Dancing Drums is a very popular video pokie from Scientific Games on the floors of the mega-casinos of Las Vegas.
This pokie is also known as Duo Fu Wa, and although our knowledge of the Chinese language is slightly less, we suspect that this means an extremely cool pokie.
It plays fast, can pay nicely and is packed with extra features such as:
- A "build your own" free spins bonus
- Up to 7,776 ways to win
- Mystery jackpot prizes up to 250,000 dollars
- Extra wilds and stacked symbols
- A high RTP of more than 96%
Video pokies with a lucky Chinese theme and a jackpot game are becoming increasingly popular, and although they are often very similar, we are not tired of them. It is the combination of a lot of gold and the possibility of winning big prizes that makes these types of pokies so irresistible, we think.
Similar titles in this genre Eastern slots are 88 Fortunes and the beautiful Fu Dao Le.

How Does the Dancing Drums Slot Work?
Before we explain everything about the bonus games and how much the jackpots are worth, let's do some basic things.
In the basic game Dancing Drums has 5 reels with 3 rows of symbols per reel. There are no fixed paylines, but the "win all ways" principle is used.
The theoretical payout percentage of the online version of Dancing Drums is 96.06%. This is much higher than the RTP of the same pokie in land-based casinos. You can be happy there if you get a payout percentage of 92%.
The betting range is quite substantial: but this is therefore not a social pokie. You play Dancing Drums mainly to win big money. You can bet from 0.88 dollars per spin and up to a maximum of 220 dollars per spin.
Symbols and Payouts
All premium symbols (except the drum) are stacked in the game. The premium symbols consist of 5 different golden symbols that are worth between 2 x and 8 x for the same five. The card symbols 9, 10, B, Q, K and A play a secondary role in this game: they only pay out between 0.15 x and 0.20 x the bet.
The drums activate the free spins bonus and also pay well: 44 x the total bet. Then you have to run 5 of them.
The wild symbol replaces all other symbols (including the drum!), And in addition, the wild symbol can activate the jackpot game.

Free Spins Bonus
You activate the free spins bonus by spinning at least 3 scattered drums and/or wilds. The good thing about this free spins bonus is that you can build it up yourself.
You can opt for a few free spins with many extra ways to win or many free spins with fewer ways to win. Of course, you can also sit comfortably in between. A nice option is that you can go for the mystery prize: a mystery number of free spins with a mystery number of ways to win.
These are the options you can choose from:
- Option 1: 15 free spins and a 3 x 5 playing field (243 ways to win)
- Option 2: 10 free spins and a 4 x 5 playing field (1,024 ways to win)
- Option 3: 5 free spins and a 5 x 5 playing field (3,125 ways to win)
- Option 4: 3 free spins and a 6 x 5 playing field (7,776 ways to win)
- Option 5: Mystery Pick

Jackpot Game
At the top of the screen, you see a pot of gold. Once this pot is filled with gold (this happens at random moments), you have won the Jackpot Bonus game. Hooray!
You are now guaranteed to win one of the 4 jackpots: the Mini, the Minor, the Major or the Grand.
You can determine which it will be in the Pick and Click Bonus. Click on the golden coins and collect the smiling faces of the children. With 3 of the same, you win the corresponding Jackpot.
The Grand is, of course, the Jackpot you want to win. With the maximum bet, it is worth 250,000 dollars, but with the minimum bet, it also does a hefty 1,000 dollars.
What Does CasinoFisher think of Dancing Drums?
Dancing Drums is a super lovely video pokie on which you can also win a lot. We actually only have one thing to complain about, and that is the way the screen is structured. Scientific Games has necessarily wanted to stick to the format of the land-based pokie, and that means that the symbols are tiny. If you play on your phone, you must have very good eyes to see your balance and the amount of winning.
Very unfortunate, because with a somewhat smarter layout of the screen, this pokie would have the maximum score.
For now: 4 out of 5 stars.