Grand Dragon’s RTP is 94.01%, which is above average for a land based slot machine. Many land based slot machines pay between 91% and 94%, making this slot a good bet in brick and mortarcasinos.
Grand Dragon Slot Machine
Developed by Ainsworth Gaming, Grand Dragon is a 5 reel, 25 pay line slot machine that’s found in land based casinos.
At this time you won’t find this slots game in any online casinos, but most online gaming platforms offer similar titles. 5 reel and 25 pay line machines are plentiful and games based on dragonsand / or based on an Asian theme are also popular.
This is one of many oriental themed slot machines that are based on dragons, which makes us skeptical as to whether Grand Dragon has anything different to offer.
After playing this game, we can assure you that Grand Dragon does bring something to the table. It has a couple of bonus features that keep things interesting along with good graphics and music.
But is this enough to make Grand Dragon worth searching for in your local casino?
Find out as we cover this slot machine’s atmosphere, music, animations, pay table, bonuses, and betting options. We’ll also compare Grand Dragon to a couple of other Asian themed slot machines.
Grand Dragon Slot Machines Overview
Atmosphere / Background
This game features a plain background that consists of different shades of green. The reels are the same shades of green, which doesn’t help the game’s atmosphere.
This isn’t to say that the background looks ugly, but it won’t inspire you to keep playing either.
We also think that, based on the name, the background could use a picture or two of dragons to live up to its theme. But at least there’s a large dragon pictured at the top of the machinecabinet.
Music and Sound Effects
You won’t hear any music during the main game, but Grand Dragon does feature plenty of sound effects.
Several traditional Asian tunes play when you hit winning payouts, which adds to the game’s atmosphere more than the background does. But we could do without the annoying alarm sound that ringsimmediately after every payout. If you’re designing a game, don’t make something that happens often so annoying that it makes your players want to either quit or find ear plugs.
If you trigger free spins, you’ll hear an oriental beat play throughout the bonus.
Animations
The animations are one of the better parts to this game. Animations include the yin yang symbols spinning around, dragon emitting gold sparks, Phoenix flapping its wings and sending coloredsparks, and a large version of the Phoenix taking over the middle three reels.
The latter animation is the best because the middle reels turn black and give you a better view of the oversized Phoenix.
Grand Dragon Pay Table and Graphics
Payouts and symbols for Grand Dragon include the following:
- Dragon Wild
The dragon substitutes for all other symbols except the yin yang scatter to form winning payouts. This symbol offers no payouts on its own.
- Yin Yang Scatter
3 or more yin yang symbols on the reels trigger free spins. You’ll also earn 100 credits for 5 symbols, 20 for 4, and 5 for 3.
- Phoenix
The Phoenix only appears on reels 1 and 5 in the bonus round. Landing the Phoenix on reels 1 and 5 simultaneously triggers a special re spin.
- Man w / Fish Body
This half man, half fish creature pays 1,000 credits for 5 symbols, 200 for 4 symbols, 50 for 3, and 10 for 2.
- Green Emblem
This ornate green emblem pays 300 credits for 5 symbols, 75 for 4 symbols, 20 for 3, and 5 for 2.
- Lucky Coin
The coin pays 200 credits for 5 symbols, 75 for 4 symbols, 20 for 3, and 2 for 2.
- Lantern
The lantern pays 150 credits for 5 symbols, 50 for 4 symbols, 15 for 3, and 2 for 2.
- A, K, Q
These three letters are ubiquitous, paying 100 credits for 5 symbols, 25 for 4, and 5 for 3.
- J, 10, 9
These letters pay 50 credits for 5 symbols, 15 for 4, and 5 for 3.
Symbol Graphics
The symbol graphics are solid in this game, with the dragon, green emblem, Phoenix, and man fish offering the best detail.
The coin, lantern, and yin yang symbols look okay, but they just aren’t as detailed as the other symbols.
Our main complaint with the symbols is that Ainsworth used generic letters and numbers to fill out the low paying symbols. Grand Dragon isn’t the first game to do this, but it’s always better tosee unique symbols across the board.
Speaking of unique, we like how Ainsworth included a few symbols that aren’t seen in most Asian slot machines, like the Phoenix, green emblem, and man fish.
Grand Dragon Slot Bonus Features
Free Spins
As mentioned before, when you land 3 or more yin yang symbols on the reels, you trigger the bonus round. This sees the background switch from green to red, and music plays throughout thebonus.
One perk to the free spins is that the number of pay lines doubles, meaning if you’re playing 25 pay lines, you’ll have 50 lines during the bonus.
Free spins can be retriggered by getting 3 or more yin yang symbols anywhere on the reels. This seemed to happen at least once or twice during our free spins.
Phoenix Re Spins
Another benefit to the free games is that the Phoenix can appear on reels 1 and 5. If this happens simultaneously, dragon wilds fill reels 1 and 5, while the middle reel re spins once tohelp you win more prizes.
