot of the original Kingfisher game, since this one recycles many of its elements.

There’s no denying, though, that Kingfisher is a great protagonist, not only because it’s a bird that happens to be good at fishing, but also because of how involved it is in the gameplay. It drives the anticipation in the base game by pecking the eggs and counts winnings for you during bonus rounds rather than just sitting next to the grid, as is often the case in themed slots.

Kingfisher Rising’s cartoonish graphics and simple animations didn’t blow me away, but their unpretentiousness kept the gameplay in focus, which is something I can appreciate. They also held up well across Android and Apple devices and, paired with the clean layout, made the game easy to navigate and play.

The soundtrack may be out of place in the game's natural setting, but that’s more of a subjective preference than a dealbreaker.

Kingfisher Rising Final Thoughts

After my Kingfisher Rising slot review, it’s easy to see how the game got so popular within a short time. 

The soundtrack isn’t my favorite, but the simple visuals and neat layout work as well on my phone as they do on desktop. 

The fun twist on the fishing theme and unique bonus features, like the egg-cracking mechanic, are enough to entice any slot player, especially when they’re coming from Wishbone, which focuses on fruits and gems in the majority of its releases. 

Add the solid 96.25% RTP, medium-to-high volatility, and 6,000x max win into the mix, and the game becomes a no-brainer. I was immersed in the play from start to finish and ended multiple sessions with a great win multiplier, thanks to how easy it was to trigger the bonus round with basically any bet size.

Unless you’re burned out on the original Kingfisher slot, which shares most of its design with this sequel, chances are you’ll have fun spinning the Kingfisher Rising’s reels.