Play Red Dragon for Free

Us Brits love to complain about the weather. When it's cold, we like to make sure everyone knows that we're not happy about it, which is most of the time to be fair. And even when the sun comes out and the temperatures rise, you can bet we'll complain that it's too warm. Well, spare a thought for the adventurers of this hot and cold slot machine. The left hand side of the game screen looks hotter than a Ginster's Cornish pasty that's just come straight out of the microwave while the right hand side looks colder than Phil Mitchell's soul. What's the point of risking simultaneous third degree burns and frostbite, you may ask? The chance to claim up to 15,000 coins with any spin of the slot machine.

The slot machine's main characters are a trio of miniature have-a-go-heroes, including a sword wielding knight, an eagle-eyed archer and, er, a cat wearing a silly hat. Standing in the way of these cartoon crusaders are two young dragons, one which commands the elemental powers of fire and another which commands the power of ice. The cartoon aspect of this 3D game does make it feel a little bit juvenile, meaning that it's not ideal for hardcore fans of Dungeons and Dragons. Nevertheless, the game's aesthetic is perfectly pleasant and innocuous to attract a large audience.

Red Dragon may look a bit tame, but spinners shouldn't expect to just waltz on through to the big winnings. This medium variance video slot will make punters work for their prizes and they can expect some barren spells of spinning action before they land any decent wins. Those wins are fit for a miniature hero, though, with a top line bet multiplier that is worth 1,200x when five red dragon symbols align.

The biggest win in the base game is actually presented by the treasure chest scatter icon. That is because this symbol will multiply the value of the total bet by 50x whenever five appear in any position, regardless of paylines. So, if punters were to play with all 30 paylines with a maximum bet of 300 credits, they could end up spinning a prize worth 15,000 coins. Of course, not everyone wants to play with such big wagers but this game allows casual punters to place a total 30-payline wager of just 1.50 credits.

Everyone needs a bit of a boost when they're on an adventure and Red Dragon offers one in the form of its “unlimited” free spins feature. This gameplay element is triggered whenever three or more scatter icons appear on the reels, prompting players to choose one of two special wild icons – ice or fire – that appear during the free games. The feature begins with a x2 multiplier applied to all wins and this multiplier will increase by one after every five spins up to the maximum of x8.

The reason that we say this feature is “unlimited” is because players can enjoy the free spins indefinitely until the unselected wild icon appears on reel 3. This will cause the feature to go into “Spin Countdown Mode” for five spins, after which the feature will end unless the selected wild icon appears on reel 3 to take the game back into “Unlimited Spin Mode”. In reality, this game won't actually go on forever since there is a maximum free game limit of 80 spins.

In terms of gameplay, this slot machine is very similar to another SimplePlay slot machine known as North South Lions. In fact, both of the games are identical when it comes to the volatility level, the size of the base game jackpot and the free spins feature. As far as the theme goes, punters will find some equally cartoon-like dragon action in slots like A Dragon's Story by NextGen and Dragonz by Microgaming.

Red Dragon is an accessible game that doesn't take itself too seriously, meaning that it will appeal to a wide audience of slot machine players. What's more, the slot machine strikes a good balance between volatility levels and prize potential, especially when you consider that there is a chance to win a progressive jackpot after any spin.