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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.