Oriental Dragon Slot Review
Back in 1934, a diver 🌊 in the Philippines reached into a giant clam. The clam slammed shut on his arm, and the poor dude drowned.
Now, why am I telling you this morbid story? 🪦 It turns out they pulled up the clam, and it held the largest ever recorded pearl, a 14 lb monster of a thing. And not just that, it looked like a turbaned man's face, so they called it the Pearl of Lao Tzu.
You always see Chinese dragons 🐲 with their precious pearls, so today we're diving into Oriental Dragon slot from Endorphina to grab a few pearls of our own. Minus the drowning part.
Gameplay
The design of this game is fairly busy, but maybe I shouldn't call it that. Maybe I should call it intricate.
The way it renders in portrait mode on a phone is interesting. The grid sits on the top half of the screen with the controls on the bottom half, but behind the controls, you can see the background of the game, so it's actually really stunning.
Landscape mode gives you the same view as you'd see on a laptop.
The 5x4 grid has 50 paylines, the RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.
RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate. is 96%, volatility is high, and the max multiplier is 600x. The max win is $150,000, with bets running from $0.50 to $250.
The paytable is led by the golden Foo Dog, and it’s the only symbol paying from 2-of-a-kind, peaking at 1.6x for 5. The Phoenix, Tortoise, Koi, and Toad pay 0.8x for 5-of-a-kind, and Coins and Firecrackers pay 0.7x.
The A, K, and Q symbols each pay 0.5x for 5-of-a-kind, and the J and 10 bring up the rear at 0.4x. Anemic stuff in the base game. Clearly, we're going to have to make our money elsewhere.
Don't go hunting for a Wild in the base game, because one won't land there on its own. When the Wild does show up, it covers an entire reel and substitutes for everything except the Scatter symbol.
The Scatter is a Yin-Yang symbol that triggers the Free Spins. Those golden figure-8 dragons perched above each reel aren't decoration either, because they drive the Dragon's Breath.
Features
DRAGON'S BREATH:
Each of the 5 reels has its own Golden Dragon perched on top, and every one of them wants to collect 2 Pearls. The Pearls come from Green Dragons that land in the base game and breathe one over to the keeper of whatever reel they hit.
After 11 spins at your current bet, any Golden Dragon sitting on 2 Pearls fills its entire reel with Wilds for the next spin. Then the Pearls reset, the counter starts over, and you begin the slow climb again.
FREE SPINS:
Landing 3 or more Scatters triggers the Free Spins, and before they kick off, you pick one of 3 modes.
You can take 40 spins with 2 moving Wilds, 15 spins with 3, or 3 spins with 4. It's a volatility dial: a long grind with fewer Wilds, or a short burst with the screen full of them. The spins run at your triggering bet and can't be re-triggered.
GAMBLE FEATURE:
After most wins, you can take a chance on the Gamble featureThis feature allows you to gamble your current winnings. It usually takes the form of guessing what color and/or suit a facedown card will reveal itself to be. A correct guess on the color pays 2x, while a correct guess of the color and suit pays 4x your bet.. You're dealt 4 face-down cards and pick one to beat the Dealer's card, and a win doubles your payout, with up to 10 tries in a row.
Guess wrong and the whole win vanishes. A Joker beats every card and the Dealer can never draw one, yet the round still averages an 84% return, a steeper climb than the base game. Quit anytime with the "Take Win" button.
Performance
I ran this game through a loooong session and nothing stuttered or crashed on me.
Maximum Win
To reach the max win of $150,000, you'll have to land the 600x max multiplier at the top bet of $250. The smallest bet you can place is $0.50.
Conclusion
The game's money is tied up in the Dragon's Breath mechanic and the Free Spins, because the base game on its own is rubbish. Most of your spins are fuel, feeding Pearls to the Dragons and running down the counter toward a screen of Wilds.
When you do trigger the Free Spins, the mode you pick is the whole ballgame. The 40-spin run with 2 Wilds is the safe grind, the 3-spin run with 4 Wilds is the lottery ticket, and the 15-spin middle road is where I'd park my money most nights.
Leave the Gamble alone unless the Dealer hands you a low card. At an 84% return, it's a worse bet than the base game, and one bad guess wipes the lot.
Balanced players will squeeze the most out of the middle Free Spins mode. Low-risk players should keep bets small to outlast the dry stretches, while high-risk players chasing a giant score have a short runway to work with.
My usual gripe applies here, too. High volatility on a slot whose max multiplier stops at 600x means you're taking big swings for a modest ceiling, and that's a trade I'd think hard about before sitting down.
Slot Details
Game Provider: Endorphina
Game Type: Video Slots
PaylinesPaylines are preset lines that run across the reels, and when you land matching symbols on them, that will result in a payout. The more paylines, the more ways you can win, but also the higher your bet per spin.: 50
RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.
RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate.: 96%
Volatility RateSlot games can have low, medium, high, or extremely high volatility rates (or a combination thereof).
The less volatile the game, the more often it should pay out, but the lower the amount, the less the payout, as this is in keeping with the risk you’re taking. Volatility rate should be considered in conjunction with a game’s RTP.: High
Bonus Round: No
Progressive: No
Free Rounds: Free Spins
Max Multiplier: 600x
Max Win: $150,000
Published by
BitStarz, award-winning Bitcoin Casino
