Dragon Hopper Slot Review

The Dragon Hopper Slot Game

If you missed it in the introduction, this video slot is an attempt by Push Gaming to take players on an Orient adventure. As always, the visuals in this game are of good quality, inclining towards a fantasy realm.

The 7x7 reels in Dragon Hopper float in the middle of the screen, their transparent trait allowing you to admire the dreamy background. Meanwhile, floating traditional Asian structures and architecture illuminated by flaming lanterns spice up the design’s mysticism.

A cultural tune suitable for a therapeutic session supports the good-looking visuals. Thus, you have a beautiful spectacle for your eyes and soothing tunes for your ears.

Symbols and Payouts

Every time the reels spin successfully, random symbols fill their positions and could potentially trigger paying combinations. If you’re wondering, the game offers six regular symbols that generate wins.

Winning here happens through a cluster-paying system whenever at least 5 matching symbols connect horizontally or vertically. Afterwards, cascades occur, removing all the winning symbols and letting new ones drop into the empty positions, allowing for potential multiple wins.

For the record, all the payouts in the paytable reflect the currently selected stake!

The low-paying symbols in Dragon Hopper include the Blue, Turquoise, and Purple Lanterns worth 0.1-2x the stake for 5+ OAK. Meanwhile, the high-paying symbols are the Green and Pink Lanterns worth 0.3-10x stake and the Orange and Red Lanterns worth 0.8-40x and 1-50x bet, respectively.       

The game also has Dragon and Golden Dragon Wilds that substitute for all the paytable symbols. However, they can perform more, as shown below!

Dragon Hopper Slot Bonus Features

This game lets you experience well-known features, such as instant prizes, and unique ones, such as the Mystic Flare and Bubble features.

Wild Symbols & Dragon Feature

Every wild that lands in Dragon Hopper has an associated multiplier, with the initial values ranging from 1x to 10x. The multiplier applies to a win whenever a wild participates in a cluster payout. If at least one wild contributes to the same cluster, the multiplier from every wild will be added before multiplying the win.

The initial multiplier increases by +1x whenever it flies during the Dragon feature.

But how’s the Dragon feature triggered? It starts when a Dragon Wild hits alongside a Fire Cloud symbol. During the feature, the Dragon flies to the nearest Fire Cloud, leaving a Golden Dragon symbol behind on its previous position with its respective multiplier.

Instant Prize Symbols

This symbol is a stake multiplier with 1x to 1,000x values and appears in both the Dragon Hopper base game and free spins. Whenever an Instant Prize symbol forms a cluster of at least five, it triggers a payout.

Mystic Flare Feature

This feature can be randomly triggered on a non-paying cascade or collapse. Once triggered, it randomly adds 1 to 2 Mystic symbols to the grid.

The Mystic symbol can appear as 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4 and disappear to reveal 1x1 symbols. The revealed symbols can include regular paying, Instant Prizes, Bonus, or Dragon symbols.

Free Spins Feature

Landing 3, 4, or 5 bonus symbols anywhere on the reels triggers 6, 9, and 12 free spins. After activating the free spins, the wilds, Fire Cloud, and Instant Prize symbols from the Dragon Hopper base game will retain their positions and spill into the free spins with the same values.

During the free spins, every empty symbol position will spin through to land a Fire Cloud, Instant Prize, Extra Spin, or Blank symbol. Each Instant Prize symbol that appears will remain sticky throughout the bonus, with their clusters evaluated at the end.

Bubble Feature

The Bubble symbols will randomly appear on the grid before the initial free spin and stay in place until the next free spin. The Bubble symbols are non-paying, each with between 1 and 500 assigned values.

The Bubble symbol can appear singularly or in stacks of up to 5. It also shifts one position upwards per Dragon Hopper spin, either vertically or diagonally.

The Bubble symbol can activate on the Instant Prize, Fire Cloud, and Golden Dragon symbols, as follows:

• It adds value to the Golden Dragon’s multiplier when it nudges up and lands on it.
• When the Fire Cloud lands beneath a Bubble symbol, it activates and leaves behind its value on the Fire Cloud.
• The Instant Prize can land beneath the Bubble symbol, or the Bubble symbol can nudge up and land on the Instant Prize. In both cases, the Bubble will add its value to the Instant Prize symbol.

How to Win at Dragon Hopper Slot

Besides the symbol payouts and features, I’m sure you’re eager to discover how to play and win. First, the game is packaged as a 7-reel, 7-row playing interface with a cluster pays engine.

To play the Dragon Hopper reels, wager your preferred amount from the €0.10 to €100 bet limits. Then, trigger a single game using the Spin button or the keyboard’s Spacebar. Furthermore, you can automatically play several rounds in succession using the Autoplay function.

You achieve wins by matching 5 identical symbols in vertical or horizontal touching positions.

For the record, all the symbols from the previous game are removed at the beginning of a game, allowing new symbols to cascade from above the screen. The same happens when cluster wins occur, potentially triggering a chain of wins.

Dragon Hopper Slot RTP & Volatility

Depending on the casino you’re playing from, this game can have a theoretical RTP of 94.39% or 96.33%. If you’re brave enough to withstand the medium to high volatility for a longer gaming period, you could rack up to 10,000 times the bet!

The Concluding Thoughts

I like it when online slot developers understand players’ needs. Fortunately, Push Gaming has undoubtedly proven its worth to the iGaming community, with Dragon Hopper being another well-executed gambling experience. Why? Because it combines proven mechanics and features with new ones.

Trying the game was simply eclectic. While it was a good way to reminisce features, such as cascades and instant prize symbols, it was also a good way to experience new features. The Dragon, Mystic Flare, and Bubble features should be your focus when playing, as they make the base game and free spins more fun.

In short, the slot’s exemplary design is what you’d expect from this developer. However, I’m not saying it’s a perfect experience. However, its changeable RTPs and lack of key Push Gaming features, such as the Push Bet and bonus buy, don’t dilute its appeal.