Coins can appear attached to ordinary symbols and are collected whenever a Wild lands on the reels. Those Coins feed a persistent progression system, with the first major upgrade reached after 30 Coins and the second after 60.

This gives the base game a useful sense of direction because you are not relying entirely on what happens during one individual spin. Even a relatively unremarkable Coin collection can move you closer to a permanently stronger version of the game.

I particularly like that the rewards are not simply a couple of extra multipliers hidden behind the scenes. Reach the higher levels and the actual reel configuration changes, so the time spent collecting has a visible payoff.

Collecting 30 Coins advances Reel Illusions Dream Drop to Level 1, where the Wild reels gain random 2x, 5x or 10x multipliers.

This is the first point where the progression starts feeling worthwhile. The underlying game has not changed dramatically, but Wilds that were previously useful purely for substitution suddenly have considerably more potential when they become involved in a win.

A 10x Wild is a much better reward for your patience than a magician giving you another balloon animal.

Collect 60 Coins and Level 2 makes a much bigger change. A sixth reel is unlocked, while the weaker low paying symbols are removed from the reel set, leaving Wilds, Scatters, premium symbols and multipliers.

This is easily the progression reward I like most because you are improving both the size and quality of the game.

An additional reel creates more opportunities for combinations, while removing weaker symbols makes the expanded setup feel genuinely superior to where you started. You can look at the game and immediately see that you have reached a better state rather than simply being told your level has increased.

If a Wild reel lands without contributing to a win, Replace can activate and swap weaker symbols for higher paying ones.

It is a nice little rescue mechanic because a Wild landing without doing anything is normally one of those mildly irritating slot moments where you have been given something useful in exactly the wrong place.

Replace gives that failed opportunity another chance by improving the symbols around it. It does not guarantee anything spectacular, but it occasionally turns a disappointing Wild into something worth watching.

Landing two Scatters adds three Scatters to the progression meter and can trigger three Respins, with any Wilds already present remaining locked throughout the sequence. If a third Scatter appears during those Respins, Free Spins are triggered once the Respins finish.

I like this route into the bonus because two Scatters are not necessarily another near miss. Instead, the game gives you three attempts to find the missing piece while preserving any useful Wilds already on the screen.

There is something appropriately theatrical about the game refusing to end the trick just because the third Scatter failed to appear on cue.

Landing three Scatters awards 5 Free Spins, but before the feature begins you are given a choice between three Wild and multiplier configurations.

You can choose:

1 Wild with a 3x multiplier

2 Wilds with a 2x multiplier

3 Wilds with a 1x multiplier

That is a genuinely useful choice because none is automatically superior in every situation. You can favour stronger individual Wilds or sacrifice some multiplier strength for considerably more Wild coverage across the reels.

It also makes five Free Spins feel less miserly than they initially sound. These are not five ordinary spins; you are entering them with guaranteed Wild behaviour and a multiplier setup you have chosen yourself.

During Free Spins, winning spins can increase the Wild multiplier by +1, allowing a successful feature to become stronger as it progresses.

This works particularly well with the choice before the feature. Starting with three Wilds at the weaker 1x setting does not necessarily mean they are going to remain weak, while choosing the stronger initial multiplier gives you a more aggressive starting point with less Wild coverage.

The bonus therefore has some genuine progression rather than simply asking whether five spins happen to pay well.

Dream Drop can trigger randomly before a qualifying base game spin and takes play away from the normal reels into Relax Gaming's dedicated progressive jackpot feature.

The feature offers access to the Dream Drop jackpot levels, including the potentially enormous Mega prize. Players reveal hidden jackpot symbols until the required matching set determines the award.

It is largely separate from the magic show progression system, but that is less of a problem here because Reel Illusions has enough going on without needing Dream Drop to provide its entire personality.