You also get to see a unique animation before the re spins, where a giant Phoenix covers the 3 middle reels while flapping its wings.
Gamble Feature
Following any win, you can click the Gamble button, above the Spin button, to try and double or quadruple your payout.
You double your win by choosing whether a playing card will be black or red. You quadruple your payout by deciding whether the playing card suit will be clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades.
You can win in the Gamble round up to five times before you’re forced to return to the main game. If you lose at any point, you’ll lose both your triggering payout along with winningsaccrued during the Gamble feature.
This is a basic Gamble feature that’s offered in some other old slot machines, but we still like that Ainsworth included the option here too.
Betting Options
You can play 1, 10, or 25 pay lines per spin, and change your coin denomination from $0.01 to $12.50 per spin. This makes the minimum bet worth one cent, and the max wager worth $312.50.
Considering that pay lines double in the bonus round, we recommend playing all 25 pay lines. Free spins happen enough that you’ll benefit from the 50 lines being in play.
Once you’ve chosen your betting options, you can click the Auto button on the side of the Spin button to automatically spin the reels.
Win Frequency
Grand Dragon’s win frequency is above average, and the dragon wilds appear frequently enough to net you some nice wins.
Considering that this game isn’t loaded with bonuses and multipliers, it makes sense that we won on a fair number of spins. We also triggered free spins enough that it helped sustain ourbankroll throughout the session.
Return to Player RTP
When coupled with the solid win frequency that we just discussed, Grand Dragon is a bankroll friendly game.
Comparison to Other Asian Themed Slot Machines
We discussed earlier how there are a large number of games revolving around dragons, which made it easy to find slot machines for comparisons.
We chose Bally’s Double Dragon and Aristocrat’s Chun Soy Doa because, like Grand Dragon, these slot machines are both found in land based casinos.
Bally’s Double Dragon
This 5 reel, 25 pay line slot creates a better atmosphere than Grand Dragon because it has a pond, temples, and gold dragons in the background. We also like the Asian tune that plays every timeyou spin the reels.
The symbols are mostly the cliché variety that you’ll see in any oriental slot. An ingot, firecrackers, koi fish, lantern, lucky coins, lotus flower, and scroll are found on the reels.
But what makes this game stand out is the Dragon Wild feature, where the gold dragon expands to fill an entire reel any time that it appears on the reels. This helps you form lots of payoutsand gives Double Dragon a high win frequency.
But the downside is that due to all the wins you’ll accumulate, there are no free spins or bonuses in this game.
While Double Dragon may have a superior atmosphere and a cool Dragon Wild feature, the lack of free spins puts this game on the same level as Grand Dragon.
Choy Sun Doa
Translating to God of Wealth, Choy Sun Doa is a 5 reel, 243 ways to win slot machine.
This game’s graphics are poorer quality than what you’ll see in Grand Dragon and Double Dragon. The symbols are below average quality, and Aristocrat should’ve stuck with a plain backgroundbecause the mountainous landscape looks bad.
One good thing about Choy Sun Doa is its betting options since you can change how many ways, or pay lines, you have to win from 3 to 243. Considering that the minimum bet with 243 ways is$0.25, we recommend playing the max.
You trigger this game’s bonus by landing 3 or more ingot scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. This allows you to choose your number of free spins and multiplier size, with the tradeoff beingthat more spins means a smaller multiplier.
The fact that you can pick your bonus and up to 243 ways to win is exciting. But the ugly graphics and poor atmosphere relegate Choy Sun Doa to a lower position than Grand Dragon.
Conclusion
Although Grand Dragon has a cliché name and bland background working against it, this game does have some redeemable qualities.
First off, this slot offers a few unique symbols like a Phoenix, man fish, and green emblem. This is noteworthy because so many Asian slot machines use the same exact symbols without offeringanything new.
You’ll see some of these symbols perform entertaining actions, such as the Phoenix flapping its wings, the dragon emitting gold sparks, and yin yang symbols spinning around wildly.
The symbols also look good, especially the dragon, Phoenix, man fish, and emblem. The only thing we don’t like here is that Ainsworth went the easy route by including generic letters / numbers aslower paying symbols.
Another benefit to Grand Dragon is how the Phoenix is a bonus within the free spins. If you land the Phoenix on reels 1 and 5, you’ll trigger a re spin with stacked wilds.
One more positive aspect is the betting options, which are very flexible. You can change pay lines from 1 to 25, and move your coin denomination from one cent to $12.50.
On the downside, Grand Dragon is just like many older slot machines in that its bonus features are limited. We like the free spins and Phoenix feature, but there are no second screen bonuses ormultipliers.
This game also lacks atmosphere because the green background and reels add nothing to the experience.
Music during the bonus and payout sound effects help make up for this lack of atmosphere, but not enough to put Grand Dragon in the upper echelon of Asian themed games.
If you love oriental slot machines, then by all means try Grand Dragon. But don’t feel obligated to search for this in the casino.