Return to Player
96.7%
Minimum bet
0.15
Slot type
Video Slots
Volatility
Medium
Number of reels
5
Progressive jackpot
No
Popularity
Maximum bet
150
Provider
NetEnt
Bonus features
Yes
Paylines
15
Theme
Mystic
Dragon Island online slot game
Casino Ideal presents Evan Carrington’s review of Dragon Island, one of NetEnt’s early slot games to introduce the Win Both Ways payline feature. First released in 2013, it drew attention at the time, while free spins and Golden Wild features offer further ways to form winning combinations. These mechanics may appeal to players who enjoy dragons and mystical settings, but they do not guarantee a result.
Theme and story line
Dragon Island has a simple theme centred on different kinds of dragons from across the ages. Its reels sit in a mountainous landscape beside a lake, with five reels featuring dragon icons and bonus symbols.
The main aim is to land Scatter Volcano and Wild Golden Dragon symbols to activate the game’s bonus mechanics. Completing these features may bring enhanced multipliers of up to 8x your wins and up to 50 free spins.
Top Casinos to Play Dragon Island:
Graphics, sounds and animations
NetEnt is known for polished visuals and immersive gameplay. Although Dragon Island was released in 2013, the review finds its presentation appealing and its gameplay enjoyable in the context of that period. Five individually designed dragons feature alongside more conventional artwork for the lower-value symbols.
The transparent reels reveal a lush natural setting, with stone pillars marking the 15 paylines. Animation is fairly limited apart from the Scatters and stacked Wilds that appear during free spins. The soundtrack is less notable, using simple sound effects for each winning payline.
Gameplay
NetEnt’s Dragon Island has five reels and three rows, with 15 paylines in total. The Win Both Ways feature can be switched on or off using the game button. Lower-value symbols are the card ranks 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. Higher-value symbols show five dragons in purple, blue, green, brown and red. The fiery red dragon offers the largest in-game prize: up to 2500x the stake for five matching symbols on one active payline.
The regular Wild and Golden Wild symbols offer standard and enhanced multiplier effects. The Scatter Volcano symbol starts the free-spins feature, which can award up to 50 free spins. The next section explains how these bonuses are triggered.
Bonuses and free spins
The standard Wild helps form winning combinations by substituting for every symbol except the Scatter and Golden Wilds. It depicts a dragon perched on a rock. The Golden Wild has a similar design, but features a more powerful golden dragon. Once Win Both Ways is activated, winning paylines can receive multipliers of up to 8x.
The Scatter Volcano feature can be triggered by two to five symbols and awards up to 50 free spins. Three symbols award 10 spins, four award 20, and five symbols anywhere on the reels award 50 free spins. Each spin also activates an expanded Wild on a random reel. During the feature, landing three or more Scatters may offer a chance to trigger additional spins.
Bet sizes, RTP and variance
The minimum stake per spin is €0.15, and the maximum bet is €150 with Win Both Ways enabled. The listed RTP is 96.70%, and the variance is medium. The review describes Dragon Island as combining smaller and larger prizes, with Wilds and Scatters appearing often enough to offer opportunities to pursue the top prizes; this does not promise any particular frequency or winnings.
Conclusion
When Dragon Island launched in 2013, casino players took notice, largely because of its Win Both Ways feature. Its dragon theme is familiar, and the animation and bonus presentation are fairly restrained, but Wilds and Scatters bring extra possibilities to the base game. The option to switch Win Both Ways on or off also accommodates different betting approaches. Players drawn to dragons and mystical worlds may enjoy this feature-focused slot from NetEnt, though its potential is not guaranteed.
Evan Carrington brings more than 12 years of experience in the iGaming industry, with a focus on reviewing online casinos, assessing slot games and examining player safety. Their work covers casino licensing, RTP, volatility, bonus terms and withdrawal policies. Drawing on practical testing and independent research, Evan provides clear, evidence-based reviews to help players understand gambling platforms, their features and possible risks.
