Dragon Hopper Slot Review
Venture to the Orient and experience a festival like no other in Push Gaming’s latest release, Dragon Hopper!
Push Gaming has taken the best parts of Crystal Catcher and Fire Hopper, to create a thrilling adventure with a lot of flavour. In Dragon Hopper, you’ll find a number of incorporating dynamics and features, including the Dragon and Mystic Flare features. These bring an unpredictable yet captivating element with each spin.
Push Gaming has worked their magic to create a refreshing Bubble feature that significantly boosts winning possibilities. Each spin has the potential to be exciting and unexpected thanks to the blend of features and mechanics. Continue reading our Dragon Hopper slot review for insights into each feature and mechanic!
Base Game & Features
Dragon Hopper is a 7-reel, 7-row Video Slot with a Cluster Pays mechanic and varying bet sizes between £.€0.10 and £.€100 per spin. Other noteworthy statistics include a Mid-High Volatility rating, an overall RTP of 96.33%, and a max win cap of 10,000x your bet.
Wins occur when a minimum of 5 matching symbols land horizontally or vertically adjacent on the grid. Depending on the winning cluster, payouts between 0.1x and 50x your bet are awarded. Dragon and Golden Dragon Wilds substitute for all symbols except Fire Cloud and Scatters symbols.
Winning clusters are subject to removal via an Avalanche Feature. This function causes new symbols to fall into empty positions, to create or enhance additional wins in a single spin.
Wild Symbols
Special Dragon and Golden Dragon symbols act as Wilds throughout gameplay. Each time a Dragon Wild and Fire Cloud symbol appear in the same spin, the Dragon Feature is triggered.
Every Wild symbol has a Multiplier associated with it. When this symbol contributes to a winning cluster, its active Multiplier is applied. If more than one Wild symbol contributes to the same winning cluster, their Multipliers are added together and applied.
Each Dragon Wild has an initial Multiplier from the following; x1, x2, x3, x4, x5, or x10. The multiplier increases by +x1 each time it jumps during the Dragon Feature.
Dragon Feature
The Dragon Feature triggers when a Dragon Wild and Fire Cloud symbol appear in the same spin. This causes the Dragon Wild to jump from its current position to the Fire Cloud symbol, leaving behind a Golden Dragon Wild and an active Multiplier.
The Dragon Wild will continue to jump to new positions as long as there is a Fire Cloud symbol in view. Once complete, regular gameplay resumes.
Instant Prizes
In the base game and Free Spins round, special Bronze, Silver, and Gold Coins can appear on the grid. When a cluster of 5 or more Coin symbols occurs, their total combined value will be paid out. Each coin symbol appears with a random Cash Value between 1x and 1,000x your bet.
Mystic Flare Feature
The mystic flare feature can be randomly triggered on any non-winning spin. Once active, 1 to 2 Mystic symbols will be positioned on the grid, taking on a size between 2×2 and 4×4.
Once in view, the mystic symbol will disappear, leaving behind 1×1 symbols. The added symbols will either be regular-paying or Instant Prize symbols. Please note, that Mystic symbols may also reveal Scatters and/or Dragon Wilds.
Free Spins
Landing 3, 4, or 5 Scatters anywhere in the base game triggers the Free Spins round, awarding 6, 9, and 12 Free Spins respectively.
Once active, the Dragon, Golden Dragon, Fire Cloud, and Instant Prize symbols will carry over, remaining in their positions. This also includes their Multiplier values.
During this round, each empty grid position will spin to reveal one of the following symbol outcomes:
- Fire Cloud
- Instant Prize
- Extra Spins
- Blank Symbol
Each Instant Prize symbol to appear will remain in its position until the end of the feature. All instant prize clusters are evaluated at the end of the round.
Bubble Feature
In the Free Spins round, special Bubble symbols will appear in random positions of the grid. These symbols will remain in the same place until the next spin. Please note, that Bubble symbols are non-paying.
Each bubble symbol will have an individual value between 1 and 500 and will move up +1 grid position, either vertically or diagonally. Each bubble symbol can land as singular or in stacks of up to 5.
Bubble symbols can activate on the Golden Dragon, Fire Cloud, and Instant Prize symbols. At the end of the final spin in Free Spins, all Bubble symbols will disappear.
Our Verdict
We were wondering how long it would take Push Gaming to create Fire Hopper 2.0, and after what feels like a lifetime, we’ve finally been given some of its best qualities in Dragon Hopper. However, what’s interesting about this instalment, is that it also shares certain elements of Crystal Catcher.
Switching out lily pads and hungry frogs in favour of Asian culture and legendary dragons, Push Gaming has created a game with endless opportunities to win through Instant Prizes and other captivating features. If jumping Multiplier Wilds and Instant Prizes sound appealing, you’ll find Dragon Hopper to be an ideal candidate for your 2025 list of favourites.
In addition to cosmetic changes, it’s evident that Dragon Hopper has more to offer in mechanics than Fire Hopper. In Free Spins, the Cluster Link mechanic becomes apparent when Instant Prize symbols chain together, similar to Retro Tapes. These advantages make Dragon Hopper a bigger and better alternative.
Unfortunately, Dragon Hopper does not tip the scales in favour of a higher max win capacity. If you look at Fire Hopper’s overall max win, it wipes the floor with Dragon Hopper’s significantly lower 10,000x max win cap. If you can look past the differences in potential, you’ll find Dragon Hopper an absolute gem and a pleasure to play.
*Dragon Hopper is available to play across Top Casino Sites from the 16th January 2025