Dinosaur Kingdom Slot Machine
Watch in awe as a Jurassic world comes alive on five reels and 20 pay lines of Dinosaur Kingdom. Merkur Gaming, who is known for rather simple but highly volatile slots with huge win potential, has gone all out to include four reel random reel modifiers and a free spins round that can activate up to three game windows with a win potential of up to 3,000x the stake on a single spin.
The Jurassic Slot Reels
The slot has the usual simplistic game window that is commonly found on Merkur slots. However, this does not mean that the graphics and animations are up to the highest standards. Especially the animations on the reel modifiers, where large wild symbols expand in different ways, are simply stunning. Different types of dinosaur in battle gear come alive on each occasion to defend the kingdom and one could get the impression they will jump out of the screen at any moment. A Jurassic island at sunrise can be seen in the background of the game window. Add to that a heroic-sounding thumping soundtrack and you have an impressive slot creation.
Dinosaur Kingdom has eight pay symbols, four types of expanding wild symbols and one scatter symbol. The low-value symbols are the usual J, Q, K, and As. The premium symbols are four dinosaurs in battle gear. The four expanding wild symbols – a Pteranodon, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Dino Shield, and the Kingdom Fortress – can be triggered randomly on any spin. The wild symbols substitute for all symbols, except scatters. An intricate tile with a female warrior holding her dinosaur on a leash is the scatter symbol.
The Dinosaur Numbers and Stats
Dinosaur Kingdom is a video slot with five reels, three rows and 20 fixed pay lines. Features include four random wild symbols that will expand in different ways and a free spins round played on up to three game windows. The RTP of this medium variance game is set at 96.95%. For the last few years, Merkur has released their games in the modern HMTL5 format, making them available for play on any desktop or mobile device across all OS platforms.
Entry to the Dinosaur Kingdom is available for 0.20 to 40 coins. A single five of a kind will pay 1.5 to 25x the stake. The maximum win in a single spin in the base game is 500x the bet. That can increase to 1,500x the bet when all three game windows are activated in the free spins round. The overall win potential is limited to 250,000 coins or 10,000x your stake, whichever value is reached first.
The Random Expanding Wilds
The game window is ornamented with eight small wild symbols that will expand when they are randomly triggered on any spin in the base game and the free spins. The symbols light up when the random feature is triggered. Multiple wilds can be activated simultaneously.
One Tyrannosaurus Wild symbol is place on each corner of the game window. Once activated, they will expand to cover their corner area with a 2x2 symbols wild symbol. The Pteranodon Wilds sits at the bottom of reel three and will turn it into a wild reel on every trigger. Dino Shield Wilds are located on row two on each side of the game window. They will expand either on the front or back three reels to turn five symbols into wild symbols in a cross-like pattern. Fortress Wilds is the most desirable reel modifier. It sits on top of reel three and will expand to cover reel two, three, and four with a 3×3 mega wild symbol. Wins are evaluated and paid only after the expansion.
The Jurassic Free Spins
Scatters on reels one, three and five will trigger 10 free spins with up to three game windows spinning independently. The game will lead to a different screen, displaying the main game window plus two locked reel sets on the right. The feature will start with only the main game window being active. Retriggering the free spins once will activate window two, while a second retrigger will activate the third window. Wins are paid for all winning combos on all active game windows. The feature cannot retrigger any further after all game windows have been unlocked.
Other Dinosaur Reels
Dinosaur Kingdom adds to the range of awesome Jurassic-themed video slots. Some of the players’ favourites are Jurassic World from Microgaming and Jurassic Giants from Pragmatic Play.
The Jurassic Verdict
Will Dinosaur Kingdom reach cult status like other slots from Merkur Gaming such as Magic Mirror and Eye of Horus? Not really sure, to be honest. The slot is well designed, the animations are stunning, and the graphics are crisp. No doubt, it meets the high quality standard we have seen so far from this game provider. Plus, the random features and free spins rounds are triggered often enough to avoid boredom.
But there is where the positives end for me personally as Merkur has made quite a detour from their signature slot category. Their games are usually at the top of the volatility scale which, yes, pose a higher risk to lose sizeable balances but come with the sky-high win potential going often past 10,000x the stake. That is where Dinosaur Kingdom will be seen as a let-down by the HV community. A full screen of the top paying symbols, which will need the help of some of the expanding wilds, pays a mere 500x the bet. It is not small change but certainly far off the usual potential of Merkur slots. However, at the end of the day it is an entertaining game that will produce regularly medium wins, which should be sufficient for most slot players. Ready for your expedition to the Dinosaur Kingdom?
