Legend of Qu Yuan Slot Machine
Discover the Legend of Qu Yuan in this Oriental themed slot machine by Booming Games software. There are 5 reels and 20 paylines available to play with, offering a range of traditional icons associated with the culture of Ancient China and the annual festivals which celebrate the life of the classical poet Qu Yuan.
As far as bonus features go, this video slot is fairly conventional, giving punters the chance to fill in their winning lines with a wild icon and even get some free spins with a scatter symbol.
So the Story begins...
The legend of Qu Yuan dates back to the third century BC, and takes place in the Warring States period of Ancient China. Qu Yuan was a member of the royal house of Chu, although he was banished for opposing an alliance between a rival province within the ancient country of China know as the state of Qin. In exile, Qu Yuan wrote great quantities of poetry expressing his undying patriotism for his country, despite being accused of treason and disloyalty.
The legend of Qu Yuan does not end happily, however, because after the state Qin captured the Chu capital of Ying, the poet committed suicide by walking into the Miluo River.
Nowadays, the life and work of Qu Yuan is commemorated by the Dragon Boat Festival which take place every year on the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese calender. These festivals include dragon boat races in honour of the local people who rowed out into the river to save the despairing poet. When his body could not be retrieved, the townsfolk dropped balls of rice into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan's body.
Feast in the Memory of Qu Yuan
This slot machine is full of visual references to the Legend of Qu Yuan and the Dragon Boat Festival that is held in his memory. For a start, the 5 reels of the game are separated with long rowing boats while the reels themselves are set over clear blue water.
The icons that appear on the reels are presented in a fairly straightforward manner, but they include many traditional artefacts from the festival such as the drums which are used to guide the boat rowers, flags to mark the boats and even a spectacular dragon ornament from the boats themselves. Other symbols include zongzi – a traditional sticky rice dish which is believed to have originated from the rice thrown into the river by the mourner of Qu Yuan.
Place Your Wagers
The Legend of Qu Yuan has 20 paylines to play with, although spinners can choose to play with fewer should they wish to limit the amount of their total bets. The wagers that are available to place on each active payline are as follows: 0.03, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.50, 2.00 and 3.00. Therefore, the maximum total bet available to spin with is a fairly whopping 60 credits.
With the stakes in place, players can begin to spin the reels for the chance to win the following line bet multiplier prizes:
Dragon Boat Bonus
Not only will the dragon boat icon multiply bets by 15,000x to offer a top jackpot of 30,000 credits, but it will also help spinners complete other wins by acting as a wild icon. That basically means that the dragon symbol will substitute for all other icons on the reels that pay their prizes as a line bet multiplier.
The only symbol that won't pay wins as a line bet prize is the scatter symbol – depicted by a traditional Chinese mask. Instead, this symbol awards total bet wins of 2x, 7x and 15x whenever three, four or five appear on the reels regardless of their position in relation to paylines. What's more, should three or more scatter symbols appear, punters will receive a round of 10 free spins to help them boost their wins even further.
Ancient Spins
There are loads of slot machines on the market which delve into the wonders and mysteries of ancient Chinese culture. The Legend of Qu Yuan by Booming Games is far from being the most spectacularly designed game in the business, and it is far from being the most jolly of stories!
However, the game still has its merit for representing one of Ancient China's most celebrated festivals and fascinating characters.
