Dragon Link pokies: games list, RTP and the denomination question

What makes Dragon Link different

Dragon Link is an Aristocrat pokies family with Asian themes and a shared jackpot feature. Aristocrat's corporate site calls it a "globally renowned brand featuring proven mechanics made popular by the genre-defining smash hit, Lightning Link". Its product page adds the detail that matters on the floor: Dragon Link "takes Hold & Spin and adds a beautiful Orb trigger symbol across all titles". Whichever Dragon Link game you sit at, the orb is the symbol that starts the feature.

If you know the original family, our Lightning Link pokies guide covers the shared platform. For the company behind both, see Aristocrat pokies. Another dragon-themed Aristocrat game, 5 Dragons, lets you choose how volatile its free games are. Light & Wonder's Dragon Train series was the subject of a US court case brought by Aristocrat; our Light and Wonder guide has the timeline.

Dragon Link games list

These are the nine titles on Aristocrat's Dragon Link product page, with the extras Aristocrat lists for each.

Several pages describe the games as part of the "Dragon Link / Dragon Cash family", and eight of the nine list a Grand Jackpot as the top progressive prize. Which titles a pub or club installs is the venue's choice.

Dragon Link RTP: what is and is not known

Aristocrat does not publish an RTP for Dragon Link on the product pages we checked, and we have not found an official per-title figure anywhere. So any precise Dragon Link RTP you see quoted online did not come from Aristocrat's public pages. Some older Aristocrat titles do have published settings in ACT approval records, as our Queen of the Nile and Big Red guides show.

What is known is the legal floor in Australian venues:

GambleAware NSW puts it as machines returning 85 to 92% of all money bet over their lifetime. In NSW, venues must also display a notice about the chances of winning a major prize and have player information brochures available where the machines are, so ask staff for one if you want the venue's official information.

The best denomination to play on Dragon Link

Dragon Link games are multi-denomination, which means you choose how much one credit is worth before you play. We could not find any official source saying one denomination pays better than another. What the denomination certainly changes is how many dollars each credit is worth. Your real bet is:

total bet = credit value x credits per line (or per bet) x lines played

Notice the last two rows. Ten cents with 25 credits costs exactly the same as five cents with 50. The screen counts credits, but your bank account counts dollars.

Pundit tip: before your first spin, convert the credit meter to dollars in your head. If 2,000 credits on a 5 cent game does not feel like $100, you are more likely to overspend.

Big multipliers work on your bet, not your credits. Aristocrat says Autumn Moon and Golden Century can pay up to 250x your bet on a scatter. At $1 a spin that is $250; at $2.50 it is $625. The prize scales with the bet, so does the cost of every losing spin. To see what an hour at each bet size costs on average, use the pokies calculator.

Where you can play Dragon Link legally

There are two legal ways to play in Australia:

1. In a licensed venue. Dragon Link machines in pubs, clubs and casinos are regulated by the state, with the minimum returns above and the usual harm minimisation rules.
2. In Aristocrat's free app. The Lightning Link Casino Pokies app, from Aristocrat's Product Madness, includes the Dragon Link titles Golden Century and Panda Magic. It is rated R 18+, uses virtual coins and pays no real money.

Online real money Dragon Link is not one of them. The Interactive Gambling Act prohibits providing online pokies to people in Australia, and ACMA lists slots and pokies as illegal online services. A site offering Dragon Link for real money to Australians is outside Australian law, and nothing on it can be checked against Aristocrat's own figures.

Every spin is still random

Dragon Link's orbs, multi-denom screens and jackpot meters do not change how a pokie works underneath. A random number generator settles each spin when you press the button, and a machine that has not triggered Hold & Spin for an hour is not due; that belief is the gamblers fallacy. If you want the full explanation, read how do pokies work. For how credits, lines and bets fit together on any machine, see how do pokies lines work.

Related reading

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