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Top 10 Slots to Play to Celebrate the Chinese New Year
By Ivan Potocki Feb 05, 2019 OpinionCheck out some of the best, most entertaining, and most appealing Chinese themed slots out there and get in the mood for festivities ahead.Today marks the beginning of festivities that will accompany the celebration of the Spring Festival, better known as Chinese New Year. Between today, February 5th, and February 15th, people in China and those across the globe observing this holiday will honor their deities and their ancestors via colorful and entertaining traditions. The Chinese calendar is based on their horoscope and every year is assigned one of twelve different animals. The year 2019 will be the Year of the Pig.
With gambling and luck being important parts of Asian culture, we figured that Chinese New Year was an excellent opportunity to spend some time searching for top 10 Chinese themed slots. As you can imagine, this wasn’t a small task as games featuring Chinese symbolism aren’t actually rare but after some searching, here are our top picks.
1. Lucky New Year by Pragmatic Play
Like the name suggests, Pragmatic’s Lucky New Year slot is actually themed after the holiday itself, which is why it comes on top of this list. With reels set on a backdrop of a night sky filled with bright lights of the fireworks, this slot features 25 paylines and offers a rather immersive gameplay. Reels are filled with familiar symbols, such as firecrackers, lucky coins, paper lanterns, and masks, and traditional Chinese music playing in the background adds to the overall feel.
Lucky New Year also features a couple of entertaining features. There are Free Spins offering special reels with a giant symbol in play as well as Money Spins, which offer a chance to win straight-up cash, including one of three game jackpots. Jackpot values are based on the stake played and the biggest one, i.e. Grand, is worth 1,000x the stake. Check it out and see if one of them has your name written on it.
2. Fireworks Master by Playson
The fireworks are an essential part of New Year’s celebrations so Playson’s Fireworks Master fits right into this list. This is a rather different and very entertaining slot, featuring 243 ways to win (paying both ways) in the base game but with the number of pay-ways increasing in the bonus feature.
The game I set on a backdrop of a green mountain landscape featuring cartoonish animations and pastel colors. To the left of the reels, there is cute and funny panda dressed in festive clothes and ready to make some noise with his fireworks skills. On the reels, there are symbols like colorful bamboo stems (precursors of the modern-day fireworks), lucky kittens, lotus flower, goldfish, and more.
The bonus mode is unlocked by creating wins and unveiling lit lanterns hidden under the symbol tiles. Seven or more lanterns trigger free spins, during which there are up to 3,125 ways to win. On top of this, players can trigger the Fortune Wheel on each spin, offering multipliers up to 10x on the round win or cash prizes up to 100x the stake. Why not give it a few spins and see what the wheel has in store for you?
3. Lucky Little Gods by Microgaming
Microgaming’s Lucky Little Gods is somewhat unusual game for this particular developer, which is perhaps the reason it never got the attention it certainly deserves. As far as our topic is concerned, this 243-ways game definitely deserves a place high on the list.
This is another slot filled with various symbols related to Chinese New Year. With three Chinese deities represented on the reels, alongside firecracker free spins scatters, golden tree bonus symbols, and treasure pot scatters, the game offers nice animated graphics and rich traditional sound.
In terms of bonus features, there are quite a few to be discovered in Lucky Little Gods. In the free spins bonus, reels one and five will turn completely wild, which is similar to some other Microgaming slots. The Golden Tree bonus awards between 1x and 15x the stake, while the Treasure Pot bonus can pay up to 100x the stake. If you enjoy games rich in features, you should definitely give Lucky Little Gods a chance to show you what they can do!
4. Dragon Palace by Lightning Box
Celebrating rich Chinese tradition, Lightning Box’s Dragon Palace slot is a game well worth its place on this list. Featuring 243 ways to pay and five reels set in a richly adorned frame with classic Oriental ornaments, the game simply invites players to try their luck.
The free spins bonus mode is triggered by landing three or more palace scatters anywhere on the reels. During the bonus, all wins containing the Wild Dragon symbol are multiplied and the maximum multiplier is 15x the base win, so this game offers opportunities for some really big, impressive wins. So, enter the palace and see if you uncover the riches it hides insde.
5. Four Divine Beasts by Habanero
Habanero’s Four Divine Beasts slot is based entirely on the rich Chinese mythology as it brings to life four animals with a great traditional meaning: Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Turtle. These four creatures are the main symbols in this 243-ways game, while the Ying Yang symbol is the Scatter, paying whenever there are three or more anywhere on the reels and helping trigger the bonus feature.
