What we like / What could be better
What we like
- A 10,000x ceiling is one of the higher caps in BGaming's current catalogue
- 98 % RTP sits above the 95-96 % band most pokies run at
- The Merge Up mechanic gives every cascade a visible reason to keep climbing
- Three Bonus Buy options let you choose how you enter the feature instead of waiting on the Scatter
- Cell Multipliers up to x128 mean a mid-size cluster can still turn into a real result
What could be better
- Very-high volatility means long stretches with no meaningful return; size your bankroll for that before you start
- Bonus Buy costs real money upfront and doesn't guarantee a bigger result than the base game would eventually give you
- The 6x6 grid gets visually busy once Bomb symbols and Cell Multipliers stack mid-cascade
What Merge Up 2 Actually Is
BGaming released Merge Up 2 on 28 October 2025 (2025-10-28) as a gem-themed match-three style arcade pokie and the sequel to the studio's original Merge Up. Instead of paylines, the slot runs on a 6x6 grid with cluster pays: land four or more matching gems touching each other and they pay out, then clear the board for a cascade.
What separates Merge Up 2 from a standard cluster grinder is the merge itself. Matching symbols don't just disappear, they combine into the next tier of gem and climb a value ladder as the reel keeps cascading. Add Bomb symbols, a Scatter-triggered free spins round, Cell Multipliers running up to x128 and a Chance x2 feature, and you've got a pokie built around one long escalating combo rather than a string of small, separate wins.
Betting runs from A$0.25 to A$25.00 per spin, and BGaming rates it very-high volatility with a 98 % RTP. Both numbers matter more here than in most pokies, because of where this game is actually going: a 10,000x ceiling.
The 10,000x Ceiling: What It Actually Pays
Ten thousand times your stake sounds abstract until you put a number against it. Here's what that ceiling means at different bet sizes:
| Stake per spin | Payout at the 10,000x ceiling |
|---|---|
| A$0.25 | A$2,500 |
| A$1.00 | A$10,000 |
| A$5.00 | A$50,000 |
| A$25.00 | A$250,000 |
That range from A$2,500 to A$250,000 is the whole point of a very-high volatility cluster pokie like this one. The bigger your stake, the bigger the number on that top line, but your bankroll drains at the same multiplied rate too. A 6x6 game with a cap this large is built to pay small and mid-size clusters most of the time, with the ceiling sitting well past what most players will see in a single session.
That's the practical reason to size your stake around how many spins you can afford to run, not around how big you'd like the ceiling payout to be. A$25 bets chase a A$250,000 number fast and burn a bankroll faster. A$0.25 to A$1 stakes buy you the volume a very-high volatility cluster pokie actually needs to see its bigger multipliers land.
The Merge Up Mechanic and Cell Multipliers Up to x128
The Merge Up mechanic is the reason the game carries its name. When matching gems form a cluster, they don't just vanish for a payout, they merge into the next tier of symbol and stay on the grid at a higher value. Land another matching cluster on the upgraded symbol during the same cascade and it merges again, so one spin can chain through several upgrades before the board settles.
Cell Multipliers sit on top of that ladder. Certain positions on the 6x6 grid carry a multiplier that grows as symbols land and merge on them, scaling all the way up to x128. Combine a late-stage merged symbol with a cell sitting at a high multiplier and you get the kind of spike that a very-high volatility, 10,000x-capped pokie needs to justify the label. Most spins won't reach anywhere near x128, but it's the mechanic doing the heavy lifting when a big win does land.
Bomb Symbols and the Cluster Grind
Bomb symbols land on the grid and clear a patch of cells around them when they detonate, feeding fresh symbols into spots that might not otherwise have formed a cluster. On a cluster pays game, that matters: cascades only keep going while new matches keep forming, and a stalled board just ends the sequence early.
In practice, Bomb symbols are one of the tools that keep a merge chain alive a beat longer, which is also what gives Cell Multipliers more chances to stack before the spin resolves. They don't guarantee a bigger result on their own, but they're part of why Merge Up 2's cascades tend to run longer than a plain 4-of-a-kind cluster slot.
Free Spins and the Scatter Trigger
Merge Up 2 includes a Scatter-triggered free spins round alongside the base game's cluster mechanic. Landing the required Scatter symbols hands you a set of spins where the merge chain and Cell Multipliers keep building without a new stake being deducted each time, which is where a very-high volatility game like this one tends to produce its more memorable results.
