Pragmatic Play’s Coven Rising Casts a Cluster-Pays Spell
Pragmatic Play has gathered four witches around a glowing spell circle for its latest release, and the result is one of the studio’s stranger-looking grids in recent memory. Coven Rising trades the usual reels-and-rows layout for a lopsided circular board, with each witch on hand to trigger a different kind of magic as the game unfolds.
What’s been released
Pragmatic Play has released Coven Rising, an unorthodox slot where players assume the role of witches casting forbidden spells, with mystical runes appearing across the reels as witches activate special powers that can determine whether the ritual is a success.
The theme leans firmly into occult and fantasy territory, with
a rugged wasteland backdrop and a unique circular grid filled with glowing crystals, mysterious runes, and four elemental spellcasters flanking the board
.
The game went live on 17 September 2026, according to slot database listings tracking the release, and is available through Pragmatic Play’s network of licensed UK operators alongside the studio’s usual demo-play option.
How it plays
The headline feature is the grid itself.
Coven Rising uses a unique 1-4-7-6-7-6-7-4-1 grid, built around invoking forbidden powers that turn into payouts.
Rather than fixed paylines,
each position spins independently on the grid, where blanks with no value can land alongside paying symbols.
Wins come from clusters rather than lines:
as the reels spin, various runes fall into place, and clusters of five or more matching symbols award wins, after which all winning symbols are respun, allowing for more wins to take place during the same spin.
Symbols can also grow in strength the longer they survive on the board, adding a levelling element on top of the respins.
The real engine of the game sits in the centre of the grid.
Special modifier symbols can land on the central grid position, each activating a different modifier for the current spin, with one of four standard or four enhanced modifiers able to trigger during the base and bonus games, collecting coin values up to 500x, upgrading the value of paying symbols, transforming blanks to paying symbols, or adding wilds to the grid.
That centre spot doesn’t sit still either, since
it also respins following every win.
Free spins arrive via scatters:
landing 3-6 scatter symbols triggers the bonus game with 12-24 free spins.
Pragmatic Play’s own materials also flag a Super Free Spins variant, which removes blank outcomes from the central position so the witches’ powers fire more consistently throughout the round. Third-party trackers list the game’s default return at 96.42 per cent with medium volatility and a maximum win around 5,000 times the stake, though as with most Pragmatic Play titles, operators can offer alternative RTP configurations.
Where it fits
Coven Rising lands hot on the heels of Pragmatic Play’s Lucky Drums 88 and Helios – Triple Sun, underlining just how quickly the studio is cycling through wildly different visual identities and mechanics at the moment. Where those titles leaned on straightforward reel layouts, Coven Rising’s circular, unevenly-sized grid puts it closer in spirit to the studio’s more experimental cluster-based releases, giving UK players used to Pragmatic Play’s Megaways and Hold & Win staples something structurally different to get to grips with. For an operator roster already stacked with witch and occult themes, the appeal here is less the setting and more the respinning centre mechanic, which gives an otherwise familiar cluster-pays format a fresh focal point.
