Dragon Shard - NZ Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Payout Ratio (or RTP) of Dragon Shard Slot

With an RTP of 96.77%, Dragon Shard delivers up some impressive cash rewards, but do you understand exactly what the RTP of a game stands for? Short for Return To Player, this is a statistic that indicates the potential returns to players who settle down for a gaming session at the reels of their favourite game.

In essence, the RTP of 96.77% indicates that for every $100 spent on the reels of Dragon Shard, a total of $96.77 will be returned to players. Theoretically, any player could receive this level of return, but it could take many, many hours of playing to do so, since the figure is calculated over the course of several weeks, involving numerous players. And of course, during this time, some players will have achieved highly significant wins, whereas other players will have failed to recover any of their stake money at all. So rather than viewing the RTP of a slots game as any kind of guarantee of returns, we suggest it’s probably better to turn the figure around. This gives the house an edge of a little over 3% when you spin the reels of Dragon Shard, which is excellent for a game of this type.

How to Play Dragon Shard Slots

Most online slots games tend to have the player controls situated along the bottom of the playing area, just below the reels themselves, but in the case of Dragon Shard you’ll find the controls down the right-hand side of the playing area. The top icon of a lightning bolt speeds up the game, pushing the reels into Turbo mode, which is ideal for high rollers looking for a fast-paced action game.

The next button down is the Autoplay function, which allows you to select up to 100 automatic spins, as well as defining your wager. You can also specify win and loss amounts that will prematurely end the feature, which is perfect for those players who need to keep a tight rein on their bankroll. You can also end Autoplay at any time by hitting the button again during the feature, which will instantly restore manual control of the reels back to you.

The next button is the Spin button, which you’ll need to click or tap every time you want to spin the reels, unless you’re opting to use the Autoplay feature. Just below this button is the coin selection button, which lets you decide on the amount of your wager for every spin of the reels. As you’d expect from a medium-volatility game that’s been designed to cater for all types of gamers, there’s a huge choice when it comes to placing your bets. You need to set your coin value, then decide on the number of coins to wager per line, which results in your total wager for each spin. But there’s also a giant Win Booster button, situated directly to the left-hand side of the playing area. When this button is off, your bet will be as selected, but activating the Win Booster button doubles your bet, offers a Win Both Ways mechanic and also raises the value of any mystery symbols that appear following each spin.

In total, your bet can be anything from a highly modest $0.20 per spin up to a hugely impressive $400 per spin. This is where playing in demo mode comes in particularly useful, since it gives you ample opportunity to experiment with a wide range of betting options, to see how altering various parameters affects the outcome of your gaming session. This is a great way of finding out everything that you need to know about a game before attempting to wager real cash on the outcome of a spin.

Dragon Shard Game Volatility

Along with the RTP of a game, it’s important to understand the implications of volatility, which represents the level of risk in an online slots game. High volatility games are designed to appeal to high rollers, who are prepared to bet high in an attempt to chase the seriously big payouts that some games provide. Wins don’t come along very often, but when they do, they tend to be spectacular. On the other hand, low volatility games offer up plenty of wins, but the sums involved tend to be on the small side, making this type of game perfect for newcomers to the world of online slots gaming, as well as appealing to risk-averse players, who enjoy the thrills of gaming but like to keep the stakes low.

Medium volatility games, such as Dragon Shard, offer the best of both world, delivering up plenty of small wins, interspersed with occasional big wins. The key to success is to ensure that you manage your bankroll effectively, keeping your wagers low through the lean periods, raising the stakes once the wins start arriving.

How To Win at Dragon Shard Slots

The aim of the game is to match three or more symbols across a payline from left to right, starting with the leftmost reel. However, if you’re playing with the Win Booster button activated, you can also achieve a win from right to left too, effectively doubling the payline structure for you.

Even the Wilds and Scatters come with their own paytables in Dragon Shard, and in the case of the Scatter, you only need to match two symbols to achieve a win, making this a highly desirable icon. But every symbol seems to be on your side in this game, by appearing in stacks of two every time they occur. And in the case of the Fire Queen and the Ice King symbols, they can appear stacked up to five symbols high, greatly increasing your chances of scoring a win.

Dragon Shard Bonus Features

Every good slots game developer understands that players are looking for more than just standard gaming features in their gaming experience. And as a leading software developer, it’s no surprise that Microgaming slots come packed with plenty of exciting bonuses, so Dragon Shard certainly doesn’t disappoint, thanks to a broad selection of great bonus features that add to the fun and excitement, not to mention their potential for delivering up some tasty cash rewards.

The Win Booster button doubles your current stake, but delivers up the promise of additional winning lines, since wins register both ways when the feature is active. This means that winning lines can run from right to left across the reels, as well as the more usual left to right gaming mechanic.

Mystery symbols can occur with any spin, delivering up entire columns of matching symbols. When the Win Booster button is inactive, mystery symbols can be high, low or Wild, but once Win Booster is in play, mystery symbols are always high value or Wild, so bigger cash prizes are assured.

Max-win 100x

Volatility Medium

Top RTP 96.5%

Free Spins on Dragon Shard Slot

The dragon’s eye icon is the game’s Scatter, which pays out handsomely for achieving just two matches. But attain three or more Scatters, and you’ll activate the game’s Free Spins round, during which you’ll benefit from 10 Free Spins to start you off, with additional Scatters awarding an extra Free Spin. The more Scatters you achieve, the greater the number of Mystery Reels you’ll be awarded, during which the central reels can reveal matching symbols to achieve some impressive winning lines.

Dragon Shard Slot On Mobile

Most players nowadays prefer to access their favourite slots games on their mobiles and tablets, which is why games developers have adopted HTML5 as their programming language of choice. This enables fast and accurate loading directly into your browser, so there’s no waiting times and no drain on your data allowance. So whether you enjoy playing slots games on your desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet, you can be assured of having the same great experience every single time you play.

Disclaimer: Dragon Shard trademark / license is owned by Microgaming, Stormcraft Studios. This site is not endorsed by Microgaming, Stormcraft Studios.