3888 Ways of the Dragon Slot Review

Released in December 2019, this game can be played at online casinos such as LeoVegas, Rizk or Vera&John.

Theme and general information

With 3888 Ways of the Dragon we get another Asian themed slot from iSoftBet. This one clearly inspired by Chinese mysticism and imagery. We’re high up in the mountains, where the dragons live – presumably. The sun is either rising or setting, which gives the sky a fiery orange glow. Clouds chase each other across the skies. The mountains are high, and the water falls into the depths that we can only guess at. A pagoda is visible in the background.

The soundtrack is typically Asian and sets the mood just right.

The reel setup is somewhat unusual in that we get the first reel just three symbols high, followed by four more reels, which are all six symbols high. This is how we get 3888 ways to win, however. And the 8 is a lucky number in Chinese lore.

The detail in the slot is lovely and well-drawn. The card suit symbols look like precious gems. We get lucky coins with the value of 3 and 8, a Chinese lantern, a gold ingot and a tortoise as well as a frog on the reels.

The frog pays out 100 coins for 5 on a payline. The tortoise is worth 60 coins for such a win. Overall, the payouts aren’t massive here and we have to count on the many paylines to yield some wins.

You can play this game from 0.30 to 30.00 per spin.

The Golden Dragon and extra wilds

The Golden Dragon is the wild symbol on the reels. Whilst the wild spins along on the reels, where it may land here and there, there is also a Golden Dragon feature in the base game. A gorgeous Golden Dragon will then fly across the reels multiple times and leave extra wilds behind.

Sometimes you may only get 2 extra wilds. Other times 5 or more are possible. Where they land is important, though. Five wilds on the last two reels may prove utterly useless and this may indeed happen.

Still, big wins are possible thanks to this feature.

Free spins with more wilds

The free spins are basically just more of the same. Three scatters will trigger 8 free spins and four scatters will trigger 18 free spins. Scatters only land on reels 2, 3, 4 and 5, mind you.

During the free spins, the Golden Dragon will usually appear at least twice. More often is possible, though. The more the better as he always leaves wilds behind and this may give us some decent wins.

Verdict: A slot that can either surprise you or bore you

The theoretical RTP (Return to Player) of 3888 Ways of the Dragon is 95.95%, which is slightly below average and not exactly inspiring. The volatility ranges from medium to high, so careful budgeting might be a good idea, depending on your current run.

The first time we played this slot, nothing much happened for several hundred spins. We didn’t see the free spins and barely saw the Golden Dragon feature. We gave up and decided to give it another try on another day. Then the most curious thing happened, and we managed to trigger the free spins 4 times within 40 spins we played. Our wins ranged from 10x to 90x our stake, which is not necessarily impressive but okay, especially if you just started playing the game.

So, on a lucky day, 3888 Ways of the Dragon may surprise you and show you its potential of winning you up to 12,960x your stake. On a bad day, however, you probably won’t want to stick around for too long.