Dragon Empires - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Dragon Empires Slot Review

The Dragon Empires slot is not just a 5x4 game, though that layout allows plenty of room for excitement across its 40 paylines. It’s a thrilling world of dragons and empresses where you can collect all sorts of extra prizes, including the grand jackpot if you’re lucky enough to trigger, then enhance, the link&win bonus round. It’s an interesting example of a Microgaming free play slot.

Inherent Drama

Is any mythological creature more inherently dramatic than the dragon? There’s a reason the mighty lizards fill so many books, movies and, yes, slots. They’re spectacular. The dragons of the Dragon Empires slot are the European sort, so winged and fire-breathing rather than the weather-controlling Asian kind. 

It’s all about the dragons, four of them, one for each of the classical elements of fire, water, earth and air, each carved in craggy art where the colours and details reflect their elemental nature. The purple wind dragon has feathers and the green earth one vines, for example.

Rock and Flame

Of course, the dragons don’t exist completely disembodied from any context. They fly over the stark mountains and chilly-looking lake with no trees. Wins and features can add some extra fire.

It’s an unforgiving world where the only other sign of life is a towering castle, presumably the home of the regal-looking empress among the symbols. There is a story here, but we don’t quite have enough to put it together. It’s intriguing, though - the sort of depth we like in a video slot.

Dragon Empires RTP and Variance

You’re probably wondering how Dragon Empires stacks up alongside other slots. The answer is pretty well, at least in terms of payout potential, though we do have to add some caveats. For instance, the 96.43% RTP we found when we tested this game in demo mode is undoubtedly good, but if you play somewhere else, it might change. Check first.

At least the variance is balanced, set at a medium level so that wins are both reasonably sized and reasonably frequent. It doesn’t go to extremes.

How to Play Dragon Empires

Dare You Face the Dragon?

1. Let’s start with the base game, which has a little menu in the bottom where you can find all the rules, controls and details that aren’t covered in our Dragon Empires slot review.
2. The opposite corner is where you’ll find the plus and minus symbols of bet adjustment. Look at your balance and budget and decide on a figure that works for you.
3. If you’re a high roller in your slots, you may just want to press max bet.
4. Other options around the spin button include turbo mode and autoplay. Once you’ve decided if you want them, it’s time to start playing.
5. You never know if your spin will lead to a combination of winning symbols, so be responsible and don’t chase any losses.
6. Stick to your limits and have fun.

How to Win at Dragon Empires

No dragon slaying here; no need to cast magic spells. You win like you win other slots: when the reels land so matching symbols follow one of the 40 paylines. It’s a 5x4 layout, so the biggest possible sequence of winning symbols is five. There’s also the possibility of triggering the Dragon Empires bonus features, specifically Link&Win.

Top Wins

• The bottom of the paytable is full of generic card symbols where the win multiplier doesn’t go higher than 1x your bet.
• Dragons are more exciting, not just because they lead to features but because they pay better.
• For the very top of the paytable, you need the empress herself. She’s a wild and her maximum win multiplier is x5.
• There’s no paying scatter symbol. 
• Overall, the max win is x3100.

Bet Range

Make a bet of between 0.20 and 80 to spin the reels in the Dragon Empires slot. A virtual bet of virtual money allows you to enjoy demo play.

Dragon Empires Bonuses

There’s no free spins bonus, but there are re-spins, and they’re not on their own. They’re part of a link&win feature (a bit like hold and win in other slots) with additional enhancements like expanded reels.

Link&win

Your link and win symbols include the treasure chest and bonus prize symbols, with bonus prizes appearing at the mini (x10), minor (x25), major (x15) and grand levels (x1500). Six symbols start the feature, which begins with three re-spins but can be reset or even increased to five with enhancements. Link&win symbols can be held in place so you can collect multiplier values or bonus prizes at the end.

Dragon Power Stacks

These mostly enhance link&win, but collect and boost can appear in the base game. You need to find three of the same dragon symbols stacked on top of each other, where they’ll turn into one dragon:

• Fire dragon: add two additional re-spins to link&win.
• Wind dragon: collect all visible link&win bonus prizes on the reels.
• Water dragon: expand the reels to fit five extra link&win symbols.
• Earth dragon: boost the value and total win of link&win prizes.

Dragon Empires Review - Our Verdict

We love the concept behind the Dragon Empires slot and the imagery around the dragons and castle with their drama and intrigue. We wish the narrative was a little more coherent, but the potential of this game is on full display when you start triggering the sometimes confusing, but potentially very rewarding, link&win feature with all its possible enhancements.

Disclaimer: Dragon Empires trademark / license is owned by Games Global. This site is not endorsed by Games Global.