Video Slot Dragon Kings - Betsoft

Review - Video Slot Dragon Kings

Chinese myths come roaring to life in Video Slot Dragon Kings, a modern take on a traditional tale, and a 3×5 slot game where the symbols are the real stars. Alongside Asian cornerstones like lucky coins and jade figurines, Dragon Kings reimagines the guardians of ancient China’s seas as four standout, scaly symbols all of them wild, and each with their own powers and identities.

The centre reel is reserved for the eye-catching and even more powerful Dragon King, who builds on the individual dragon’s blessings with his own 2x multiplier. The Dragon King also holds the keys to four tiered jackpots from bronze to diamond.

A special sixth reel contains a magical flaming pearl, which doubles the number of free spins awarded from scatter symbols (up to a possible 50). This symbol is essential for unlocking jackpots, in combination with the Dragon King and one or more of the other dragons. Line up all five dragons and the magical pearl, and receive a prize fit for a king: 2,000x your total bet.

Harness the power of the four seas in Video Slot Dragon Kings, the new, feature-packed, video slot from Betsoft Gaming.  A sharp remix of an ancient legend, Dragon Kings brings Chinese mythology roaring to life with a crisp, modern aesthetic, contemporary Asian-inspired music, and a deluge of special features.

From tiered, progressive jackpots to free spins, the keys to Dragon Kings’ unique features lie beneath the surface, in the hands of the dragons.  Legend has it that the waters surrounding ancient China four oceans to the north, south, east and west were controlled by dragon spirits, whose dispositions shaped the seas themselves.  Travellers would give thanks to these dragons for a smooth crossing, or call on their powers when conditions turned treacherous.  In Dragon Kings, these scaly spirits are reimagined as standout symbols who occupy a reel each, and whose powers can quickly change the ebb and flow of gameplay.

All four dragons are wild substituting for any other non-dragon symbol and each has its own unique power.  Confined to reel 1, the Azure Dragon will lock all other dragons in place when he appears, and allocate players one free spin.  On reel 2, the White Dragon will clone itself once on the reel to its left or right, creating a chain of wilds.  Appearing only on reel 4, the Red Dragon will instantly award a random prize from an extensive pool, with the potential of up to 400X the player’s line bet.  And on reel 5, the black dragon will multiply any winning line that includes him by 3X.

Legend also tells of a fifth dragon, whose power was so potent that he ruled over even the protectors of the seas.  In-game, the Dragon King appears in all his glory: a golden, full-height animated character who presides over the centre reel, doubles the payout from winning lines, and controls the player’s path to Video Slot Dragon Kings’ tiered jackpots.  When the King appears alongside one or more other dragons, their combined powers can multiply the player’s total line bet by a staggering 2,000X, and will call the game’s sixth reel into play a single-symbol reel that acts as the resting place for the Dragon King’s Magical Pearl.

Depicted as a glowing pearl clutched in the King’s golden claw, the Magical Pearl is the final puzzle piece needed to open the floodgates to one of four progressive jackpots: bronze, silver, gold, or diamond.  The combination of a single dragon plus the King and the Pearl will trigger the bronze jackpot, while all four dragons plus the King and Pearl will usher in a sea-change and award the upper-tier diamond jackpot.  The Magical Pearl is also the key to tapping into deep reserves of free spins, doubling the allocation awarded by the base game scatter symbol for up to 50 spins.

"Our goal with Video Slot Dragon Kings was to bring a classic Chinese legend to life in a whole new way: with cutting-edge features, and a blend of artwork and music that appeals to the tastes of today’s Asian and international markets,” explained Betsoft ’s Head of Product Development, Dan Cooper.  From the dragons themselves, who have strong visual identities and cool powers, to the creative jackpots, we believe Dragon Kings contains the best of modern slot game design: a unique aesthetic, a strong storyline, audiovisual excellence, and a suite of features that are both deep and accessible.”

