Panda Magic at a glance
| Place in the series | Original four |
|---|---|
| Approved in the ACT as Dragon Link | 29 March 2018 |
| Free games | Same free-game idea as Happy & Prosperous: no royals, and 3 extra free games with any scatter during the feature. |
| In Australia now | Listed on Aristocrat's Australian Dragon Link page (MarsX) |
| Victorian approvals | None found in the data since 2020 |
| Free to play | Lightning Link Casino on the App Store; Mighty Fu on Google Play (its App Store text says Magic Panda) |
| Shared by all ten | Maker, jackpots, lines, denominations, volatility and return: what every Dragon Link game shares |
What the free games do
Aristocrat's page puts it plainly: in free games "all royals are removed and 3 extra free games can be won with any scatter during the feature". It's the same rule Happy & Prosperous uses. Without the card symbols, every reel position is a picture symbol, a scatter or an orb, and each scatter during the feature extends it by three games.
The starting number of free games and the symbol pays sit on the machine's help and pay-table screens, not on Aristocrat's website.
Hold & Spin and the jackpots
The orb, the lock, the respins: Panda Magic's Hold & Spin is the series' shared feature. Player and review accounts agree on six orbs to start, three respins that reset with every new orb, and the Grand for filling all 15 spots. Aristocrat's own description is the feature "with the opportunity to collect credit prizes, bonus prizes and Jackpots".
The Grand is a linked progressive across a bank, and the ACT approved Panda Magic as "1 Link + 1 iSAP". Venues choose where the Grand starts — Club Burleigh's is $10,000. In the United States, Panda Magic is one of the four themes on Aristocrat's $1 Million Dragon Link. The details are on the jackpots page.
Playing Panda Magic free
Panda Magic is the Dragon Link title Aristocrat's apps name most readily. Lightning Link Casino's App Store listing includes "Golden Century & Panda Magic – Classic Dragon Link fun, now in your pocket". Mighty Fu Casino's Google Play listing names "Dragon Link pokies featuring Golden Century, Happy & Prosperous, Autumn Moon, Panda Magic, Golden Gong", and its App Store text calls the game "Magic Panda".
Both apps are Aristocrat's social casino products, published by Product Madness. They use virtual coins; in the listing's own words, the game "does not offer real money gambling or the opportunity to win real money or prizes". How the apps work and which one to pick is on free Dragon Link pokies.
Panda Magic in Australia
Panda Magic is on Aristocrat's current Australian Dragon Link page, with the other original titles, on MarsX cabinets. It isn't one of the four cabinets in Aristocrat's Australian bank image, and Victoria's approval data since 2020 shows new versions of Golden Century, Autumn Moon and Happy & Prosperous but not of Panda Magic. It was approved in the ACT on 29 March 2018.
See which venues confirm Dragon Link on Dragon Link in Australia.
Pros and cons
Pros
- No royals in free games, and scatters add 3 more.
- Free to play in two Aristocrat apps, by name.
- One of the original four, still on Aristocrat's Australian list.
Cons
- No published return to player.
- No new Victorian version since 2020 in the approval data.
- Medium-high volatility.
My verdict
Panda Magic is the Dragon Link I'd try in the app before a venue: it's named in both of Aristocrat's apps, and its free games are the same as the award-winning Happy & Prosperous. When you move to a real machine, bring a fixed amount and find a venue that runs it.
