Dragons Clusterbuster

(Red Tiger) Slot Review

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Dragons Clusterbuster: Slot Overview

If there's one thing software provider Red Tiger goes in for, it's big, scaly, fire breathing dragons. The mythical creatures have appeared in several past Red Tiger games in various guises performing various deeds, yet this must be the first time they are doing some cluster-bustering. If you're not 100% sure exactly what that term means, neither were we at first, but a few spins was all it took to grasp the concept. It'll help if you've played Thor's Lightning before, as the gameplay is similar. So, if you're ready to brave the beast in an attempt to nab some treasure, let's enter the lair.

Dragons Clusterbuster is a cluster paying grid slot played on a large 9x9 sized game panel. Its location is a bit of a mystery. While the visuals are pleasing to the eye, we don't appear to be in a dragon's lair as such, but the scale patterned wall, and pointy bits allude to the mythical creatures. Half the time, Dragons Clusterbuster felt like hanging out at a posh seafood restaurant as much as a den full of treasure. However, the game has a customary Red Tiger sparkle, so no complaints from a graphical perspective.

Dragons Clusterbuster slot

Anyway, it's the gaming that really counts, and this kicks off by selecting a stake of 10 p/c to $/€20 per spin, then hitting the play button. Doing so drops 72 symbols onto the game grid, while in the middle sits a 3x3 sized block called the Clusterbuster. Like Thor's Lightning, the player's job is to smash the Clusterbuster open to get to the good stuff. Dragons Clusterbuster's action is highly volatile and produces a theoretical return to player value of 96%.

The key to cracking the Clusterbuster is the cluster pays mechanism. When five or more matching symbols are adjacent to each other in horizontal or vertical directions, a winning cluster is formed. If it is made up of five low pay 10-A playing card symbols, the reward is 0.1-0.2x the bet, rising to 5-10x the bet for clusters of 20+ low pay symbols. For high pays, there are scrolls, swords, orbs, and crowns, paying 0.3-1.5x for a five-symbol cluster, up to 12 to 50 times the stake for a cluster of 20+ premium symbols. Lending a helping hand is an emerald gold wild symbol, landing anywhere to substitute for all paying symbols.

Dragons Clusterbuster: Slot Features

Dragons Clusterbuster slot

The path to potential glory in Dragons Clusterbuster is by linking wins together with a chain reaction feature and clearing the Clusterbuster to unlock features and activate free spins. Here's how it works.

Chain Reaction

Chain reactions are fundamental to Dragons Clusterbuster. When winning clusters hit, they are removed from the game board and replaced by symbols which fall down into the gaps. Chain reactions continue until no new cluster appears.

Clusterbuster and Dragon Eyes Progress

Freshly trademarked, the Clusterbuster is the name given to the 3x3 block sitting in the middle of the grid with a dragon's egg image on it. When a winning cluster hits adjacently to the Clusterbuster, its outer tiles are removed. At the start of the game, the features are locked, so they cannot trigger. To unlock them, players must smash all 8 outer tiles of the Clusterbuster. When this happens, the Clusterbuster hatches and a dragon eye appears above the reels, indicating that its associated feature is now available. Features progress in a set order from Blue to Green then to Purple.

Hatchling Features

When a feature is unlocked, it triggers on the following spin, and the next egg is placed in the Clusterbuster, ready to unlock in the same way. Any unlocked feature from then on can trigger at random on future spins. The three features are:

  • Blue Hatchling – all low pay symbols are removed from the reels, and only high pay symbols fall on the following cascade.
  • Green Hatchling – up to 20 wilds are added to the screen in random positions.
  • Purple Hatchling – Lightning Multipliers are added to up to 13 random symbols. Multiplier values range from x2 to x100, and when more than one is part of a winning cluster, the values are multiplied up to a maximum of x100 per winning cluster.

Free Spins

After the 3 eggs have been unlocked, the 3x3 Clusterbuster from then on displays the words 'Free Spins'. Now, when the 8 surrounding tiles are removed, 10 free spins are awarded. While free spins are active, the Clusterbuster is removed, freeing up more space to land winning clusters. Also, Hatchling Features have a greater chance of triggering on random spins. Since the Free Spins Clusterbuster is no longer on the hoard, the feature cannot be retriggered.

Dragons Clusterbuster slot

Dragons Clusterbuster: Slot Verdict

As well as the dragon theme, which Red Tiger has a soft spot for, Dragons Clusterbuster has the type of unlocking features element the studio also favours. As a follow along from Thor's Lightning, Dragons Clusterbuster does a few things the previous slot didn't, both good and potentially not so good. For one, Dragons Clusterbuster is arguably less eye-catching than, though it is an attractive game, and when Hatchling Features are doing their thing, the board dramatically lights up. The expanded game board is another factor. Does having all that extra space make it harder to land winning clusters next to the Clusterbuster, which is critical for unlocking features? Hard to say, really, and the volatility and RTP numbers are more or less the same as before, so it all sort of comes down to personal preference.

One of the biggest question marks hanging over the game is having to unlock features before they can be triggered. This concept has been used in several past Red Tiger slots, so there is clearly a market for it. It's hard to say whether unlocking features or having them all at hand from the start is better for Dragons Clusterbuster or not. There is a quest element to the Dragon Eyes progress that wouldn't be there otherwise, which some players may enjoy. Others might not dig the fact you have to patiently wait it out, though these sorts of systems haven't tended to take huge amounts of time to complete in the past. One sweetener is that Dragons Clusterbuster is a clear winner over Thor's Lightning when it comes to potential, packing a max win figure of 5,250x the bet.

Add it all up, and Dragons Clusterbuster is a well-made entry in the cluster paying grid slot category. The combination of smashing the Clusterbuster with the unlocking features system is something new to try; the features themselves can be potent (when available), and Red Tiger has avoided the disappointment of the previous slot by placing decent levels of reward on top.

Great

Dragons Clusterbuster is well-made and enjoyable enough that anyone who likes grid slots should be entertained.

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