Charm of the Dragon Demo
Charm of the Dragon Slot Review
Step into the secret lair of a charming dragon, who guards his treasure under lock and key in Bullshark Games’ latest release, Charm of the Dragon!
Step into Bullshark Game’s latest adventure, Charm of the Dragon, concocted of 5 reels and up to 7,776 ways to win. In this highly anticipated release, you will find Expanding Reels, Multipliers, Featurespins, and multiple Free Spins modes.
Since partnering with Hacksaw Gaming, Bullshark Games has become a well-renowned software developer through the distribution of innovative releases, including Junkyard Kings, Culinary Clash, and Age of Seth.
The longevity of the Fantasy theme has been going strong throughout the years of the iGaming industry. Our fascination with all things fantasy has given software developers the fuel to create fresh and exciting slots, offering players a level of escapism through a supernatural setting.
Charm of the Dragon offers a theoretical RTP of 96.36% and a high (5/5) volatility score, followed by an impressive 10,000x max win potential. Will this wise and wonderful dragon part with his beloved treasure? Let’s find out.
Base Game & Features
Charm of the Dragon is a highly volatile 5-reel Video Slot with 242-7,776 ways to win. Winning combinations are awarded when 3-5 identical symbols land on reels 1-5, on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
Paytable symbols include 5 Asian/Oriental Icons and 5 A, K, Q, J, & 10 Card Suits. Payouts for these symbols fall between 0.1x and 2x your bet, where applicable. In addition, the game has up to 2 Special Symbols, which award the following outcomes:
- Wilds: Replace all paytable symbols except Scatters in the base game and Free Spins mode
- Scatters: Are responsible for triggering the Valut of Riches and Eternal Fortune Free Spins modes
Lastly, each winning combination on the reels will explode to allow new symbols to fall into empty positions during an Avalanche Feature. This enables new winning combinations to occur on the reels within a single spin.
Boosters
After each win evaluation in the base game, 1 Booster is awarded, responsible for expanding the reels or increasing the global multiplier. When a specific booster is at its maximum level, the other booster is selected.
Once all boosters are at their maximum level, no more boosters are available. What each Booster can do is explained in more detail below.
Global Multiplier Ladder
Located below the main reels is a special Multiplier Ladder, starting from x1. During an avalanche event, special Boosters can increase the Multiplier Ladder by +1 step, or sometimes by multiple steps. The possible Multiplier values are fixed between x1 and x100.
If multiple steps are awarded, the Multiplier Ladder moves up randomly, up to a maximum of x100. The current multiplier value is applied to all wins that occur during that spin.
Alternatively, during Free Spins, the starting value of the Multiplier Ladder is determined by a special Bonus Selection and is progressive throughout spins.
Expanding Reels
At the start of each spin, a default grid size of 5×3 is available. When a winning combination occurs, a special Booster can increase the height of the rows by +1. Once the grid is increased, the number of ways to win increases:
- 3 Rows: 243 ways to win
- 4 Rows: 1,024 ways to win
- 5 Rows: 3,125 ways to win
- 6 Rows: 7,776 ways to win
When no more wins occur within a spin, the default grid size of 5×3 is restored, ready for the next spin. Alternatively, during Free Spins, the default grid size depends on the type of Free Spins mode triggered.
Furthermore, the grid size is progressive in Free Spins, meaning if it increases, it will remain at its current height for the entire feature.
Featurespins & Bonus Buy
Players outside the UK jurisdiction can participate in 1 of 4 Bonus Buy/Featurespins options:
- Bonushunt Featurespins: Each spin is guaranteed to be 5 times more likely to trigger Free Spins for 3x your bet per spin
- Charming Featurespins: Each spin is guaranteed to award 1 winning combination on the maximum grid size for 50x your bet
- Vault of Riches: Awards 8 Free Spins and up to 3 Boosters at the start of the feature for 100x your bet
- Eternal Fortune: Awards 10 Free Spins and up to 5 Boosters at the start of the feature for 250x your bet
Each of the above options incurs a Very High volatility rating and fixed RTP between 96.2% and 96.37%.
Charm of the Dragon has a generous max win potential of 10,000x your bet. If a game round exceeds this figure, the current mode will end, and the player returns to the base game with the total amount.
Charm of the Dragon Free Spins
Triggering the Vault of Riches Bonus requires 3 Scatter symbols to land in the base game, awarding 8 Free Spins. Once active, 3 Boosters are randomly awarded before the start of the round.
During Free Spins, Sticky Mystery symbols become available, appearing on reels 2, 3, and 4. When a Booster with a Sticky Mystery symbol is revealed, it will replace a random winning position (on reels 2, 3, or 4) before the next avalanche event.
If one of the reels is filled with Sticky Mystery symbols, it will be positioned on another available reel. All mystery symbols will reveal the same high or low-paying symbol, including Wilds.
Finally, landing Scatter symbols across reels 2, 3, 4, or 5 will award an additional +1, +2, or +3 Free Spins at random.
Eternal Fortune
Alternatively, the Eternal Fortune Bonus is triggered when 4 Scatter symbols land in the base game, awarding 10 Free Spins.
In this round, 5 Boosters are randomly awarded before the feature begins. Furthermore, the round begins with the maximum grid size active. Otherwise, the round behaves in the same manner as the Vault of Riches Bonus.
Our Honest Verdict
We’re not sure which charming dragon Bullshark Games were referring to, but it certainly isn’t the one that we can see next to the reels. It could be that he’s less than impressed with us for attempting to get our hands on his precious treasure – either way, it’s not exactly the warm welcome we expected.
What is a welcoming sight, however, is the masses of intriguing features, mechanics, and free spins modes available. If you’re partial to a mix of spectacular features, both in the base game and Free Spins round, you’re in for a treat here.
In the base game, up to 2 Boosters can activate, which brings us to the Global Multiplier Ladder and Expanding Reels. As is the case with certain avalanche slots (particularly Megaways), each win evaluation has the potential to increment the Global Multiplier, up to a maximum of x100.
On its own, this Booster is limited in its abilities to create substantial payouts; however, having both this and the Expanding Reels booster active will see a rise in the number of winning combinations, as well as an increase in payouts.
If you’re within a permissible region, you can retire to the Charming Featurespins option, where a winning combination is guaranteed upon the maximum 5×6 grid, but is it worth the 50x per bet price tag? That’s for you to decide.
Once you enter either Free Spins mode, our disgruntled dragon friend begins to crack a smile as winning combinations roll onto the reels – it’s not a full smile, but more of a smirk (we’ll take it), embracing us with open arms, too.
Between the 2 Free Spins modes, the Eternal Fortune round is the better offering, but it requires 4 Scatters to trigger. It seems that having multiple Free Spins modes is a given in Hacksaw Gaming and partner studio slots, with Charm of the Dragon keeping up appearances.
All in all, Charm of the Dragon has its moments of intrigue and excitement through the multiple Booster features, but its demeanour is not quite as compelling as previous Bullshark releases.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before real play is available.
