Dragon Lines Slot Machine
There is no denying the popularity of Asian themed slots – with just about every software house producing one. This is a polished looking game, with attention to detail in the symbols and a feel to the game-play which suggests a live slot that has been transitioned to the online world. The dragon symbol on this game is the Chinese dragon from carnival celebrations. You’ll find this animated when involved in a win (which will be frequently), adding a splash of much needed colour to the game.
Remaining symbols are a little on the clichéd side, with fire-crackers, a golden urn, coin, lantern and traditional drum. The standard Ainsworth playing card symbols (which are not changed to suit the theme) are also included. If you are familiar with Ainsworth slots or those by Aristocrat then the sounds as the reels stop will already be familiar, this is a distinctive double click noise. Most of the other sounds are computer generated tunes, which change as you win larger amounts. The free spins round has a backing track, which is a mix of an intensive drum beat and traditional Chinese flutes.
There is nothing extra in the free spins round for this game, though the stacked dragon symbols on reels 2, 3 and 4 can help to bring in some bigger wins.
Setup and Play for Dragon Lines
The maximum lines available are 50 for this slot. While it is possible to lower these in increments (1, 10, 25, 40 or 50), I recommend that you stick to all 50. This makes full use of the stacked wilds, giving them the best chance to make up winning combinations with the regular symbols. You can gamble after a win, the gamble button on top of the ‘Play’ will flash, clicking this will bring up a screen showing a playing card. You can then choose to bet on red or black – or go for specific suits. Auto-play is available for up to 50 spins at a time.
Regular symbols are headed up by the golden urn with a top prize of 1000 coins for 5 on a line and 100 coins for just 4. Next comes the gold coin, worth 300 coins for 5, the drum and lantern (200) and the fire-crackers (150). There are playing card symbols ace through to 9, unusually the lowest symbol of all has a pay-out for just 2 (the nine) – all of the other symbols require 3 from the left hand reel in order to trigger a prize.
Dragons are wild in this game, substituting for all of the regular symbols, though not the scatter symbols. These are stacked, often covering all 3 positions on the reels. This gives them the potential to make up multiple wins, especially when you play the maximum (50) lines. Scatters are a richly decorated yin-yang symbol. These trigger the free spins game, and also have prizes of their own. 5 of them gets you 100x your total bet amount, 4 gets you 10x and 3 gets you 2x. 10 free spins are triggered for 3 or more – with no advantage for more than 3.
Dragon Lines Free Spins Game
As bonus games go this one is unremarkable. You start with 10 free spins and the game simply runs through them, totalling your wins in the bottom right corner. The only difference is a background track, designed to up the excitement level while you free spins take place. Stacked dragons on the middle 3 reels make a difference, and will help you accumulate wins on many different lines. You can add 5 more spins to your total at any point by hitting 3+ of the scatters.
Once your round is over a pop up box appears, displaying your total wins. Pressing ok will take you back to the main game.
Dragon Lines – Conclusion
I would sum this game up by saying ‘polished though unremarkable’. I can picture this game in the slot halls of live casinos; though online it is not different enough or interesting enough to warrant too much attention. The graphics and game-play are beautifully produced as you might expect from a company with the experience of Ainsworth. At the same time a single generic free spins game, and no sign of a jackpot or in-reel interest does nothing to keep players engaged. I’d say this is worth a look if you enjoy the simple and solid Asian slots genre - otherwise there are plenty of more interesting titles available elsewhere.
