Phoenix and Dragon Slot Review

Have you ever been asked which would fare better, the phoenix or a dragon? No? Well you’re about to play out the entire experience for yourself thanks to the 5-reels and 10 paylines of this real cash slot. Phoenix and Dragon may not be imaginative in name, but it holds two exclusive features.

The brand behind this battle of wills, Merkur, have created a tranquil arena for the two to spar, and we say spar because this isn’t a fight to the death. Inside the dojo you’ll travel along many tempting winning lines, but none will grant you access to wilds and free games like these two beasts.

Legend Tells…

Legend always tells of a beast, local to the area, with the strength to destroy civilisations in an instant, but few of us ever experience that might. And sadly, you’re not about to now, for the power behind both the phoenix and dragon isn’t depicted in a way that captures that raw energy and beauty. As always, Merkur have opted for an understated design.

In fact, upon loading the game, you might even wonder if you’ve selected the right slot machine, for the aesthetic is rather easy going and pleasant, almost naive in blissful happiness. We see smiling faces, butterflies fluttering about their day, and lanterns lit with subtle glow – where’s the passion, the intensity?

The Heart of Dragon, the Flames of a Phoenix

Both the blue dragon and red phoenix act as the scatter symbols for this game, and when acting alone, they do very little; this is because they need to be brought together. They’re like two pieces of the same puzzle, without one of them the solution can never be reached. Due to this distinctive design feature, you only ever need to get the two together for the feature to begin.

Once the two have combined forces, players will face a difficult decision: do they accept the offering of the dragon, or the gift of the phoenix? Both bonus rounds have their unique identifies, and so you will undoubtedly miss out on the merit of one when choosing the other.

• Dragon Spins: Should you go the way of the dragon, you’ll experience two free spins in which the third, fourth and fifth reels of the grid become wild. Consequently, the likelihood of making better wins is increased tenfold.
• Phoenix Spins: If you decide to activate the phoenix mode, you’ll receive two free spins just like those who play the dragon feature, but instead reels one through four will have an increased number of wild symbols.

Small Offerings

Given the two legends in circulation here, you would expect a staggering pay-in fee in order to sate their raging personalities, but with Phoenix and Dragon a bet of 0.10 credits will do just fine. To improve on your payout, and make the gameplay more worthwhile, you can increase your stake to the max amount of 10 credit (hardly an unreasonable fee), and see the paytable jump to 2,500 credits.

Changing the number of winlines will have no bearing on your bet, meaning that you’ll only increase the volatility rather than decrease the cost. If you prefer slots where the lines and bets go hand-in-hand, you’re best looking beyond the Merkur catalogue of activities.

Untapped Potential

Phoenix and Dragon might not draw you in with an eye catching title, nor does it win you other with an intense interface, but it certainly manages to provide you with two different means of increasing your enjoyment. The Dragon and Phoenix Spins are one of the brand’s more inventive features, which we can’t praise them enough for; they’re a breath of fresh air.

That being said, there’s so much potential left upon those reels that’s never realised. So much could have been done to turn this into the epic slot it’s meant to be – higher cash prizes, more variance, better graphics… This just feels like an underloved slot that never got given the tender loving care it needed.