Introduction to Lucky Drums 88
Lucky Drums 88 is a casino slot from Pragmatic Play that celebrates good fortune in an Eastern theme. In an industry of endless Eastern-themed slot releases, Pragmatic Play is one of the leading causes. While we’ve enjoyed many of these releases, there have also been many we haven’t, and the unfortunate truth is that many of them suffer from either a lack of good gameplay or an uninspired theme, so we quickly forgot about them. Lucky Drums 88, in this context, isn’t exactly the most standout release, as while its setting and visuals are nice, its gameplay mostly boils down to its core Hold & Spin bonus game. However, we are not gonna write it off just yet, as Pragmatic Play did incorporate a few additional mechanics that add layers to the gameplay loop through the Silver and Gold bonus games and the way the Coin Symbol bonuses trigger. But even so, we think many will look at this game like just another Eastern-themed release from the studio, but we think its gameplay, while simple, isn’t all too bad, and it comes coupled with a max win of 20,000X the bet.
Lucky Drums 88 is a rather simple, Eastern-themed release with gameplay centered around the Hold & Spin bonus game.
Theme, Gameplay, & Payouts
Lucky Drums 88 is a video slot from Pragmatic Play with 5 Reels, 5 Rows, and uses Scatter Pay mechanics, needing a minimum of 7+ of the same symbols to form a winning combination. You can choose between making a Min.bet of 0.2 and a Max.bet of 240. Lucky Drums 88 comes with a higher-than-average RTP of 96.53%, a hit frequency of 27.17%, high volatility, and a max win of 20,000X the bet. However, do take note that the max win hit frequency is 1 in 52,631,579 spins, the Respins hit frequency is 1 in 109.09 spins, and that the game comes in multiple versions with lower RTPs at 95.56% and 94.57%.
The game is set in an Eastern temple, with golden dragons adorning the pillars surrounding the playing grid, coins scattered across the floor, and a dancing lion’s head beside it. While not all too different from other similarly themed games, Lucky Drums 88 is at least detailed, with a few things that stand out, such as its titular Drums that sit above the playing grid. You can play the game on most notepads, mobiles, and desktops.
The lower-paying symbols are 10, J, Q, K, and A. Creating a win with 12-25 of the same symbols will pay out 0.6X to 2X the bet. The higher-paying symbols are various objects said to bring good fortune, including two lanterns, a bag of coins, a lion-dog guardian statue, and a black bag of gold. Landing a win with 12-25 of the same symbols pays out 3X to 15X the bet. Then we have two types of Special Symbols, those being the Silver and Gold Coin Symbols, but more on these and their bonuses in the next section.
Special Features & Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Lucky Drums 88?
You can win up to 20,000X the bet.
What features are available in the slot Lucky Drums 88?
The features are Tumble, Coin Collection, Hold & Spin, Ante Bet, and Feature Buy.
Tumble
After landing a winning combination, all winning symbols will be removed and trigger the Tumble, allowing new symbols to fall from above to fill in the empty positions. This will continue until no more wins can be made, thus ending the spin.
Coin Collection
Coins come in two variants, Silver and Gold, and whenever any of them hit, they fly towards their color corresponding drum and trigger a random event, and they are as follows:
Trigger 1 = Triggers the Hold & Spin feature.
Trigger 2 = Gets collected by its corresponding drum, up to 8 Coins per drum, which will be awarded when its corresponding Hold & Spin feature starts.
Trigger 3 = Returns to the playing grid, either awarding a random Cash Value ranging from 0.5X to 20X, a Jackpot value ranging from Mini (10X), Minor (25X), Major (100X), or Grand (1,000X), or a Tumble Sequence Multiplier ranging from 2X to 10X.
Trigger 4 = The coin disappears from the screen, and nothing is awarded.
Hold & Spin
The Hold & Spin feature is triggered when a Coin Symbol lands and activates its corresponding Drum. The bonus game can be played either on the Silver or Gold playing grid, with no difference between them, however, both can be activated at the same time, either triggered at the start of the feature or during the bonus game, allowing you to play on two 5x3 playing grids. During the bonus game, you play with 3 Respins that reset each time a Coin Symbol lands on the playing grid, and Coins come with two types of prizes, either a Cash Value or Multiplier, with the Cash Value Coins sticking onto the playing grid. The bonus game ends when either the spin counter hits 0 or all positions have been filled, and if it is the ladder, you will be awarded the Grand Jackpot of 1,000X the bet.
Ante Bet
By turning on one of the Ante Bet options, you increase your chances of triggering various bonuses, for a price based on the current bet.
2.5X = Activates Ante Bet 1, guaranteeing at least one Silver Coin on every spin.
3.5X = Activates Ante Bet 2, guaranteeing at least one Gold Coin on every spin.
5X = Activates Ante Bet 31, guaranteeing at least one Silver and one Gold Coin on every spin.
Feature Buy
Through the Feature Buy, you can instantly trigger the bonus game for a price based on the current bet.
200X = Triggers the Hold & Spin bonus game.
Final Thoughts on Lucky Drums 88
As we said before, Pragmatic Play loves to release similar themes over and over again, and while they may have been better in recent years in terms of innovation, we still see quite a bit of reused ideas here and there. However, compared with a few other recent Eastern-themed releases from the studio, such as Jade Legends and Mahjong Wins Triple Pot, this game is definitely a bit more old-school in both its visuals and gameplay loop. This is evident in its slightly outdated graphics and reused assets, which have appeared in many other Pragmatic Play games.
Lucky Drums 88 gameplay may at first look like an inventive twist on the typical Coin Collecting, thanks to the many random bonuses that it can trigger. Still, they’re sadly not very interesting or exciting. While maybe the random Cash Value, Jackpot, or Multiplier payout can feel satisfying, it’s not all too different from a normal Cash Collect mechanic, and the one bonus we actually liked to trigger, outside of just activating the Hold & Spin, was the Coin Stacking. Getting a maxed-out stack of 8 coins per drum is a satisfying feeling to have when entering the bonus game, giving you a bigger chance of feeling like the wait might just have been worth it. On top of this, we also appreciate the split between Silver and Gold bonus games, giving us the possibility of two 5x3 bonus games at the same time. However, at the end of the day, the bonus game is still only a Hold & Spin feature, which we’ve seen countless times in other releases, many of which are even better, meaning it’s not very interesting to actually play. While we enjoyed a few spins from Lucky Drums 88, we can’t see ourselves sticking around for long, and we feel many other players may feel the same thing, but we still believe there are a select few that can truly click with the game’s features.
Lucky Drums 88 is another Eastern-themed release from Pragmatic Play with a focus on Coin Collecting, just this time with a handful of extra bonuses to keep the spins just a bit more engaging.
