A Dragon's Story

A Dragon's Story is a fun online slot by NextGen that's based on a theme of a bunch of dragons protecting a pile of gold treasure. The theme of this game really seems like something out of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it has a much lighter feel to it and has a more fun, cartoon-like appeal. This is a feature-packed title with a lot to offer, and it just goes to show that they can make some pretty solid games by focusing on features and gameplay instead of worrying so much about using big brands from other forms of media.

Game Format

The format of A Dragon's Story is pretty standard, and it uses 25 paylines across five reels and three rows of play. You choose your bet size based on coin values, and those coins start at the $0.01 level and go up to $2 apiece. This gives players a betting range starting at $0.25 per turn and as high as $50 per turn, so everyone from the penny players to high-stakes fans will have something they can enjoy.

It's important to point out that, especially with the Superbet side wager, the volatility of this game is fairly high. This means you should play with smaller bet sizes than you would otherwise until you get a feel for the swings.

Superbets Side Wager

There's a side bet in this game that players should consider taking, and it has three options. For 25 coins per spin, you can get an enhanced third reel. For 35, you get the middle three reels. If you use the 50-coin side bet, which is the best deal of the three of them, all three reels are enhanced. By enhanced, we mean that you get baby dragons that sit at the bottom of the reels and randomly add wilds to the reels on different spins. It gives you more chances to hit wins that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but it also costs quite a bit to play.

Wild Symbol Payouts

The wild symbol wins are particularly important because of the Superbets side bet. The major dragon character that you see to the right of the reels during usual gameplay is the wild symbol, and five of a kind will give you a 2,000x win. The win for four of a kind is pretty good as well at 500x, and you'll get 200x for three of a kind. One of the things that really plays into the hit-rate in this game is the fact that you only need two wilds to get 10x payout. It's worth noting that the wild does not substitute for scatters.

Scatters and Free Spins

The scattered glowing jewel symbol pays 2,500x for five of a kind, and it's the largest regular win in the game. Note that the scatter pays are based on a number of coins in this game and not on a total multiple of the overall bet size, as is the case with most video slots. Three or more of this scatter gives you a set of 10 free spins with a 2x multiplier. What's more is that the baby dragons fire up extra wilds during the free spins more often than during the regular game.

Top Payouts

There are a handful of other top payouts that are worth noting. Five of the gold treasure will earn you a 1,000x line bet payout, and five of the knight pays 500x. You can pick up 250x for five of the boots or shield. That rounds out the upper pays.

For the lower pays, you get 200x for five of the purple A or red K. You can also pick up 150x for five of the orange Q or blue J. Finally, 100x is the prize for five of the yellow 10 or green 9. These are reasonably high payouts for the lowest symbols, and that contributes a bit to the high volatility.

Overview

Like most online video slots produced by NextGen, A Dragon's Story has great graphics and a ton of features. The payout schedule is top-heavy and features a high overall volatility, but there's enough of a hit-rate that you won't usually have long swings with no wins at all. Overall, this is a game that will appeal to a lot of players, but those who prefer games with a low volatility might want to try something else instead.