Chinese Dragon Slot
Ancient civilisations and cultures are fertile sources of inspirations for slot game developers, and often an excuse to unleash an impressive graphic display.
Such is not the case for Merkur Gaming’s Chinese Dragon, a video slot game that was clearly influenced by Chinese culture and yet stays away from most of the clichés associated with the genre. Instead of an exuberant reconstitution of Chinese New Year celebrations, the game takes a different, more sober path.
Will that be enough to lure players in and tempt them to spin the reels of Chinese Dragon? Read our complete review of the game to see if you could be convinced.
Sobriety is key
Chinese Dragon bets on simplicity and sobriety in terms of design and gameplay to provide players with an accessible and rather quiet slot game.
The background is quite simple and uniform, as it vaguely resembles the red curtain of a theatre. The entire graphic design of the game is uncluttered and feels quite refreshing in comparison with other similar games.
Add simple, bamboo-framed reels and pastel-coloured symbols and there you have Chinese Dragon. The aesthetics choice made by the developers might be a little surprising, but Merkur Gaming still stuck to classic elements when it comes to the gameplay itself.
Chinese in your hands
Once you are accustomed to the rather unusually sober graphics of Chinese Dragon, the next logical step is to start betting on the reels.
The game matrix is a familiar 5x3 setup, 5 reels with three symbol positions on each. The 10 paylines of the game are fixed, so you will have to bet on all of them for each spin. Use the commands at the bottom of the game screen to adjust your wager and press the spin button so that the reels can start spinning. Every cash prize depends on the size of your initial bet, so you might want to use the max bet shortcut once in a while and go all-in for extra big wins. After a win, you have the possibility to challenge yourself further to an optional mini game. You can choose between a card-guessing challenge or a reflex-based point and click game to climb an ladder of increasing cash rewards. Whichever you choose to play, remember that a wrong answer can take your initial win away.
If you would rather skip all these options altogether, simply switch to autostart mode. The reels will spin automatically for as long as you let them, with your bet settings saved throughout.
A handful of reel symbols is all you need
The paytable of Chinese Dragon is excessively simple and straightforward, with only 7 symbols for players to collect.
The first group contains the usual card icons, from number 10 to the Ace. Nothing new here, except the new font used that is meant to resemble Chinese characters. Besides this graphic detail, the rewards of these symbols are still fairly low despite their being the most common on the reels of the game.
The remaining two basic symbols are an umbrella and a temple icon, both worth more money than all the others. You might want to focus on the long combinations, as the shorter ones are only marginally more rewarding than the card symbols.
Some special features to make up for the rest
Given the small basic paytable, it is only logical that Chinese Dragon features its fair share of special symbols.
A beautiful Chinese woman wearing a traditional dress represents the wild card. She is the most valuable symbol of the game and she can also replace any basic symbol as listed in the previous sections for more chance at scoring extra combinations.
The dragon is a scatter symbol that is also worth a lot of money and can offer free spins as long as you manage to land three or more of them simultaneously anywhere on screen. The 10 free games that follow feature both wilds and scatters to make sure that you make the best of your time, and possibly win even more free spins.
A new and refreshing take on the Chinese theme
Chinese Dragon is not your usual slot game from a purely graphic point of view. The quieter and somehow more mature visual atmosphere of the game will appear to a broader audience than the usually exuberant Chinese-themed games.
That being said, Chinese Dragon is not as original in terms of gameplay. The small paytable is somehow saved by the fairly generous bonus features, but the base game remains quite repetitive.
