Fortune Dragon Slots
It seems that online slot machine players can’t get enough of Chinese-themed games and developer Vela Gaming have thrown their hat into the virtual ring with their Fortune Dragon video slot, which has the classic symbols of lucky coins, scrolls, some kind of bowl and of course, dragons landing across the 5 reels to bring in the wins.
Vela Gaming stands for Gamification, Innovation and Invention all year around, and while we’re not even sure if the first part is a real word, they certainly like to innovate and invent, with this slot having some unique gameplay. Punters will be able to make an extra bet to boost multiplier wins in a free spins bonus round, while several dragon wild symbols will help them to land more win-lines.
It’s a 5-reel game, where symbols are in 3 rows and it has 243 ways to line symbols up, with any 3, 4, or 5 in any positions on adjacent reels running from the left side being enough to get win. An attractive design has dragons behind the reels as well as on them, while the playing card symbols are all in some unique styles, looking as if they are made from different materials such as metal, ice, fire and even grass.
Playing Fortune Dragon
A minimum stake of 0.25 is needed to spin the reels and qualify for all winning lines, but punters can choose to activate any number of reels, which costs a little less, but makes it harder to land matching symbols across them. If for example, reel 1 only is selected, only the middle row of reels 2 to 5 will be active. An optional ‘Reels 1-5 + Extra Bet’ raises the minimum to 30 coins, but makes the free spins bonus games more rewarding. Anyone looking to test this game out first will find free Fortune Dragon video slots are available, and this could be a good way to see how this unusual betting format works.
The number 9 and 10 playing card symbols return the smallest wins, with just 5 coins won if either stops on reels 1, 2 and 3, which rises to 15 coins when they are on on 4 reels and a top award of 30 coins when landing across all 5 reels at once. J and Q symbols are worth 10, 20 or 40x, and the K or A will each pay 15, 25 or 50x the coin value.
The green bowl, or maybe it’s a sink, returns 25, 50 or 100x, the scroll is valued at 50, 100 or 200x and the lucky coin symbol is worth even more, with gamblers winning 100, 200 or 500x when it’s on 3, 4 or 5 reels at once. The top awards come from the green coin, and this pays multiples of the lucky number 8. Just 3 will pay 8x, it’s a win of 88x for lines of 4, and 888x when it stops across all 5 reels at once.
Wild Dragons, Scatter Pays and Free Spins
A dragon’s head is wild, acting as all those listed above to help complete combinations of symbols when it lands on reels 2, 3 or 4. It won’t act as the flame however, as this is the scatter symbol for this game, which can land in any places, returning 15x, 25x or 50x the real cash bet per reel cost, multiplied by the reels played, when it’s on 3, 4, or 5 spots at once.
Various colourful dragons appear during a free spins bonus round, and whenever they complete winning lines, the value of the prize is multiplied by the number of dragons in the combination.
The Verdict
Vela Gaming has created a slightly unusual mobile-optimised slot machine, that has interesting bet options and enough bonus features to keep players at the reels.
The Fortune Dragon video slot doesn’t break any new ground in terms of design, as the symbols are a somewhat strange collection of seemingly random Chinese-inspired objects, but they all come together quite well, and the overall looks are nice enough, plus there’s a pleasing soundtrack that’s inspired by the traditional music of the country.
Wild dragons turn up for some extra wins and having them multiply payouts when they complete lines in the free games is another bonus, although players should remember that the ‘Reels 1-5 + Extra Bet’ option is going to increase the multipliers in these games.
