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NEW GAME REVIEW by Frank Legato
Dragon Kingdom Everi Holdings
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his new Dragon Kingdom game series is on Everi’s Empire Arena setup, which connects the monitors on the supplier’s portrait cabinets in a pod setup. The inaugural games in the series, Dragon Kingdom Eternal Wealth and Dragon Kingdom Golden Creatures, are Asian-influenced 243-ways-to-win video slots. Across machines in pods runs a horizontal wheel, its selections streaming by players in a community-based feature. Using a mystery trigger, the wheel comes to life, with prizes including free spins, multipliers, progressive jackpots, multiple wheel spins and two secondary bonus features streaming past all the players in the bank. There are six localarea progressive jackpots available on the bonus wheel, the top Grand resetting at $5,000. The dragon character breathes fire that forms a pointer on each player’s screen above the wheel, and each active player on the bank wins the bonus that lands on
his or her screen. The wheel begins to come to life before the actual spin, foreshadowing big wins as the wheel nears the mystery trigger. Manufacturer: Everi Holdings Platform: Empire Arena Format: Five-reel, 243-ways-to-win video slot Denomination: .01, .02, .05, .10 (multi-denomination available) Max Bet: 880 Top Award: Progressive; $5,000 reset Hit Frequency: 32% Theoretical Hold: 4%-15%
Game of Thrones: King’s Landing Aristocrat Gaming
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his premium game on Aristocrat’s enormous new Neptune Dual cabinet highlights the eighth and final season of the epic Game of Thrones TV fantasy series. It follows the theme of King’s Landing, the capital and largest city of the series’ Seven Kingdoms. Icons and bonus events recall the Drogon beast and the Red Keep, the seat of the story’s king. The base game is a 40-line video slot on a four-by-five reel array. In a mystery feature dubbed Drogon High Fire Reels, the Drogon randomly appears and expands the reels to a random height of seven to 14 rows, with wild symbols added to two or more reels. Three Free Game icons in the base game trigger five free spins. Additional free spins are awarded with “Collect+1” symbols in the free games. They are guaranteed to be “Drogon Spins,” in which the reels are expanded on the imposing twin 49-inch monitors of the Neptune Dual cabinet. The main Red Keep Bonus involves “Credit on Reels” symbols, Aristocrat’s version of the “Cash on Reel” play mechanic that involves reel symbols displaying credit amounts that are accumulated for a payoff. Six or more of the symbols trigger the Red Keep bonus event, which utilizes Aristocrat’s “Hold & Spin” pay mechanic. 38
Global Gaming Business SEPTEMBER 2021
The triggering Credit on Reels symbols lock in place for three re-spins, and the feature continues as long as at least one Credit on Reels symbol appears, which resets the spins to three. In this feature, the throne symbol unlocks up to four additional rows of symbols, and resets the spin count to three. Within the Red Keep Bonus, the player can trigger the Red Keep Jackpots feature, in which rows of spaces appear under each of the four progressive jackpot meters. As the bonus progresses, jackpot icons can fill the spaces under any of the jackpots—the player can win all four if the feature lasts. The top Grand jackpot reset at $10,000. Manufacturer: Aristocrat Gaming Platform: Neptune Dual Format: Five-reel, 40-line video slot Denomination: .01, .02, .05, .10 (multi-denomination available) Max Bet: 240 Top Award: Progressive; $10,000 reset Hit Frequency: Approximately 50% Theoretical Hold: 3.8%-11.38%