Four Divine Beasts is a really entertaining slot not just because of its theme but also because of its gameplay. There are four different bonus features for each of the four mythical creatures. In every feature, there is a special added symbol on the reels, which acts as a wild and has a special power to expand or move across the reels, improving your winning chances. You should definitely give this slot a try if only to try and unlock all four different features, which is an adventure in itself.
6. Old China by Eye Motion
Even if it isn’t the most elaborate slot in the world, Old China by Eye Motion definitely deserves its place on this list. This 20-payline game brings to life Chinese tradition through nicely designed symbols and various classic elements painted in red, a color of great importance in Chinese culture. With symbols such as Yin Yang, red fans, and traditional boxes and old tunes playing in the background, Old China sets the right stage for your adventure into the past.
In terms of features, this is a pretty straight-forward game. Landing three scatters anywhere on the reels will trigger 15 free spins with all wins tripled. It may not be anything unheard of, but sometimes playing a simple game with a nice design and really relaxing music might be just what you need.
7. From China with Love by Fugaso
If you’re a type who likes a more lighthearted approach to casino games then From China with Love from Fugaso could be just down your lane. This is another slot inspired by Chinese tradition but designed in a cartoonish way, featuring symbols such as firecrackers and paper lanterns as well as two main protagonists, the Rooster and the Dog.
In this 40-payline slot, the main feature is triggered by landing a full stack of both of these characters on the same spin. During free spins, a stacked wild symbol can appear on the middle reel and the Fire feature is activated on every spin, having Rooster turn random symbols into a same symbol across the reels. And, if all this isn’t enough, you can always hope to win one of three progressive jackpots, so From China with Love is well worth a try!
8. Mega Drago by Platipus Gaming
Dragons have a different role in Chinese tradition as they stand for wealth and prosperity. Mega Drago by Platipus expands on this motif and offers an entertaining and engaging experience across 5 reels and 30 paylines, filled with symbols like fans, lotus flowers, lucky coins, old scrolls, and, of course, dragons.
The bonus feature is triggered by landing the mega scatter on three middle reels, awarding 8 free spins with an increasing number of mega symbols on the reels. While the game didn’t make it all the way to the top of our list, Mega Drago is a slot you should give a try especially because of its different bonus mode.
9. Tiger and Dragon by Red Rake Gaming
Tiger and dragon are two creatures with great importance in Chinese tradition (although the latter has only ever existed in myths and legends as far as we know). Red Rake Dragon was inspired by this to create their Tiger and Dragon slot, a game that fans of traditional slots may find confusing.
The game features a 6x10 grid instead of usual reels and wins are paid from left to right on adjacent reels, regardless of their positions. Winning symbols explode and new ones fall in and consecutive winning combinations will help you trigger free spins. Non-winning spins help fill the Tiger and Dragon Roulette Mini Game meter so there is really a lot going on at all times. It would take too much space to try and explain this game in detail here so you should check it out for yourself and see how you like it. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it is definitely different.
10. Fenghuang by Habanero
The last game to make this list of top 10 Chinese slot is another game by Habanero, namely their Fenghuang slot. This 28-payline game features, once again, dragons, as well as various other symbols from nature such as trees, stones, fire, water, etc. The game may not be as filled with classic Chinese symbols as the rest of them but we still felt it deserved a place here.
The bonus game features wild dragons crossing over the reels in opposite direction, with a possibility to combine into a large wild if they meet along the way. During the bonus, all paylines pay from left to right and right to left alike. Fenghuang is another interesting game worth a try if classic features have just become too boring and repetitive.
11. Extra Pick: The Fortune Pig by iSoftBet
Created by iSoftBet, The Fortune Pig slot was developed particularly for The Year of the Pig that is ahead of us. With the reels set on a backdrop of a festive environment and nice traditional music playing in the background, this deserves to be mentioned in this list, primarily for the efforts the developer took to honor this important holiday.
Reels of The Fortune Pig are populated by symbols such as golden pigs (wilds), lions, dragons, money trees, lucky coins, etc. The golden dragon symbol is a scatter, with three of them triggering eight Fortune Free Spins with synced reels. Players can also look forward to random cash rewards given out in Cash Respins triggered by 5 or more Money Bag symbols appearing on the reels in the same spin.
Summary
There are heaps of Chinese New Year themed slots out there and it is impossible to really pick the best of the best. Every list of this type boils down to a personal preference as there are so many good slots and game providers out there these days. However, we’re convinced this selection will help you get in the right mood for the festivities and celebrate Chinese New Year in style (with a bit of luck)!
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