Developed for cross-device compatibility from day one, Dragon Kings is built on the Betsoft SHIFT platform.  Designed to reduce file sizes, speed loading, and enable new gameplay and audio-visual experiences, SHIFT guarantees that the same great gameplay reaches players on whatever platform they choose.  Dragon Kings is also one of the first games to be built around Betsoft’s equitable jackpots model, with larger bets conferring greater odds of winning.

Answer: Dragon Kings is epic in both the modern and the traditional sense: it tells a legendary story through awe-inspiring modern art, music, and gameplay.  The game draws from the deep well of Chinese folklore for its inspiration specifically the story of the dynasty of dragons that once controlled the four seas.  But this isn’t a simple retelling; Dragon Kings remixes that ancient myth to create a cast of fresh characters, and brings the experience roaring to life with a deluge of unique game mechanics.

A lot of games that appropriate Asian myths and legends tend to give them only surface-level treatment, but with Dragon Kings, our objective was to really revitalise a traditional legend and make it relevant for everyone.  To achieve that aim, we made sure that the strong story informed equally strong core mechanics and special features with universal appeal.  For example, we wanted players to seek the favour of the four ocean-dwelling spirits the same way ancient sailors once prayed to them for safe passage, so we gave each dragon its own unique power all of which can turn the tide of the game in an instant.

Question: Players take on a traditional tale, and a 3×5 slot game where the symbols are the real stars.  How does this add to the excitement?

Answer:  In Dragon Kings, the dragons themselves are the standout symbols thematically and mechanically.  Every reel in the base game is the realm of a particular dragon character, and each dragon has its own distinctive visual design as well as their own unique way of affecting the ebb and flow of gameplay.

We also updated another legendary figure: the golden Dragon King, who takes pride of place on the centre reel and rules over the other protectors of the seas.  A full-height animated character, the King captures players’ attention, doubles the payout of winning lines, creates wave upon wave of multipliers, and can offer safe passage to the Dragon Kings’ creative tiered jackpots.

By placing the dragon characters front and centre, and by making them the keys to all the game’s marquee features, we made a mechanically complex game accessible to almost any kind of player.  Spin by spin, players know that the four basic dragons are wild standing in for any other non-dragon symbol and that each of them has its own desirable special power, including instant respins and multipliers.  The gameplay is also constantly focused on the centre reel, since the Dragon King is essential for unlocking the game’s biggest wins.

Having a single set of symbols (and one key symbol that takes up the full height of the middle reel when it appears) that control every important feature helps to make the game clear to understand, and compelling to play without compromising on the thrills that more experienced gamblers look for.

Question: In what ways does Dragon Kings differ from previous releases?

Answer:  Although it’s a 5×3 game for the most part, Dragon Kings is the first of our games to include a single-symbol sixth reel as both a method of introducing new mechanics, and as a way of creating more frequent suspense spins.  The sixth reel is the only place the special Magical Pearl symbol appears, which is the final puzzle piece needed to open the floodgates to the game’s progressive jackpots: bronze, silver, gold, and diamond.

The pearl is also the key to tapping into deep reserves of free spins up to a total of 50, doubling the maximum possible from scatter symbols alone.  So when one of the four dragons appears alongside the Dragon King, or the free spins feature triggers, players will feel the tension as the sixth reel becomes the last to lock into place they know it can make the difference between a minor payout and a major win.

Question: Which game features do you think will attract the player the most?

Answer:  The most unique single feature in Dragon Kings is probably its progressive jackpots.  This is one of the first games to use our equitable jackpots model larger stakes confer better odds and the tiered model, coupled with the suspense generated by the sixth reel, make qualifying for a jackpot in Dragon Kings feel really special.

Moment-to-moment, though, players will also be captivated by the almost-constant features offered by the individual dragons.  From awarding instant prizes to creating chains of wilds, having a unique feature on every single reel means that something different is never far below the surface.

Question: Is Dragon Kings targeted at any particular market place?

Answer:  The game is obviously inspired by an ancient Chinese legend, and its art, music, and animation have a distinctly Asian flavour.  With its crisp new take on tradition, standout characters, and cutting-edge features, we believe Dragon Kings will appeal to players anywhere in the world.