Introduction to Dragon Gold 88
Dragon Gold 88, this has got to be an Asian-themed slot, right? You are correct, and it has been designed by Pragmatic Play and their buddies, Reel Kingdom. Not a Big Bass game for a change, then, you may be saying. Well, technically, no, Dragon Gold 88 does not have fisherman symbols catching fish money symbols at any time. However, Dragon Gold 88 appears to be a reskin of Big Bass Splash, so yeah, it is cc6 part of the wider fishing family, for good or for ill.
Game Setting and Theme
Good if your idea of a fun time is collecting money symbols in an elaborate Asian setting. Gone are the bubbles, weed, and water of a fishing game; hello to the dragons and mountains of a classically presented Asian slot. Classically or generically presented, because Dragon Gold 88 does look like a ton of other slots found in this genre. Ah well, if that’s what enthusiasts want to see, that’s what they want to see, and Dragon Gold 88 blasts warm familiarity. Though familiarity breeds contempt, as they say. Moving along.
Game Mechanics and Grid Layout
A glowing golden 5×3 game grid is where the symbols drop, creating regular winning combinations along 10 paylines. A wide 10 c to $/€250 stake range is available, as is an ante bet and a feature buy. The ante bet adds 50% to the stake to give players a higher chance of triggering free spins. Highly volatile, Dragon Gold 88’s maximum RTP is 96.71%.
Pay Symbols and Payouts
Next on the list are pay symbols. From the bottom up, we come across 10-A royals, Dragon Balls, fish, frogs, turtles, and 88s. Lines of 5 royals pay 5-10 times the bet; Dragon Ball combinations are worth up to 20x the bet, while the rest pay 50x to 200x. A wild Dragon cc6 symbol substitutes for any of the regular pays, but it is only present on the reels during free spins.
Collecting Money Symbols
Collecting Money symbols, in the form of Dragon Balls instead of fish, is the name of the game here – in the free spins round, that is. Other features are free spin modifiers and random in-feature actions.
Money Symbols Explained
The Dragon Ball is also the Money symbol. On each spin, Dragon Balls have prize values of 2x to 5,000x the bet, which can be collected in free spins only.
Scatter Symbols and Their Role
In the base game, when 2 scatters hit, there is a chance the third one is brought onto the screen by a claw or by respins when the scatters on the screen can move down a position without falling off the grid.
Free Spins and Modifiers
When 3, 4, or 5 scatters are in view, players win 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. Before the free spins feature starts, 0-5 modifiers are randomly selected. They could be:
- More Dragon Balls are present on the reels.
- More Dragon symbols are present on the reels.
- More Dynamites, Claws, and Firecrackers in the round.
- Level Up – the progressive feature starts at level 2.
- Extra Free Spins – the round starts with 2 extra free spins and any retrigger benefits from +2 spins.
Wild Symbols and Collection
During the free spins feature, each wild symbol collects the values of all Money symbols in view. Wild symbols are collected, as well. Every 4th wild collected awards +10 free spins and a multiplier, which is applied to the Money symbol values collected. The cc6 multiplier is x2 for the second level, x3 for the third level, and x10 for the fourth level.
Bonus Modifiers and Actions
The bonus round also has these modifiers:
- Randomly, when there are Dragon symbols on screen but no Dragon Balls, at the end of a free spin, Money symbols may appear in random positions.
- Randomly, when there are Dragon Ball symbols but no Dragons in view, at the end of a spin, a claw may appear to pull Dragon symbols onto the screen.
- Randomly, when there are Dragon symbols present but no Dragon Balls, at the end of the spin, the firecracker can transform all symbols except Dragons into something else.
Buy Free Spins Option
Paying 100x the bet at the feature buy gets you a game round that lands 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols. The RTP remains the same, doing things this way.
Final Verdict on Dragon Gold 88
Scraping the fishy scales off a Big Bass slot and adding an Asian skin is hardly the most inventive concept a studio ever had. Mental images arose of the Reel Kingdom team kicking around ideas to keep the Big Bass train motoring along yet struggling to come up with anything interesting and falling back on a cliched reskin. Has Big Bass Bonanza finally, finally, run out of steam? Some might be tempted to say yes after sampling Dragon Gold 88, but something tells us the bushy, facial-haired fisherman isn’t done just yet. The cash cow is just too good to stop squeezing milk from. Also, after playing Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake, there is a galaxy of genres Big Bass can plough into and dominate like an cc6 invasive alien fish species.
