Avalon II: The Quest for the Grail (Microgaming) RTP review: 95.92%
Microgaming's 2013 epic, built as a quest
Avalon II arrived in 2013 carrying ambitions no slot had really attempted: a bonus system structured as an actual journey. Where its 2006 predecessor was a solid wild-multiplier game, the sequel staked everything on the Grail Bonus — an eight-stage quest that carries you through named episodes of Arthurian legend, from early dice-and-pick stages like the Lake of Legend toward destination rounds such as Morgan's Keep and the Isle of Avalon. Each visit to the bonus advances you further along the map, so the game rewards persistence the way its stablemate Immortal Romance does with its chambers, but with a stronger sense of place: you are not unlocking modes, you are travelling somewhere. A decade of slot design has borrowed from this structure; few games have matched its commitment to it.
What the quest actually contains
The stages alternate formats — dice rolls, pick rounds, wheel spins and three distinct free-spins episodes with their own modifiers, including rolling-reels rounds where consecutive wins climb in value. Along the way the base game runs 243 ways across 5×3, with an expanding wild and Merlin popping in at random to award small treats. The variety is the point: an evening in Avalon II can involve half a dozen different mini-games, which in 2013 felt like a board game smuggled into a slot and still gives it more texture than most modern releases. The 16,200x ceiling is startlingly large for a medium-volatility game — a consequence of how the later quest stages can compound — though reaching deep stages takes many bonus visits.
The terms of entry
The 95.92% RTP is a single fixed build — no operator ladder to audit, slightly under the 96% line — and stakes run a restrained $0.30 to $30. The real cost of Avalon II is time: the quest structure only pays its dividends if you return often enough to progress, and a player who drops in for twenty spins sees the game at its weakest, all base-game patience and no pageantry. It is also unapologetically pre-mobile-era in pacing, with bonus episodes that take their time. Whether that reads as stately or slow depends entirely on what you came for.
Strengths
- Eight-stage Grail quest remains one of slot design's great bonus structures
- Huge stage variety: dice, picks, wheels and three free-spins formats
- 16,200x ceiling is exceptional for medium volatility; single fixed RTP build
Weaknesses
- 95.92% sits just under the industry line
- Quest progression demands committed, repeated play
- Deliberate pacing and $30 stake cap feel dated
How Avalon II: The Quest for the Grail compares
The Grail quest beside the other Games Global monuments and their modern rivals.
| Slot | Provider | RTP | Volatility | Max win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon II: The Quest for the Grail (this slot) | Microgaming | 95.92% | Medium | 16,200x |
| Immortal Romance | Microgaming | 96.86% | High | 12,150x |
| Thunderstruck II | Microgaming | 96.65% | Medium | 8,000x |
| Couch Potato | Microgaming | 97.43% | Medium | 1,500x |
| Mega Moolah | Microgaming | 88.12% | Medium | 11,250x |
Verdict: the board game hiding inside a slot
Skip if: you want quick hits — the quest gives nothing to drop-in play
Avalon II is Microgaming's elaborate Arthurian epic and the sequel to the original Avalon, a 243-ways game built around an eight-stage Grail Bonus where each stage (Misty Vale, Whispering Woods, Dusky Moors and so on) unlocks a different free-spins or pick feature, supported by Rolling Reels cascades and a random Merlin bonus. The 95.92% RTP is a little under the modern 96% benchmark — typical of its 2013 vintage — and it is a single fixed build, so the figure is consistent wherever you play. Volatility sits at Medium (3/5), yet the maximum win is a notably large 16,200x, an unusually high ceiling for a mid-variance slot, because the layered free-spins stages can compound. It suits players who enjoy progression-style bonus journeys and strong production values over raw volatility, and it remains a rare medium-variance game with genuine big-win potential; the honest caveat is the slightly dated sub-96% RTP.