Dungeons & Dragons Crystal Caverns Pokies
Although the role-playing Dungeons & Dragons game has been around for 40 years or so, it’s a tricky concept to convert to a Poker game, so developer IGT have gone for an approach that just features some of the characters and a few crystal symbols in the Dungeons & Dragons Crystal Caverns game.
It’s still got plenty to offer fans of this mythical world and even those who have never played the original game on which it’s based will appreciate the style, gameplay and particularly the bonus features.
These include free spins, wild substitutions and the Tumbling Reels system which can create several wins from a single spin.
Playing Dungeons & Dragons Crystal Caverns
Set out over 5 reels and in 3 rows, the symbols are all quite detailed and colourful, framed in a nice Celtic-inspired surrounding, while behind them is the cavern along with the title and below the main part of the game is a control panel.
There are 20 fixed paylines running left to right across the reels, making the minimum stake 0.20 per spin, and players can adjust this amount upwards to suit their budgets to a maximum of 10.00, which is relatively low and makes this a game for casual players rather than serious gamblers.
The crystals come in purple, blue and green, with smaller wins created by landing 3, 4 or 5 of the same type across a payline on adjacent reels, starting on the left side. The purple is worth 10x, 20x or 80x the bet per line, while the blue and green are both valued at 10x, 30x or 100x.
Some character symbols will make up the more lucrative winning combinations, with a couple of different knights and a maiden, but the most valuable symbol is the D&D logo, which pays 100x, 500x and 5000x the line bet when it stops on 3, 4 or 5 reels across a payline.
Spinning the reels will reveal a couple of unusual features, firstly, players will see that symbols drop down into their positions, rather than spin, and if a winning line is formed, the symbols that made it up will disappear. This Tumbling Reels feature can be quite rewarding, as any symbols above will drop down into the empty spaces and new ones will appear from above the reels.
This can make up a further winning line, which will repeat the process and while there’s no maximum to the number of times this can go on, players can expect 2 or maybe 3 wins from a single spin before a non-winning set of symbols fills the game.
Dungeons & Dragons Crystal Caverns
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Bonus Features
Some other bonus features will also add variety to standard gameplay, with an ornate image of dragons forming a wild symbol that will substitute for others to complete winning combinations or to stretch lines across more reels for a bigger payout.
A golden shield is the bonus symbol, and landing this on reels 1, 2 and 3 of a line will trigger 6 free spins. This isn’t many, but further bonus symbols, in any positions this time, will add extra spins to the end of any still left to play out, plus different symbols including various monsters and pieces of jewellery will fill the reels throughout this round.
Random numbers of extra spins are added, with 3 bonus symbols being worth 2, 3 or 4 more, while 4 of them will award 4, 6, 8 or 10 and if 5 bonus symbols appear again, 6, 8, 10, 12 or 15 extras pins are added on.
The maximum number of extra games that players can be awarded is 300, although it’s going to be a seriously lucky player who gets anywhere near that total.
The Verdict
A lose connection to the role-playing game may put off some people, but Dungeons & Dragons Crystal Caverns is generally a high-quality pokie that should attract fans along with those who have never seen the game on which it’s based.
It’s been designed with care, having some detailed images across the reels and surrounding them, with everything related to the theme. Putting different symbols in the free spins round is a nice touch, and having extra bonus symbols in play should help to award more than just the initial 6 spins.
Wild substitutions are a fairly standard, but still very welcome way to get more winning spins, although unlike most pokies, there’s no scatter payouts.
Possibly the most interesting feature however, is the Tumbling Reels. These are not exclusive to this pokie, and other developers have similar features, but giving players a chance to score multiple winning lines in each and every spin is a real bonus that can prove to be highly rewarding.