Dragon's Hall Thundershots

Journey to the east in the latest instalment of the Thundershots series from Playtech. Dragon's Hall Thundershots is the online slot released in July 2021 which takes players on an adventure in the Far East, showcasing the very best of Chinese imagery and design. As you'd expect, there's the chance to pick up cash prizes along the way with a max payout of x1500 available to be won. 

Thundershots is one of the newer mechanisms from Playtech, and Dragon’s Hall is the latest game to feature the design. Previous Thundershots titles include Chili Eruption, Aztec Expedition and Bee Frenzy. The first two of these were set in South and Central America so trailing over to the east is a different type of game for this series. 

The Dragon's Hall Thundershots starts out on a set of reels that looks pretty standard. Configured as a 5x3 grid, the reels contain ten fixed paylines, but the symbols don't have to run from left to right, unlike in other slots. In a marked departure from other slot machines, the symbols that appear on a payline can run in any direction, and they don't even need to be adjacent. It's a true re-imagining of slot play and creates a very unique experience for players. The betting range starts at 0.10 and runs up to a reasonably modest 50.00. The top payout is also lower than you'll find elsewhere, but the high volatility may provide some consolation to big money hunters. 

The theme of the game is evident from the reels, even though you'll only get a small glimpse of the backdrop. The reels dominate the screen, but you'll spot mountains, pagodas, and other Chinese scenery in the background if you peer closely.  

The theme is even clearer on the reels, with both low and high pays being highly stylised. The low pays are the playing card symbols but in an eastern script, while the high pays include a lotus flower, yin yang symbol, koi carp, buddha, lucky coins and a red kite.  

The wind symbol is simply the word “wild” and substitutes for all other regular pays to make it easier to line up a win. Even better, in Dragon’s Hall Thundershots, the wilds always land with a random multiplier. This means any win where a wild is used could enjoy a boost of up to x8 for a single wild. If multiple wilds are used in the same win, their values are combined.

In the base game, the Scorching Spins feature may be triggered randomly on any turn. This transforms reels one and five, removing all existing symbols and replacing them with the same randomly chosen symbol.  

There are scatters included in this slot, and these are represented by the serpent dragon symbol. Land three on a single turn, and you'll unlock the bonus round, where you'll start with eight free spins. This bonus takes place on a new set of reels which only contains the high pays. You can retrigger the bonus and win another eight free spins by landing three more scatters.  

All players receive a guaranteed Scorching Spins bonus as their last free spin, but they may also trigger the Thundershots bonus wheel. With cash prizes, free spins and extra spins of the Thundershots wheel, there are multiple prizes that could be won. 

Dragon’s Hall Thundershots is an online slot from Playtech which joins three other games in the Thundershots series. The bonus wheel is a useful addition, helping to bump up the prizes in what could be otherwise a fairly tame slot. There’s plenty to play for and multiple ways to win, so this is a slot that’s more than worth taking the trip to the east for.