Free slot: Year of the Dragon King

Year of the Dragon King Slot Overview

Year of the Dragon King grants you entry into its world of hazy mountains, with a 5x3 grid and 20 fixed paylines. The primary thrill of the game comes from a Mini Slot Machine Bonus where you can have up to five mini-slot games spinning and possibly increasing multipliers.  

The maximum win potential is 5,000x your bet with high volatility. If you enjoy suspenseful extra features as opposed to constant action in the base game, this slot may appeal to you. 

Basic Information

Released in January 2024, Year of the Dragon King was created by Pragmatic Play in association with Reel Kingdom.

Betting options range from €0.10 to €250.00 a spin, and the RTP is standard 96.08%.  

The volatility is high, which means that wins can be less frequent, but potentially more rewarding.

Theme and Graphics

Year of the Dragon King is infused with classic East Asian aesthetics through red lanterns, coins or coin slots motifs, dragon graphics, and even the temple-style frame. The reels are displayed in a structure resembling a gate before a picturesque mountain, with clouds drifting past and warm twilight colors.

Visuals are not particularly flashy but function well. The reels will flash in red, blue, or green occasionally, signaling a bonus potential. The mini-slot feature shows a smooth symbol changing transition with locking effects and multiplier additions.

Audio includes gentle, ambient Chinese instrumentation, which means soft flutes, towel gong sounds, and atmospheric pads added to create feelings of immersion as opposed to overwhelming the senses.

RTP and Volatility

The official RTP is 96.08% which is quite typical of modern video slots.

The volatility of this game is rated as high; this means that returns in the base game will be small and infrequent, with the larger payouts as a result of triggering the game features.

Due to the game’s high volatility, it would be best to have more reserved expectations of no wins in the base game while waiting for feature based explosions of wins.

Symbols and Paytable

In Year of the Dragon King, there are low-value and higher symbols to choose from:

The low symbols (10 – A) yield payouts for 3, 4, or 5 matchings at 0.5x to 5x your bet.

The high symbols (lanterns and coins) pay out more at the 3,4, or 5 matching for as high as 25x.

How to play the slot

Playing Year of the Dragon King is easy to do. Use the + / – controls next to the spin button to set your wager from €0.10 to a maximum of €250. Hit Spin, or push the Autoplay button for continuous spins.

If you land any matching winning combination along any betway, you will receive payouts according to the game's paytable. 

Game Mechanics

Year of the Dragon King operates on a classic payline system of 5x3 grid, 20 fixed paylines. The reels can change color (red, blue, green) at random.

On any spin, if all five reels land the same color, that spin will trigger the Mini Slot Machine Bonus. In order to win, you must land three or more matching symbols in consecutive reels along one of the 20 fixed betways from leftmost. 

In the Mini Slot Machine Bonus, you will see either 1 to 5 mini slots. Each mini slot will spin independently; if you were to land a winning spin you would receive a respin; if you were to land a losing spin one of the mini slots will "lock" on that losing spin. Once all mini slots are locked, the Mini Slot Machine Bonus will come to an end.

Featured Symbols

• Wild symbol: takes the place of any other symbol and can payout up to the same (maximum of around 25x for 5 wilds) as the coin symbol 

• Colored backgrounds (Red / Blue / Green): they are not reel symbols, meaning they do not replace anything, but visual state triggers that will activate the bonus round if all reel backgrounds are the same color 

The classic "scatter" symbol is not needed in this game as the color background match replaces that function completely. 

Year of the Dragon King Features and Bonuses

Year of the Dragon King intensifies the theme of the Orient with a combination of Wild Respins, Multipliers, and the Dragon Free Spins feature, where the Wild Respins and Multipliers add to the slot's fiery visual elements and escalate thrills. The bonuses offer a combination of visual appeal and significant potential payouts that embody prosperity, wealth, and fortune.

Dragon Free Spins (Mini Slot Machine) Bonus

This is the main bonus. When every reel is backlit with a matching color (green, blue, or red), between 1 to 5 mini slot machines appear on top of the reels. Each mini slot machine features 3 reels, a single payline, and spins independently of each other.

A winning spin awards a payout and re-spins that mini slot. A bad spin locks the mini slot to prevent any future spin on any reel. The bonus concludes when all mini slots are locked.

Starting multipliers are based on the color that triggered the bonus (green x1, blue x2, red x5), and they increment for each win. Payouts for 8 symbol combinations (blue, yellow, red or mixed) are multiplied by the multiplier:

• Mixed 8s pays 1x stake

• 3 blue 8s pays 2x

• 3 yellow 8s pays 5x

• 3 red 8s pays 20x

Ante Bet

The Ante Bet option raises the base spin cost by 50% to double the likelihood of triggering a bonus (almost 1 in 59 turns vs 1 in 118). This is especially recommended because of how passive the base mode is. 

Bonus Buy

In this game, you have the option to pay to enter bonus mode in the mini slot:

• 60x bet for green

• 100x bet for random

• 140x bet for blue

• 350x bet for red

Play Options

The game can be played in demo and real money mode with the same elements, multipliers, and mechanics in spite of betting real money. 

The developers have employed HTML5 so that the slot runs smoothly on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices without needing you to download anything. 

Play for Real Money or Try the Demo

Before starting in real money mode, we suggest you start in demo mode to grasp the way to engage with colored backgrounds, mini slots/things, and how the multipliers all relate to one another.

Once you are comfortable in demo mode, switch it up to real money mode, and attempt to trigger the mini slot while trying for the top win of 5,000x. Before jumping into the game, double check what  RTP variant: your casino is using. 

Demo Features and Mobile Compatibility

The demo version allows you to play for free while you learn the game mechanics with visuals and audio.

Thanks to being built in HTML5, Year of the Dragon King has consistent visuals, responsive controls, and smooth gameplay across small screens. When we tested, touch controls were intuitive and there were acceptable load time errors, even when playing for long periods of time.

Year of the Dragon King Compared

With Year of the Dragon King, Pragmatic Play resumes their legacy of creating slot games with mythical Asian influences, featuring divine dragons, expanding multipliers, and vibrant designs. 

The game has the irreplaceable theme of adventures of fortune-tellers in the past while continuing to provide strong payout potential, high variance, and mythological art that surpasses other dragon themed releases in their collection.

Similar Slots You Might Like

• Dragon Hero (Pragmatic Play): Asian themed action with Hero Wilds that will also release additional Super Wilds. It features an RTP of 96.56% and a potential max win of 5,000x bet with reels that animate beautifully with golden dragons and lucky symbols throughout the symbols and gameplay.

• Big Bamboo (Push Gaming): A calmer Asian themed game featuring Mystery Bamboo bonuses, Golden Bamboo features, and upgrades to symbols. It has an RTP of 96.13% and the potential to win great payouts in excess of 50,000x your bet and more.

• Floating Dragon Megaways (Pragmatic Play): A more dynamic Megaways version with fishing bonuses, respins, and a dragon feature, collecting dragons during play. It has an RTP of 96.70% and a potential max payout of 20,000x your bet per spin with the higher volatility play.

Summary & Final Verdict

Year of the Dragon King has a relatively quiet base game, characterized by small wins and very little excitement, until the mini slot feature is activated. When it is triggered, you could experience some exhilarating cascading spins across several mini slots, significantly improved by increasingly larger multipliers. The max win of 5,000x is commendable, but it is not going to blow anyone away. 

Having said that, the game is heavily reliant on the bonuses activating, which often leads to long periods of no wins in the base game. 

If you are one of these players who enjoy chasing high volatility win bursts in a structured mini slot format, then Year of the Dragon King has an intriguing mix of feature and volatility for you.