Dragonz slot is an enjoyable 243 Ways to Win slot for low-stakes players

There's lots of famous dragons nowadays and for the most part, the poor creatures are generally being slain by some annoying doo-gooder. From being the symbol on the Welsh flag, to being a recurring theme throughout literature and mythology, dragons do hold a peculiar fascination to us humans, alongside other mythical beasts like Unicorns, the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.

To celebrate this, Microgaming released the Dragonz slot a little while back now and I have to admit to having a bit of a soft spot for this slot. Admittedly, it isn't the cheapest to play, with spins starting at 0.40 per spin, so it's not ideal for micro-stakes players, but if you are happy to stump up the cost, you'll find yourself playing one of the most enjoyable slots I've come across in a while.

It's a 243 Ways to Win slot too, rather than individual pay lines, which does explain why the price per spin is a little higher than usual and the jackpot can go up to 3,583 times your bet size, which can be a considerable sum regardless of the size of your bet.

So how does the Dragonz slot shape up? We decided to take a look and find out.

Overview

• Game: Dragonz
• Developer: Microgaming
• Reels: 5x3
• Pay Lines: 243 Ways to Win
• Minimum Bet: 0.40
• Maximum Bet: 30.00
• Jackpot: 3,583x
• Free Spins Bonus: Yes (multiple)
• Other Bonuses: Yes (included in the Free Spins games)
• Progressive: No
• Volatility: Medium

Presentation

The presentation of the Dragonz slot is simple, but very effective. The backdrop is what appears to be a dragon's cave, set against a rather ethereal and beautiful green and rocky landscape. The reels are set in the middle of this and all the main controls of the slot are all at the foot of the reels. It is a clean and very colourful set up.

The soundtrack of the slot is also very different to the blood and thunder you would tend to associate with other dragon slot games. It is a very relaxing, ambient soundtrack but which kicks into a higher tempo track once you start triggering some of the more impressive bonuses in the game. When you see the Dragonz on the reels too, this 3D element adds a great deal to the game and makes it very eye-catching.

What is on the reels?

There are ten standard symbols on the reels, plus a couple of other symbols that unlock the main bonuses of the Dragonz slot. The lower value symbols are the playing card symbols which run from the 9 through to the ace. Unfortunately, the lowest value pays on the slot are not great value at around 1/8^th of your total bet and you really need to hit five of these symbols to stand any chance of landing a profit on the spin, but this does happen more frequently on 243 Ways to Win slots, than on traditional pay line slots.

The four different dragons in the game are the higher value symbols. Frost and Gobble which are the blue and green coloured dragons pay less than the other two dragons, Flint and Switch (red and purple).

Alongside these symbols are the two symbols that activate the main bonuses in the slot, the Scatter symbol and the Wild and we will look at the latter first.

Wild features

The Wild symbol is simply the word Wild and it appears across all five reels. It can substitute for all standard symbols apart from the Scatter and it is also the highest paying symbol on the reel paying 15x your total bet for five across the reels.

One nice touch is that the Wild also offers an additional bonus on a non-winning spin. If you can land a Wild on the third reel and your spin is not a winner, then further Wilds will be added to the other reels in order to guarantee you a win and they can replace any of the other symbols on the reels to ensure that win.

Free Spins features

The Scatter symbol is a rather unusual orb and you can earn up to 100x your bet by landing five on the reels, with 10x your bet for four and 2x your bet for three. You earn your bet back if you land two. However, land three or more of these Scatter symbols and you trigger the Free Spins bonus game.

In this section you have a chance to play one of four different and randomly selected Free Spins bonus games, each of which is based on one of the four dragons in the slot.

The Flint Free Spins is based on the red dragon and with this you get 10 Free Spins with Flaming Wilds on the reels, which sees Flint able to add random Wilds onto the reels on each spin, with up to 10 Wilds on the reels possible. The number of Wilds flint can fire increases with each Free Spin.

The Switch Free Spins is the purple dragon's offering and this sees you have Stashed Wilds as your bonus. In this game any non-winning Wilds landed on the reels are stored by Switch and then when he has collected three or more Wilds, he will distribute them onto the reels to give you a winning combination. You will continue beyond your 10 Free Spins until any collected Wilds are used and offer you a pay out.

The Frost Free Spins bonus features the blue and white dragon and this gives you Frosty Wilds as your extra bonus. In this bonus Frost will freeze non-winning Wilds on the reels in place for consecutive spins until they form part of a win.

The Gobble Free Spins bonus is the green dragons offering and this features Winning Wilds. Gobble will spit random Wilds on the reels on your bonus spins and then they will remain in place until they are no longer part of a winning combination.

Best feature of the Dragonz slot

There's no doubt that the Dragonz slot is all about the fantastic Free Spins bonus round, but the Wild bonus, especially when it triggers from that third reel, is also good value and can see you land some very nice bonus base game wins. However, it is the Free Spins bonuses that really make the slot shine and are what will attract players to play the game and then keep them playing once they have enjoyed a few spins.

Conclusion

Although the base game on the Dragonz slot isn't really that exciting, the four different Free Spins bonus games and the associated bonuses within each of those games, makes this a hugely enjoyable slot to play and at times, it can be very rewarding too. With sumptuous graphics and sound, this is a game that ticks all the right boxes and is one that deserves its success.

You can play Dragonz slot at any of the Mega Moolah casinos.