📍Top NZ Online Casinos Feature Merge Up for Real Money

Merge Up is inspired by the glamorous gems that often find a place in many similar online pokies and boasts powerful Cluster Pays mechanics. The engine brings cascading reels and symbol progressions of 9 levels. If you are curious to find more, play the Merge Up demo for free or continue with my dedicated pokie review!

Merge Up Pokie’s Developer

BGaming is a renowned iGaming developer from Malta with more than 200 Provably Fair and RNG-tested games in its fold. The company made its debut in 2018 and is run by a team of professionals with several decades of online gambling experience. BGaming has global coverage and currently supplies over 1,000 licensed casino sites. It has been approved by multiple iGaming authorities, BMM Testlabs, and iTech Labs. 

💰 Max win Ever on Merge Up slot

Merge Up comes with a sweet win cap of 5,000x the stake, which can reach a maximum payout of NZ$250,000. That’s not bad for a casino game that lacks fixed and progressive jackpots, although we’ve seen better. Several decent cascade chains have been streamed online, including an insane €89,014 or a total bet multiplier of 4,451x registered on the 26th of January 2024.

Merge Up Online Pokie Pros & Cons

🕹️ How to Play Merge Up Slot Game

Merge Up is a cascading online pokie built on the idea of merging mechanics. The grid comes with 6 reels and 6 rows, but what lies beneath is important. Cluster Pays awards sweet prizes for any group of symbols of the same type, touching horizontally or vertically. Once that happens, a cascade will trigger, and the Merge Up feature will activate.

From my experience with the game, you’ll witness that pretty frequently, but I’ll leave the details for one of the following sections. Like pretty much all online slots directed by BGaming, Merge Up has a well-packed toolset – Autoplay with advanced settings, Quickspin, Sound FX, and more. The betting range consists of 18 stake levels between NZ$0.20 and NZ$50 per spin.

Symbols and Payouts

Merge Up is not like the other NZ pokies filled with gems and crystals, circling around the best casino sites for Kiwis! No, it comes with 9 symbols, from Level 1 to Level 9, and each one can progress to a higher level per cascade. Regulars land as shiny gems and pay according to the Paytable below, while Scatters don’t pay cash but summon Free Spins:

🎁 Merge Up Pokie Bonus Features

Merge Up lacks many and complex features, but from my point of view, after testing the pokie, it offers just the right amount. Kiwis will most certainly enjoy the frequently-timed rewards that come with those Gem progressions. Still, the lack of wild symbols and any random modifiers leaves an itch.

Merge Up Feature

Symbols are divided into 9 levels in the pokie from the lowest-valued Oval Orange to the multicolored Scatter. Four or more regular symbols of a kind form a cluster, pay the respective reward, and disappear to activate a cascade. New symbols will come from above to fill out the gaps, as usual, but the Cluster will leave a certain number of higher-level symbols.

The number of newly formed symbols after a Cluster merge depends on its size. The math is extremely straightforward here, dividing by 2 and no remainder. For example, a Cluster of 8 or 9 symbols will leave 4 of a higher level.

Free Spins

Scatters are the key to the bonus minigame, and you’ll need at least 4 in view! They can be formed as a result of the cluster merges or can drop as any regular symbol. The bonus round starts with 15, 18 or 20 free spins for 4, 5, or 6+ scatters in view and can be retriggered in the same fashion.

Moreover, the cells beneath a successfully formed Cluster are marked, and if another one occurs above them, a multiplier is attached. Its starting value is 2x and will increase by 2x for each new Cluster until the end of the Free Spins minigame. The maximum multiplier value for each cell is 128x, so you can imagine how fast payouts can escalate after a certain point!

Chance x2 & Bonus Buy

Chance x2 is a tool that increases the chance of dropping scatters during the base game. In return, the stake will be increased by 25%, which won’t affect regular payouts. At the same time, Kiwi players can instantly purchase the Free Spins minigame by activating Bonus Buy and paying 100x the current wager.

🔊 Gameplay, Graphics, Sounds, and Experience Playing Merge Up

Merge Up comes with a clean, shiny design and modern HTML5 optimization to fit the screen of any PC, Android, or iOS mobile device. The seemingly simple milky-green backdrop contains 3D triangles in different sizes, and such a setting has proven to be relaxing. This attention to detail has made BGaming one of the trending game suppliers nowadays.

Overall, the quality of graphics, animations, and sounds is up to par, and all features are easy to access. Two tabs hang to the left, allowing players to instantly trigger Bonus Buy or Chance x2. Both features may be prohibited in certain jurisdictions, but they are not in New Zealand, so Kiwis are free to use them!

💵 Play Merge Up for Real Money in New Zealand

New Zealand is heaven for online slots enthusiasts, thanks to the large number of premium-class casino sites and top-notch software suppliers. You can easily find a suitable venue in our list below, but before that, you need to consider safety as well. Licensing and technical security are first, but responsible gaming is also of the utmost importance!

🇳🇿 Best NZ Casino Site for Kiwis to play Merge Up for Real Money

The table below represents the best casino sites for NZ players checked and verified by our experienced associates. You’ll find excellent catalogs with online pokies and juicy bonuses with fair terms. My personal favorites are Jackpot City and SkyCity, but Wildz and LeoVegas also deserve attention. 

Here are the top 10 online casinos to play Merge Up for real money in New Zealand:

🎰 Other Slots Similar to Merge Up

In case Blade & Fangs is up to your taste, perhaps the other sophisticated titles in the table below will also get your attention. Those are not exactly Horror-themed NZ pokies, but the gameplay may become somewhat disturbing at times. However, these are some of the most brilliant spinners I’ve ever encountered:

🧑🏻‍⚖️ Pokies Expert’s Opinion About Merge Up Pokie Game

I’m proud to consider myself an iGaming veteran since I’ve spent many years on both sides of the fence. I still enjoy playing top-quality pokies and table classics, such as blackjack and poker. However, slots will always be my passion, and I have written more than a thousand reviews already. In order to deliver only the essentials and the right vibes, I use a carefully curated rating process perfected over the years.

Merge Up is not the brightest or most sophisticated spinning machine, and that’s for sure, but it does possess some unique qualities. The cluster-merging mechanics are quite intriguing and come with a staggering payout potential. Surely, the engine is quite difficult to develop, so I’ll disregard the minor flaws and rate the title 4.50 out of 5!

Merge Up NZ Online Pokie FAQs