This page contains affiliate links and was produced in partnership with our sponsor SciPlay. Learn more about our editorial policy.
Dancing Drums fans have been spoiled with various extensions of the brand over the past few years. The latest adds a cute character into the mix with Dancing Drums Dragon. It also adds a new Hold and Spin bonus to the existing series-favorite Free Games Feature, and both features bonus choice with varying volatility.
If that weren’t enough, the titular dragon can offer access to a special progressive and a nested bonus, which Brian Christopher often calls the “bonus in the bonus.”
This is one of the many slot titles available on the free to play 88 Fortunes Slots casino app. So let’s walk through what makes this slot so much fun, and at the end we’ll share how you can get started with 88 Fortunes Slots on your iOS or Android device.
Base Game
Like other Dancing Drums series slots, your base game features a 5×3 reel set and 243 ways to win with an all ways ways format. The pay table symbols feature a mix of royal symbols for the lower paying options, and then various premium symbols with their own specific colored backgrounds. The top symbol is the dragon on a red background.
Along with those symbols, wild symbols appear on reels 2, 3 and 4. Unlike most Dancing Drums slots though, they are not able to set off any bonuses. That is instead handed to something new on this version, cash on reels symbols which feature credit prizes, the four traditional jackpot prizes, and that special dragon symbol we mentioned up top.
Speaking of the jackpot prizes, you’ll notice when you launch the slot there’s actually five here – the traditional Mini, Minor, Major and Grand are here, all static prizes that change with your spin amount, meaning the chances of winning them are the same on any spin amount. But now, there’s a fifth prize, the Dragon jackpot, which is awarded when you achieve certain goals in the Hold & Spin bonus.
Finally, the drums return here, and work similarly to any Dancing Drums slot, with wilds even substituting for them to help achieve the Free Games Feature.
Free Games Feature
This is the classic Dancing Drums Free Games Feature kept intact for this version. Three or more consecutive drums starting from the left most reel awards the Free Games Feature. Wilds can substitute for drums. You get a choice of bonus, where you can opt for more spins and shorter reels, or less spins with taller reels:
- 15 free games with a 5×3 reel set
- 10 free games with a 5×4 reel set
- 5 free games with a 5×5 reel set
- 3 free games with a 5×6 reel set
- Mystery: One of the four free game amounts listed above chosen at random, with one of the four reel set options listed above chosen at random
This is a volatility choice – over the long run, they’ll all average out, but on any one bonus the 15 free games will offer a more consistent bonus experience, while the less spins could outperform, but you only have a few spins to do it.
There is the opportunity to retrigger if at least two drums land on consecutive reels, starting from the first reel. Wilds are still able to substitute for drums. Three additional spins are added each time a retrigger occurs.
Hold and Spin Feature
This is a new feature to Dancing Drums Dragon, and can be triggered randomly anytime a cash on reels symbol appears (which can be any of the following: a credit prize, jackpot or the Dragon symbol).
The hold and spin feature is played on a 5×6 reel set. However, depending on your choice (another bonus volatility choice), you may start with some of the rows locked:
- 12 spins with the top 3 rows locked
- 9 spins with the top 2 rows locked
- 6 spins with the top 1 rows locked
- 3 spins with no rows locked; all six rows are unlocked
- Mystery: One of the four spin counts listed above chosen at random, with one of the four locked row options listed above chosen at random
Rows can be unlocked by landing arrows in an unlocked space. Each three arrows collected will unlock the next locked row. There are also drums, and like the Free Games Feature, landing two in unlocked spaces acts as a retrigger adding three additional spins to the counter.
Credit prizes can land, as can the four traditional static jackpots, the Mini, Minor, Major and Grand. WIth the absence of a picking bonus in this version, this is how those prizes are distributed. The Dragon symbol can also appear, awarding the Dragon Feature if landed in an unlocked space.
At the end of the spins, all prizes held in unlocked spaces are awarded. If a static jackpot is among them, that prize is awarded. If the Dragon symbol is among them, the Dragon Feature is awarded.
Dragon Feature
The Dragon Feature is a nested bonus that features 8 spaces in a circular grid and follows traditional Hold and Spin rules. You start with 3 spins, and each time a symbol lands, the counter resets to 3. Along with credit prizes, 2x and 3x symbols can land, with the multiplier attached to an adjacent symbol. Multipliers can chain together, meaning they can stack if a credit prize lands in the appropriate space.
If all 8 positions hold a value, the Dragon Feature concludes and the Dragon static jackpot will be awarded. All credit prizes are multiplied if linked to a multiplier, and then are awarded.
Play Dancing Drums on 88 Fortunes Slots App
Dancing Drums Dragon is just one of the many 88 Fortunes family of slots available to play on the 88 Fortunes Slots app, available on both iPhone and Android devices. It’s one of more than 200 slots available to play on the app! The game is regularly available in the main lobby.
New players will get 7 billion coins as a welcome for trying out the app. Give it a try now – you won’t be disappointed!
