Dragon Chase (Quickspin): Review

No other studio has shifted its identity as dramatically as Quickspin. While the company’s creativity has rarely been in doubt, its paytables have traditionally been a letdown. That perception changed sharply after Dwarfs Gone Wild launched—a game intended to be Quickspin’s “flagship” release, yet it quickly faded from view. Packed with features and plenty of visual flair, it promised a lot but didn’t follow through. At a time when extreme volatility and huge payouts were becoming the norm, Dwarfs simply didn’t fit (pun intended).

After Dwarfs, Quickspin seemed to decide it was time to mature. Following a run of tougher, highly volatile releases, the studio managed to become relevant again by modern standards. Although truly monsterous 5000x+ Quickspin wins still seem fairly uncommon (perhaps because the games aren’t played as widely as other providers, or because the hit rate is lower), the shift has been a positive one, giving players more choice in volatility. With its new Asian-themed Dragon Chase slot, Quckspin takes another meaningful step, as it’s the studio’s first jackpot game. Available on all devices with stakes from 20 cents to 100€ per spin, this 5-reel, 3-row, 20-payline slot includes a Wildfire mechanic where symbols drop down by one position after each spin. You’ll also find a Free Spins Bonus that adds extra Wildfire symbols, plus a Dragon Pearl Respin feature that can deliver potentially life-changing results if you manage to hit the progressive jackpot.

Taking place in the celestial world of dragons, Dragon Chase uses a warm palette dominated by reds and golds. Fireflies drift through the backdrop while a fierce dragon looms over the reels. The symbol set features low-paying royals from A to 10, alongside higher-value icons like gold rings, Chinese ingots, and frog and dragon statues—the dragon statue being the top payer, awarding 50 times your stake for a full payline. Matching the dragon statue in value is the flaming ball wild, which substitutes for every symbol except the scatter.

Dragon Chase (Quickspin): Feature

In the base game, a Wildfire symbol can trigger at random. When it lands, it stays on the reels and shifts down 1 position with each spin until it drops off the bottom. As many as 5 can land in a single spin, and up to 10 Wildfire symbols may be visible on the reels at the same time.

Dragon Chase also includes a Free Spins feature, triggered when 3 scatter symbols land on the 3 middle reels. You begin with 10 spins, and you can re-trigger by gaining 3 extra spins when 2 scatter symbols appear on reels 2 and 4. The bonus plays much like the base game, but with additional Wildfire symbols to boost your chances. Once the feature ends, any Wildfire symbols still on the reels carry over into the base game. Wins can reach up to 1170 times your stake during this bonus.

The Dragon Pearl Respin feature is where the serious money is. It starts when 3 jackpot symbols land in view, awarding 3 spins on a grid of 15 sparately spinning positions. Each time a Dragon Pearl symbol lands, it locks in place and the spin counter resets to 3. The feature ends when you run out of spins or when all 15 spots are filled with Dragon Pearl symbols. At that point, every symbol awards a random cash prize of up to 7 times your stake. More importantly, collecting 4 or more triggers one of four jackpots as follows:

• Mini Jackpot – 4 to 7 Dragon Pearl symbols give you 8 times your stake.
• Minor Jackpot – 8 to 11 Dragon Pearl symbols give you 28 times your stake.
• Major Jackpot – 12 to 14 Dragon Pearl symbols give you 138 times your stake.
• Grand Jackpot – 15 Dragon Pearl symbols triggers the progressive jackpot.

Dragon Chase (Quickspin): Verdict

For a first jackpot slot, Dragon Chase is decent, yet it also echoes the leaner, old-school Quickspin era with its modest payouts. When it really comes down to it, the progressive jackpot is the main attraction, and almost everything else feels secondary. On top of that, as a near-clone of NetEnt’s jackpot slot Divine Fortune, it doesn’t add much that’s genuinely fresh.

From a mechanics, gameplay, and visual standpoint there’s little to fault, but as a slot it doesn’t feel especially thrilling. Unless you genuinely think you have a realistic shot at landing the progressive, there isn’t much reason to stick with Dragon Chase.