Charm of the Dragon

Charm of the Dragon: Slot Overview

Of the many things highlighting the differences between Eastern and Western traditions, dragons are one of the starkest. In the West, dragons are often perceived as dangerous baddies, while in Eastern cultures, they're often revered entities representing fortune, power, and wisdom. Now, we can add charm as one of their positive attributes. The occasion is Charm of the Dragon, and it has been designed by Hacksaw Gaming partner Bullshark Games. This Asian-themed slot gets its charm on by expanding reels, throwing in multipliers, and, later on, sticky mystery symbols when free spins are active.

A slightly unusual game in appearance, Charm of the Dragon hovers between traditional Asian slots and something else - a heist, maybe? The reason for that thinking is a key-wielding dragon on one side of the reel set and a locked vault in the background. Ah, it's the dragon's treasure, fair dues. Asian is easily the overriding vibe, though Charm of the Dragon is not the lushest-looking example of this sort of slot. Still, the dragon has more than a dash of charm, and the music is relaxing, yet as an Asian game, Charm of the Dragon was not as visually dynamic as loosely related slots Fury and Fortune or Wild Dojo Strike were.

The gaming area is expandable from a default size of 5x3 to a maximum of 5x6, and since it uses a ways pay system, the number of ways to win varies from 243 to 7,776. From 10 c to $/€100 may be wagered in this medium-high volatile slot, and of the two available RTP configurations, 96.36% is the more preferable.

Charm of the Dragon has ten regular pay symbols, which are 10-A card royals, lanterns, bells maybe, bags of coins, pots of coins, and an unusual eye goblet. Royal 5 OAK wins are worth 0.3x to 0.5x the bet, while 5 matching high pays award 0.8x to 2x the bet. A cascade mechanic removes winning symbols from the reels and replaces them with a symbol drop. Wild symbols help in this by replacing any paying symbol, and they land in all phases of play.

Charm of the Dragon: Slot Features

Charm of the Dragon's features begin with boosters that trigger multipliers, expanding reels, as well as mystery symbols in free spin. Alongside these are Vault of Riches and Eternal Fortune bonus rounds, plus feature buys.

Boosters

After each win, one booster is awarded. In the base game, boosters can either increase the Multiplier Ladder or expand the reels. When a booster reaches its maximum level, another booster is chosen. No more boosters are awarded if all boosters are at their maximum levels. During free spins, boosters can also add a sticky mystery symbol as well as the other two awards.

Global Multiplier Ladder

A multiplier ladder sits beneath the reels with values of x1 to x100. A booster can increase the Multiplier Ladder by +1 step or, from time to time, several steps at once. The current multiplier value during a win calculation is applied to all wins. The Multiplier ladder is progressive during cascades, but resets with each new base game spin to x1.

Expanding Reels

A booster can increase the number of rows by +1 up to a maximum of 6 rows high. When the grid increases, new symbols immediately drop in to fill it. The grid height persists through cascades but resets to 3 rows high with each new base game spin. During free spins, the Multiplier Ladder and the grid expansion are progressive.

Sticky Mystery Symbols

Sticky mystery symbols may only appear during free spins and remain on the grid till the feature ends. They may appear on the middle three reels, and a booster can add one mystery symbol at a time. When a booster with a sticky mystery symbol is awarded, the symbol is placed on a random winning position (on the middle three reels) before the next cascade. If a reel is filled with sticky mystery symbols, new ones are placed on another available reel. All mystery symbols reveal matching symbols or one or more wilds.

Vault of Riches

Hitting 3 scatters in the base game triggers 8 Vault of Riches free spins, and 3 boosters are awarded before the feature starts. Landing a scatter in either bonus round during the feature awards an extra +1, +2, or +3 free spins.

Eternal Fortune

Landing 4 scatters in the base game triggers 10 free spins in the Eternal Fortune bonus. At the start of this feature, 5 random boosters are awarded, and the feature starts with the maximum grid size.

Feature Buys

BonusHunt FeatureSpins cost 3x to make each spin 5 times more likely to trigger free spins, while Charming FeatureSpins guarantee a win on a maximum grid size and cost 50x the bet to trigger. Vault of Riches can be bought for 100x or Eternal Fortune for 250x.

Charm of the Dragon: Slot Verdict

Well, Charm of the Dragon isn't without its own particular charm. The gameplay had a Gonzo's Quest tinge to it at times, as cascading wins working with boosters increased the win multiplier, and the ladder of values along the bottom of the reels progressed. Arguably, Charm of the Dragon has more depth than Gonzo, as wins can also expand the grid and, later on, in free spins, accumulate sticky mystery symbols at the bottom of the middle three reels, where a faint hint of Net Gains' Sticky Mystery Free Spins entered the mix. This is not to say Charm of the Dragon felt like it had set out to copy other games, just that some of its features sit amongst good company.

Combining everything together, where boosters can trigger any of the three effects, is where Charm of the Dragon gets its spark and keeps players on their toes since there is no telling which feature the booster will trigger. The Hacksaw Gaming family often favours paylines to evaluate wins, but in this instance, the ways system is a better match, as it links well with mystery symbols. This a game that appears capable of drumming up exciting sequences of consecutive wins, too, and has at its ultimate end point a 10,000x win cap.

What lowers Charm of the Dragon a notch or two is that the presentation isn't spectacular. This is by no means an ugly game, and the dragon character seems a friendly sort, but the somewhat generic visuals failed to really grab the attention, and like an overly self-conscious teenager, Charm of the Dragon felt at times like it hadn't quite built the confidence to really express the personality it had settled on.