If you’ve been following Pragmatic Play’s partner studio Reel Kingdom’s Hold & Spin range, then Floating Dragon Hold & Spin will come as something of a surprise. Instead of tweaking the usual fruit slot format, they’ve made a clean break and switched to a different theme altogether. Players who prefer the traditional look of their previous Hold & Spin games might feel disappointed by the shift, but Reel Kingdom has picked a safe alternative, so the changes aren’t radical. Nor are the features, which now include a Fishin’ Frenzy style free spins round to go with all that holding and spinning.
Reel Kingdom has given Floating Dragon Hold & Spin quite a light, open feel. They’ve achieved this by setting the transparent 5-reel, 10-payline game grid in a clear blue sky above orange-lit clouds rather than the Macau-type casino location where these games can often be found. A touch of traditionalism is provided by the plinking soundtrack, which players into the Asian theme should be satisfied with. In many ways, Floating Dragon Hold & Spin is one of the more inviting slots to come from Reel Kingdom; at least, there are no warning bells after the first impression, which is a good sign.
Available on any device, Floating Dragon Hold & Spin offers a wide range of bets to cater for just about every gambler’s taste. Stakes start from 10 p/c for the lower rollers up to $/€250 per spin for those with deeper pockets. One plus point is a rather generous default RTP configuration, the game possessing a theoretical return value of 96.71%. At the same time, medium-high (4/5) volatility means dead spin lulls were common during testing, but the two main features triggered often enough to negate downtimes.
Winning in the main game means landing matching symbols left to right from the leftmost reel. At least 3 are required for the 10 to A royals, fish, kites, butterflies, and bird symbols, while the ship needs just 2 or more to payout. Values are quite high, where a five-of-a-kind premium symbol win pays out a prize worth 20 to 200 times your stake.
Reel Kingdom has paired the Hold & Win feature with another classic feature that crops up time and again in various places. This is the money symbol collection system immortalised in Reel Time Gaming’s iconic Fishin’ Frenzy slot all those years ago.
Triggering it occurs when 3, 4, or 5 dragon scatter symbols land to award 10, 15, or 20 free spins. Here a new lady symbol joins the game. Not only is she wild, but when she hits at the same time as fish money symbols, she collects all of their values. In turn, she is collected as well. Every 4 wilds collected retriggers the feature and awards +10 more free spins. In addition, each retrigger increases a win multiplier to 2x, 3x, then 10x for the second, third, or fourth retrigger. This multiplier is applied to collected fish money symbols. At random, when wild symbols are in view at the end of a spin, fish money symbols may appear in any position.
Gold coins are money symbols which appear only on the middle reel. Coin money symbols take a random value of 1x to 20x the total bet. When 3 hit at once, the Hold & Spin feature is triggered. When the feature starts, the money symbols on the middle reel remain while all others fade away. You start with 3 respins, and new money symbols add their values, then reset the counter. In an interesting twist, the 3 triggering money symbols remain sticky and repeatedly pay their values on each spin a new coin lands.
As well as money symbols, what you want to see are diamond symbols landing on a respin. When a diamond hits, it takes a value of 100x to 5,000x the total bet. If respins end and you haven’t won at least 20x your stake, 3 more respins are awarded.
Reel Kingdom took a bit of chance diverting from the fruity theme found in the rest of the Hold & Spin range to move off on a new tangent. By now, Floating Dragon is not exactly breaking down barriers since its extras have been borrowed from elsewhere. To its credit, however, the adjustments made to both features manage to differentiate them from others that use the same system - to a degree. Neither is groundbreaking, but they are altered enough to provide a modicum of novelty.
Features can be quite profitable as well. So much so, Reel Kingdom has limited the amount you can win in free spins to 5,000x the bet. If the game strikes this level, then the round ends, and any remaining free spins are forfeited. Since there is a chance of landing a 5,000x diamond on a Hold & Win spin, it’s safe to assume a similar limit through the paytable doesn’t specifically mention this. The Hold & Win feature tended to perform quite well when triggered, producing reasonable results. They’re pretty fun too. The way middle symbols hammer out repeat wins can be quite exciting if they’re holding decent values, plus it makes a nice change from the norm.
The same goes for free spins. Sure, Reel Kingdom borrowed the idea from Fishin Frenzy, yet the wild collection system adds another dimension. Bonus rounds can be significantly extended this way, and boosting money symbols’ value with a multiplier adds an extra incentive for collecting the wild symbol.
So while each of Floating Dragon’s individual parts evolved elsewhere, together, they create one of the more enjoyable slots in the Hold & Spin series. Fruit fans might well turn their nose up, but it’s possible Floating Dragon Hold & Spin opens up the series to a broader range of players, especially those enticed by classic features that have received a degree of modernisation.
Play for real money
