Introduction to Dragon Sanctuary
Dragon Sanctuary is a casino slot from NowNow Gaming with an Eastern theme and dragons that can turn into Multiplier Wilds. Eastern Asia, or more specifically, Chinese-themed releases, is one of the most common themes in the slot industry, having become a staple very early on and with thousands of titles sharing the same setting. Sometimes it feels like it’s an inevitable theme that every studio has to, at some point, make a game on, and now it’s the South African studio NowNow Gaming’s time with Dragon Sanctuary. To be blunt, it’s not the most original and doesn’t really feel as interesting as their previous releases like Penguin Royale or Opa Santorini! However, don’t let that dissuade you, as Dragon Sanctuary comes with a small feature package filled with volatility thanks to the Mythic Strike feature, which comes with two parts, one being a Multiplier Wild transformation and the other being potentially non-stop Respins. While straightforward, there’s quite a lot of things packed into the Mythic Strike feature, which then makes the subsequent Free Spins feature look just a bit weaker, but it all culminates in a fun and enjoyable slot experience with a max win of 10,000X the bet.
NowNow Gaming delivers on a rather unoriginal theme with one shining feature, Mythic Strike, which carries the rest of the game.
Theme, Gameplay, & Payouts
Dragon Sanctuary is a video slot from NowNow Gaming with 5 Reels, 5 Rows, and 19 paylines. You can choose between making a Min.bet of 0.1 and a Max.bet of 100. Dragon Sanctuary comes with a slightly lower-than-average RTP of 96.26%, medium/high volatility, and a solid max win of 10,000X the bet.
With Dragon Sanctuary, NowNow Gaming takes us to a serene village high up in the mountains, with the playing grid built into a pagoda temple. On each side of the playing grid, a shiny statue of a dragon can be found, which would make sense if this is the home of the dragons. Said dragons also show up on the playing grid in the form of the Lan and Jin dragons, meaning beauty and metal, respectively. You can play the game on most mobiles, desktops, and notepads.
You create wins by landing 3 or more of the same symbols in adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost reel, thus creating a payline. The lower-paying symbols are 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A. Creating a win with 5 of the same symbols will pay out 1X to 2.5X the bet. The higher-paying symbols include a hand fan, a scroll, a red lantern, the golden Lan dragon, and the white Jin dragon. Landing a win with 5 of the same symbols pays out 5X to 25X the bet. We also have a range of Special Symbols, including Wilds, Scatters, and Dragon Sanctuary Symbols, but more on these in the next section.
Special Features & Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Dragon Sanctuary?
You can win up to 10,000X the bet.
What features are available in the slot Dragon Sanctuary?
The features are Wild Symbols, Mythic Strike, Free Spins, and Feature Buy.
Wild Symbols
Wild Symbols help form winning combinations by being able to substitute for all symbols except Scatter and Dragon Sanctuary Symbols. Wilds can only appear from the Mythic Strike feature and can’t naturally land.
Mythic Strike
When a Dragon Sanctuary Symbol lands alongside the Jin or Lan high-paying symbols, it will trigger the Mythic Strike, where either nothing happens, or it will convert the symbols into Multiplier Wild Symbols, with their Multiplier values depending on the symbol, with the Jin having potential Multipliers of 1X to 500X and Lan with the possibility of 1X to 50X. If the Dragon Sanctuary converts the symbols into Wilds, it will collect all Multipliers into a combined Total Win Multiplier and award a Respin, which will continue for as long as new Jin or Lan Symbols land and transform into new Wilds. After the Respins end, the Total Win Multiplier will be added to the Total Win, ending the feature and resetting the Multiplier.
Dragon Fire Free Spins
By landing 3, 4, or 5 Scatter Symbols, you will be awarded the Dragon Fire Free Spins feature with 10, 15, or 20 spins. The bonus game plays with the same mechanics as in the base game, but with the addition of not resetting the Multiplier Meter between spins.
Feature Buy
Through the Feature Buy, you can activate various bonuses for a price based on the current bet.
3X = Activates the BonusHunt FeatureSpins, making each spin 5 times more likely to trigger the bonus game.
50X = Activates the Mythic Strike FeatureSpins, making each spin guarantee the Mythic Strike feature.
100X = Triggers the Dragon Fire Free Spins with 10, 15, or 20 spins.
Final Thoughts on Dragon Sanctuary
Dragon Sanctuary struggles to really hook us with its presentation. Even though its visuals are vibrant and clean, its theme just doesn’t feel all that interesting. Which does make sense for NowNow Gaming, as if you have a look through their portfolio, they have a good list of interesting and unique themes, such as Pawstar Beats and Peek & Pounce, and those that feel a bit less original can still shine thanks to their graphics, as seen with Skull Fiesta. Of course, ultimately it comes down to gameplay, and NowNow Gaming’s titles are no different, and Dragon Sanctuary is a great example, as while we weren’t all too impressed at first, its straightforward yet volatile gameplay did turn us around.
Speaking of gameplay, Dragon Sanctuary at its core is all about the Mythic Strike feature, bringing Wilds, Multipliers, and Respins to the reels with one simple trigger. We actually quite enjoyed this feature, and while it can feel like the game relies just a bit too much on it, as it does a lot of heavy lifting, when it shows up, it can have tremendous potential. However, sometimes it can feel a bit rare, and while the paytable is fine enough, we do wish that there had been at least some other feature to fill in the blanks. This is especially so as the Free Spins feature feels a bit uninspired, even if it does up our chances of hitting it big thanks to the persistent Multipliers. So, all in all, Dragon Sanctuary is an enjoyable slot experience with a relatively good game plan, however, we can also see how it can grow repetitive or stale because of its reliance on one single feature.
Dragon Sanctuary is a slot release with vibrant graphics and a gameplay loop all about its Mythic Strike feature, which is backed up by the Free Spins feature for volatile spins.
