House of Dragons Pokies
Ancient China is one of the most popular themes for online pokies to follow and House of Dragons, from Microgaming, is a typical example of the breed, with pictures of paper lanterns, lucky coins and of course dragons decorating the 5 reels and 20 paylines.
Among the highlights are a couple of bonus features including one where players shoot arrows at targets to build up wins, plus there are a couple of wild symbols, multiplier payouts, scatter wins and a wide range of potential bet sizes.
Off to the Orient We Go
A particular feature of House of Dragons is the overall appearance of the game, with an exceptionally rich and colourful design. The reels are surrounded by columns with dragon motifs painted on them while a pagoda style roof and the ornate game title tops them off.
Behind the reels is an image of traditional Chinese buildings in a courtyard, with lush green mountains in the background, and even the control buttons below them break with the usual Microgaming style and have been given something of a 3D appearance. It’s all very effective and is sure to attract people curious to see how such a good-looking game plays out.
As for the symbols themselves, well we only have 7 main ones to think about and 5 of them are the playing card icons 10, J, Q, K and A that feature on so many pokies. At least they are presented in a style that brings Chinese writing to mind which is a nice change from the very basic versions that Microgaming seem to use on much of their range, so we won’t complain too much about the fact that most symbols are not really related to the theme.
The other basic symbols are the lantern and coin, which, like the others, will need to line up across an activated payline on at least 3 adjacent reels running from the one on the left to create a winning combination.
House of Dragons
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Bonus Symbols and More
While most pokies make do with a single wild symbol, House of Dragons takes a wok on the wild side and comes complete with 2 of them, namely the emperor and the dragon itself. Both of them help to complete winning lines of symbols by acting as any base symbol, but the dragon wild will double the value of any line that it completes.
Landing any of the wilds on their own across an active line will bring some of the biggest prizes of the game to players, with just 2 examples needed instead of the 3 that are the minimum for any other combinations.
The Chinese fan symbol will trigger a quick bonus feature when at least 3 land on the reels at once, with each of them turning over to reveal a prize value and multiplier amount. It’s not the most engaging of bonus rounds, but can pay out some decent sums of up to 800x the triggering bet, plus it works as a scatter symbol so doesn’t even need to be on a line to start the feature.
A bow and arrow will take players to the main bonus feature of House of Dragons when at least 3 land on a line and this one is much more interesting. They will have to guide an archer to fire his arrows at up to 4 targets, with each having different prize multiplier values on them.
The amounts rise towards the centre of each, but it’s pretty easy to hit them and with each successful shot players can choose to collect the win, collect half of it, or gamble it.
Wagering Options
House of Dragons gives players the option to place just 0.01 on a single payline, although with 20 lines in total it means that most winning combinations that land on the reels won’t count, so to cover them all, the minimum stake is 0.20 per spin.
They can then adjust the amount wagered all the way up to 5.00 per line for a maximum bet of 100.00 a spin, and all wins other than scatters are multiplies of the amount staked per line.
The Verdict
With a pleasing design, popular theme and interesting bonus features, House of Dragons should appeal to a wide range of players. The only thing really missing is a free spins round, and the purpose of 2 wilds isn’t particularly obvious, although it’s not an issue, just a strange feature.
Overall however, this is a quality pokie that should find a wide audience at the many online casinos that carry the trusted Microgaming range.