The Green Knight saga, ranked: which of the three quests pays best
The scribe rides Play'n GO's cursed forest thrice and returns with figures.
Play'n GO has struck the Green Knight three times in four years, which in a market that mostly strikes once is close to devotion. The three quests share a forest, a colour and a temperament, and they do not share a return: the gap between the best and the worst of them is two full percentage points, which is a great deal more than it sounds.
The three quests, side by side
The three quests, with the figures the workshop published. The Green Knight — struck 2021-03-04, 94.25% published RTP, high volatility. Return of The Green Knight — struck 2023-10-05, 96.27% published RTP, high volatility. The Green Knight Oath of Thorns — struck 2025-07-14, 94.27% published RTP, high volatility.
Every figure above is the one the workshop published, copied out of the saga chapter of the register. Casinos may run a lower certified setting of any of them.
The 2021 original: the shape of the thing
The first quest set the pattern — sticky wilds, a free-spins round whose multiplier climbs as you go deeper, and a base game deliberately thin so that the round has something to be. At 94.25% it is also the second-least generous of the three on paper, and being first is not a defence: the same studio proved two years later that the pattern works at over 96%.
Who it still suits: players who want the original art and do not care about two points. That is a smaller group than it used to be.
Return of The Green Knight: the one to ride
The 2023 sequel is the outlier of the trio and the reason this ranking exists. It adds a level-up meter to the sticky-wild engine, keeps the same high volatility, and publishes at 96.27% — two points above the original and two above the third quest. Two percentage points of return is not a rounding error; over the turnover of a serious session it is the difference between a bonus that pays for itself and one that does not.
If you ride one Green Knight, ride this one. The other two are the same forest at a worse price.
Oath of Thorns: prettier, not richer
The 2025 quest is the most elaborate of the three — guaranteed wilds in the round, symbol collection, wilds carrying their own multipliers — and it publishes at 94.27%, essentially level with the 2021 original. That is the honest summary: more machinery, same price as the first quest, worse price than the second.
The ranking
First, Return of The Green Knight — 96.27%, the only one of the three that pays a market-normal return. Second, The Green Knight Oath of Thorns — 94.27%, the richest feature set, at a price. Third, The Green Knight — 94.25%, the original, and now the one with the least reason to exist.
All three are declared high volatility, which means the session shape is the same in every case: long stretches of nothing, then a round that settles the account. Set the limit before you enter the wood. Play is R18, and if it stops being fun, the Gambling Helpline (NZ) is free and confidential on 0800 654 655.