Dragon Vs Phoenix Slot Review
A pagoda sits on the right edge of a hazy mountain valley, a red lantern swaying beneath its eaves while a gnarled pine reaches in from the left. Gold dragon and phoenix carvings crown the reel frame of Dragon Vs Phoenix, a Tom Horn Gaming slot built on a 4×4 grid with 16 winlines, eight paying left to right and eight paying right to left. It runs at an RTP of 95.06%.
Most slots hand you a wild and expect gratitude. This one makes you choose between two, spin by spin, and the shape you pick changes which of those bidirectional lines are live bait. It’s a small idea done properly, and it’s nowhere to be found in stablemates like Wild Dragon S Fortune or Book Of Vampires.
Reels, Winlines and Symbols
The game plays across a 4×4 grid with 16 winlines in total. Eight of them pay left to right; the other eight pay right to left, so a winning run can start from either edge of the reels. Only the highest win is paid per line, and all wins are multiplied by the total bet rather than a line bet, which keeps the arithmetic simple when you’re reading a result.
The mirroring has a practical effect on how you watch each spin land. A cluster of premium symbols in the middle of the grid can complete lines running in either direction, which spreads the interesting positions across the whole grid rather than weighting everything towards the left edge. Four of a kind is the ceiling on any single line here, since there are only four rows and four reels to fill.
Ten symbols fill the paytable, and the top of it is steep. The values step down sharply from the Red/Gold Headdress at the summit.
- Red/Gold Headdress – 20x for three, 100x for four
- Purple Snake – 15x for three, 50x for four
- Orange Lantern – 10x for three, 30x for four
- Green Scroll – 5x for three, 20x for four
- Blue Potion – 5x for three, 10x for four
- Pink Gem – 2x for three, 5x for four
- Red Gem / Blue Triangle – 1x for three, 3x for four
- Yellow Diamond – 0.5x for three, 2x for four
- Green Pentagon – 0.5x for three, 1x for four
Every value there is a multiple of the total bet, not the line bet, so the figures read exactly as they pay. The upper half of the table is where the money sits.
Two tiers share their values, which trims the effective number of distinct pays. The bottom half of the table is there to keep the lines ticking over, nothing more.
The Dragon Wild and the Phoenix Wild
Two wilds sit at the top of the reels, and you choose between them. Click the Dragon Wild or the Phoenix Wild icon and that’s the one active on the reels; you can change your pick whenever the reels stop, but only one wild can be selected at a time.
The two aren’t interchangeable. The Dragon Wild is blue and expands vertically to 1×3, filling a full reel from top to bottom. The Phoenix Wild is gold and expands to a 2×2 block, covering a square of four positions. Both substitute for all symbols except the Scatter. Neither pays anything itself.
That shape difference is the whole decision. A vertical expansion on a 4×4 grid covers every row of one reel, so it leans on lines that run through that reel in either direction. A 2×2 block covers half of two adjacent reels instead, which spreads its reach across more winlines but never completes a line on its own edge-to-edge.
Because the lines pay both ways, there’s no permanently right answer. A dragon filling reel two helps left-starting runs through the middle; a phoenix square sitting across reels three and four can finish runs from either side at once. The choice is small, but it’s yours on every spin.
Free Spins
The Scatter is the trigger. Land 3 Scatters and you get 5 free spins; land 4 and you get 7. Given the grid is 4×4, four is the maximum, and the reward for the perfect scatter hit is two extra spins over the minimum. It’s a flat, modest ladder.
Inside the round, both wilds are enabled at once, which is the real prize. The dragon-or-phoenix choice that governs the base game is suspended, and the 1×3 expansion and the 2×2 block can both appear, each substituting for everything except the Scatter. Free spins cannot be retriggered, so what you’re dealt at the start is all there is.
With both shapes live at the same time, the round plays quite differently to the base game. A single spin can carry a full reel of wilds on one part of the grid and a wild square on another, and the bidirectional lines give both of them work to do. 5 or 7 spins isn’t much runway for it, which is the round’s built-in limit.
The bigger results have to come from the free spins round, where both expansions are live at once and the bidirectional lines can pay several ways on a single spin. The base game on its own keeps ordinary results modest, with the top symbol’s line setting the pace.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7/10
This is a game you play for the choosing, not the chasing. Picking your wild, spin by spin, against a golden mountain backdrop is the whole reason to be here, and it’s a better reason than it sounds: the decision is real, the two shapes genuinely suit different boards, and the free spins round rewards you by taking the choice away and giving you both at once.
The strength is that nothing here is filler. The weakness is that nothing here is big, either: the Headdress’s 100x is the mountain top, everything under it slides down fast, and five to seven spins with no retrigger is a short visit to the pagoda.
It suits players who like a slot they can fiddle with, one small decision at a time, and who won’t miss a towering ceiling. Anyone hunting a number worth camping out for will find the view here is the tallest thing on offer.
Dragon Vs Phoenix FAQs
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What is the RTP of Dragon Vs Phoenix?
Dragon Vs Phoenix has an RTP of 95.06%. -
How do you trigger free spins in Dragon Vs Phoenix?
Landing three Scatter symbols awards 5 free spins, and landing four Scatter symbols awards 7 free spins. During free spins, both wild symbols are enabled at the same time. -
Can free spins be retriggered in Dragon Vs Phoenix?
No. Free spins cannot be retriggered, so the 5 or 7 spins awarded at the start of the round are all you get. -
What does the selectable wild do in Dragon Vs Phoenix?
You click on the Dragon Wild or Phoenix Wild icon at the top of the reels to activate that wild. The Dragon Wild expands vertically to 1×3, the Phoenix Wild expands to a 2×2 block, and only one can be selected at a time. You can change your pick when the reels stop. -
Can you switch between the Dragon Wild and Phoenix Wild during play?
Yes. You can change your pick when the reels stop, so the active wild can be swapped between spins. Only one wild is ever active at a time in the base game. -
How many paylines does Dragon Vs Phoenix have?
The game has 16 winlines in total. Eight pay left to right and another eight pay right to left, with only the highest win paid per line. -
What is the highest-paying symbol in Dragon Vs Phoenix?
The Red/Gold Headdress is the top symbol, paying 20x the total bet for three and 100x for four. All wins are multiples of the total bet, not the line bet. -
When is Dragon Vs Phoenix released?
Dragon Vs Phoenix’s release date is 9 May 2022.
