Ryze Free Play in Demo Mode

Ryze review

Theme and Style

Ryze introduces players to an adorable dragon who despite his small stature, has a great deal of gold to guard. The player is brought into the dragon's enormous hoard while the little lizard perches by the reels and watches as the player spins his coins on the reels.

The setting is perfect for fans of cute animals or high fantasy. This miniature Smaug will appeal to a wide range of players. Meanwhile, the rich sense of depth that the world presents (as laid out in a fun opening animation) will suggest many possibilities for the adventures the player may experience.

Delving deep into the world of Ryze is sure to reward any player who loves dragons.

Graphics, Sounds and Animations

The graphics are probably the main point of attraction for this oddball little slot. The main character, the dragon, is very cute sat atop his pile of coins.

Everything is animated in a way that really amplifies the coin-based gameplay where the coins roll over each other during the cascade portions. This gives the impression of a little physics engine running in the background and adds to the production value of the game.

The music is perfectly pitched with an epic, fantasy movie score that seems to be played by a complete orchestra.

Gameplay

Ryze is played on an unusual gameplay grid. In place of the usual squares, the gamespace is made up of six rows of hexagons (although many of the symbols are circular, they behave like hexagons), alternating between six hexagons and five.

Winning combinations are formed by groups of five or more matching hexagons.

Winning hexagons are removed, the old hexagons cascade down, and new hexagons are added at the top. This cascade feature continues until there are no new wins.

Special symbols can apply multipliers; destroy extra symbols; or merge Money symbols, combining their values and triggering a cascade to fill the spaces left behind.

The maximum win on any given round is capped at 10,000x the player's bet.

Wilds, Bonuses and Free Spins

When a winning cluster is removed from the reels as part of a cascade, the group leaves behind a Multiplier Wild. This Wild can substitute for any symbol apart from the Bonus symbol.

The Multiplier starts at x1, but increases by one every time it is involved in the cascade.

When a Bonus symbol lands on the reels, it can make its way to the bottom layer via cascades. When a Bonus symbol arrives at the bottom of the reels, it triggers a Bonus Game with seven free spins.

If the Bonus symbol is the Super Bonus Symbol, then it triggers the Super Bonus.

During the Super Bonus, Coins, and Multiplier Wilds are sticky, remaining in place for all subsequent bonus spins.

Bet Sizes, RTP and Variance

The return to player (RTP) of Ryze is 94.00%. This is way below our yardstick for an average of roughly 96%, low enough to turn us away from this cute little dragon-based slot game.

While Ryze is a high volatility slot—which would usually fit well with our preferred slot machine strategies—the low RTP immediately rules out a recommendation from us.

The range of bets on the site we tested ran from a minimum bet per spin of $/£/€0.20 up to a maximum of $/£/€100 per spin.

Conclusion

Ryze leans heavily on its key selling point. The adorable dragon that sits by the reels guarding the coins you want to win.

However, beyond the excellent visuals and awesome musical soundtrack, players will need to hunt pretty hard to find the upside. The volatility is high, but it is paired with a brutally low RTP of just 94%.

The gameplay is solid, but not interesting or varied enough to stand out, nor simple enough to please the minimalist crowd.

This game does not earn our recommendation.