Beat the Beast Dragon’s Wrath: Slot Overview
In 2020, Thunderkick embarked on an ambitious project with the launch of the Beat the Beast series, beginning with Kraken’s Lair and concluding about 8 months later with Griffin’s Gold. This series captivated players with its array of mythical creatures and straightforward, impactful gameplay. Around the same time, Thunderkick also initiated the Crystal Quest series, although it seemed to lose momentum after just three installments. Fast forward to several years later, Thunderkick has decided to tap into a sense of nostalgia by extending the Beat the Beast series with a new addition: Beat the Beast Dragon’s Wrath, introducing another round of uncomplicated yet engaging gameplay enriched with mythical beasts.
Beat the Beast Dragon’s Wrath invites players into a fantastical realm populated by dragons, set against a backdrop of majestic mountains, medieval castles, and pristine natural landscapes. This addition feels like a journey back in time, mirroring the aesthetic and gameplay of the earlier Beat the Beast titles. This continuity is a testament to Thunderkick’s proficiency in crafting slots with a distinctive, vibrant, and robust visual style that has become a hallmark of the series.
The gameplay structure remains faithful to the series’ formula, featuring a 5-reel, 9-payline setup that has been consistent across all Beat the Beast entries, including Dragon’s Wrath. Players aim to form winning combinations by matching symbols from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel across a payline. Like its predecessors, Dragon’s Wrath is characterized by high volatility, offering a default Return to Player (RTP) of 96.18%, with stakes ranging from 10 cents to $/€100 per spin.
In terms of paytable, Dragon’s Wrath utilizes stone-encased 9 to A card royals as its lower-value symbols, delivering payouts of 4 to 5 times the stake for five of a kind. The higher-value symbols include a collection of dragon-themed items—a sword, a helm, a ring, a dragon statue, and a dragon head—rewarding players with 10 to 50 times their bet for securing a five-of-a-kind match, further immersing players in the slot’s mythical dragon theme.
Beat the Beast Dragon’s Wrath: Slot Features
In Beat the Beast: Dragon’s Wrath, wild multipliers emerge as a central gameplay feature, offering a glimpse of their potential in the base game and fully unleashing their power during the free spins rounds.
Dragon Emblem: Serving a dual role as both the scatter and the wild symbol, the Dragon Emblem enriches the base game by substituting for all other symbols. Additionally, these emblems carry a x2 multiplier, amplifying the payout of any winning combination they contribute to.
Bonus Game: The thrill of free spins is triggered upon landing 3 Dragon Emblem symbols, granting players 3 free spins. During these rounds, Dragon Emblem symbols evolve into Roaming Wilds. These special wilds not only substitute for all other symbols but also navigate across the reels with each spin, persisting until the conclusion of the free spins. Moreover, each instance of a win featuring one or more Roaming Wilds results in an additional free spin being awarded.
As Roaming Wilds dart from one position to another, they start with a x2 multiplier. If a Roaming Wild participates in a win, its multiplier is randomly increased and potentially transferred to another Roaming Wild, escalating up to a maximum of x50 per individual Roaming Wild. Consequently, when multiple Roaming Wilds contribute to a win, their multipliers are cumulatively applied, reaching a possible zenith of x150.
Feature Buy: For those eager to bypass the base game’s suspense, Dragon’s Wrath offers a feature buy option, allowing direct entry into the free spins round for 125 times the current bet. This purchase not only guarantees immediate action but also slightly elevates the game’s RTP to 96.44%, enhancing the chance for significant wins.
Dragon’s Wrath continues Thunderkick’s tradition of crafting visually distinct and mechanically engaging slots within the Beat the Beast series, providing players with a blend of nostalgia and innovation through its simple yet captivating gameplay and the thrilling potential of wild multipliers.
Beat the Beast Dragon’s Wrath: Slot Verdict
Revisiting Dragon’s Wrath invokes a mix of nostalgia and novelty, akin to rekindling an old romance unexpectedly. This slot shares its lineage with the concluding entry of Thunderkick’s Beat the Beast series, Griffin’s Gold, but introduces enough variations to distinguish itself. Not groundbreaking differences, but enough for the discerning player to notice a separate identity within the familiar framework.
Central to Dragon’s Wrath is the roaming wild free spins feature, reminiscent of Jammin’ Jars, starting players with three spins. These spins come with the potential for additional spins through wild-involved wins and multipliers that soar higher than those in Griffin’s Gold, reaching up to x50. Unlike Griffin’s Gold, where wild multipliers would multiply each other, Dragon’s Wrath opts for additive multipliers when multiple wilds contribute to a win, presenting a gameplay dynamic that is at once more straightforward and potentially as thrilling as its predecessor. Yet, it caps its payouts at 11,111x the stake—halving Griffin’s Gold’s maximum win potential, a choice that dampens the ceiling of ambition somewhat, especially given Thunderkick’s conservative track record with max win achievements.
Ultimately, Dragon’s Wrath may stand as equal to, if slightly lesser than, Griffin’s Gold, not pushing significantly beyond what was previously offered. Speculation suggests this installment could have been an alternate ending to the Beat the Beast saga, perhaps sidelined in favor of Griffin’s Gold until now. Whether born out of player demand or rediscovered within Thunderkick’s creative vaults, Dragon’s Wrath’s release is a nod to Beat the Beast aficionados. It presents an alternative to Griffin’s Gold that might resonate more with some players, maintaining a familiar playstyle enriched with moments of excitement and surprise. Despite lacking groundbreaking innovation, it delivers a solid, engaging slot experience, anchored by its visually appealing design and the potential for dramatic feature activations.