Because the base game already carries Bomb symbols and merging clusters, the free spins round is less about a separate bonus game and more about giving the same mechanics extra room to compound. It's the natural way BGaming built in a payout spike for players who'd rather wait on the Scatter than pay for entry through Bonus Buy.
Bonus Buy: Three Ways to Skip the Wait
For players who don't want to wait on a natural Scatter trigger, Merge Up 2 ships with three separate Bonus Buy configurations. Each one pays directly for entry into the feature round instead of leaving it to chance during base game spins.
Buying in doesn't change the game's RTP promise or guarantee a result bigger than what the base game might eventually deliver. It changes when you get there. If your priority is seeing the merge mechanic and Cell Multipliers in action without grinding through dry spins first, Bonus Buy is built for exactly that. If you'd rather keep your stake working across ordinary spins and let the Scatter land on its own terms, skip it.
RTP 98%: What the Number Means Over Time
A 98 % RTP means that, over a very large number of spins, the game is designed to return A$98 for every A$100 staked. Most pokies sit closer to a 95 to 96 % band, so Merge Up 2's published figure is genuinely on the higher side for the category.
What it doesn't mean is that any single session lands near 98 %. RTP is a long-run average built from millions of spins across every player who's ever touched the game, not a promise about the next ten minutes. Paired with very-high volatility, a strong RTP figure like this one tends to show up as bigger, rarer wins rather than a steady trickle of small ones. That combination is exactly why the stake-sizing question in this review matters more than the headline RTP figure on its own.
How Merge Up 2 Compares to the Rest of the Series
Merge Up 2 is a direct sequel, and the comparison that matters most is against the original Merge Up. The first game introduced the merging cluster idea; this version adds the Cell Multiplier ladder up to x128, Bomb symbols and three Bonus Buy options on top of it, pushing both the ceiling and the volatility higher than the original release.
Against the wider BGaming catalogue, a lower-volatility comparison point is Elvis Frog in Vegas, which pays more often for smaller amounts and suits players who find a very-high volatility, 10,000x-capped game too dry between wins. If you liked the merging idea in the first Merge Up but want the studio's steepest volatility tier, this sequel is the upgrade. If you found the original already testing your patience, it's worth trying the demo before committing real stakes here.
Demo Mode: Play Merge Up 2 Free First
Most operators carrying BGaming's catalogue list a demo or free-play version of Merge Up 2 in the lobby, running on play credits instead of real money. It's the fastest way to see the merge mechanic, the Cell Multiplier ladder and how Bomb symbols behave in a live cascade before you decide how much of your own bankroll to put behind it.
Demo mode won't show you the game's real hit frequency in the short term any better than a real-money session would; very-high volatility games need volume to show their pattern either way. What it will show you is the pacing, the visual noise once multipliers stack mid-cascade, and whether the merge-and-upgrade loop is one you actually want to sit through for the chance at that 10,000x number.
Playing Merge Up 2 for Real Money in Australia
Once you've tried the demo, playing for real money on Merge Up 2 comes down to picking an operator that carries BGaming's catalogue and takes Australian players. Cashiers serving this market commonly run on PayID and Osko for bank transfers, alongside the usual e-wallet and crypto options; credit cards have been off the table here since June 2024.
The list below covers operators currently offering Merge Up 2, with what each one runs for deposits. This page carries affiliate links, and the game is rated 18+. If a session ever stops feeling like fun, Gambling Help Online (gamblinghelponline.org.au) is free and confidential.
How to Set Your Stake: Spins Before Sums
The single most useful thing you can do before spinning Merge Up 2 for real money is work backwards from spin count, not from the ceiling. A very-high volatility, 10,000x-capped cluster pokie needs volume to show its pattern, and a bankroll that runs out after 40 spins never gets there.
A rough way to plan it: decide how many spins you want your session to cover, then divide your bankroll by that number to find your stake. A$50 across 200 spins puts you at A$0.25 a spin, well inside the range where the game's very-high volatility has room to swing without ending your session in the first few minutes. A$50 across 10 spins at A$5 each is a different game entirely, closer to a straight gamble on early variance than a way to see the merge mechanic and Cell Multipliers actually build.
None of this changes what any individual spin does. The outcome of each spin is independent of your stake pattern, your session length, or anything you did on the last one. Sizing your bet just decides how many chances you give the mechanic to show up before your bankroll runs out.