On the surface, Novomatic’s five-reel, 20-payline digital slot Royal Dynasty is a fairy-tale wedding story: handsome hero marries Princess, while benign elders smile upon them. But a closer look at the game’s colourful, cheerful artwork, particularly in the symbols used, casts a slightly more mercantile light on proceedings.

In their fine gold frames, each reel displays three transparent windows against a pretty unambiguous background: a heap of shimmering gold coins. The equal values of two medium-value game icons, a stack of coins and the King’s heraldic Royal Dynasty shield, is another clue that the true storyline here is the King getting a heap of gold by selling his daughter off as a brood mare to ensure dynastic succession, while the Prince’s family buy their way a big step up the social ladder.

On the other hand, the Princess and her handsome suitor are smiling enticingly at each other, so maybe they’re both quite happy with the arrangement too.

Detailed Artwork on Glowing Icons

Royal Dynasty is certainly a beautiful looking slot. Unusual in a slot that has royal characters in its theme, it uses six poker symbols all the way up to A. These have been designed as ornate stand-alone letters and numerals, glowing in gold frames that swell into intricate golden leaves.

They are distinguished by their vibrant colours: the purple 9, pink 10, blue J and green Q all pay 5, 25 or 100 coins for matches of two, three or four on a pay line. The red K and golden A pay 10, 50 or 150 coins for the same combinations.

Mid-Value Icons Continue the Storyline

The stacked coins and shield bearing the Royal Dynasty crown have already been mentioned; they pay 15, 60 or 200 coins. Two heraldic beasts, representing the two houses being joined, also win equal value prizes. A stone lion framed against the full moon and a live eagle set against a rising sun both win 20, 80 or 300 coins for matches of three, four or five.

The King’s Chancellor, or he could be the groom’s father, who presumably arranged the marriage and whose smile is a bit too devious, wins 25, 100 or 500 coins. A gorgeous blonde in a tiara and a chestnut-haired nobleman with a winning smile, the Princess and her Prince, also win prizes of equal value: 100, 500, or 10,000 coins.

Royalty Serves as Wild and Scatters

The impressively crowned, grey-bearded King is the top-paying symbol in Royal Dynasty, and the only one that delivers a prize for two matches. For two, three, four or five matches on one pay line, the King pays 10, 200, 1,200 or 5,000 coins. The King is also the Wild, and doubles any wins when he is substituting for another symbol.

The Prince and Princess are also the Royal Dynasty Scatters; three or more identical matches in any position launch the game’s bonus round. First, the game will spin a reel to decide the player’s number of free spins, from 25 to 45. The Scatter that wasn’t the one triggering the bonus round then becomes Wild, in addition to the King, during the ensuing free spins. Any wins formed by two or more Kings from Reel 1 on a pay line during the bonus round are also doubled, so this icon can win up to 10,000X the line bet in this round.