Nirvana in Fire Slot Machine
Based on a TV mini-series that was broadcast in China in 2015, Nirvana in Fire is a beautifully designed online casino slot machine from Inteplay that has images of the main cast and props from the show appearing across 5 reels to award prizes and trigger wild substitutions, plus a free spins bonus round with the potential for higher payouts. Other Inteplay Chinese-themed games include hits such as Mammon and Money on Tree.
There’s a wintery backdrop to this slot game, where the pagoda roofs of a temple are covered in snow and the cherry blossoms are just starting to come out, opening fully when players get a winning spin. It’s very attractive, although players unfamiliar with the TV series may wonder what the connection with the title is, as Nirvana, either the state achieved by Buddhists or the rock band, are nowhere to be seen, and fire makes no appearance whatsoever.
Fans of the show will enjoy seeing actual images of the cast though, and it’s a high-quality slot that has a good return to player percentage and is fully mobile-optimised. It also has a decent bet range, with a low limit of just 0.01 needed to get started, although just 5 of the 50 lines will be in play, so to get all of them active, punters are looking at a minimum bet of 0.50. Free Nirvana in Fire video slots can be found at most casinos, so punters can practice spinning these reels and see how the bonuses work.
Entering a State of Nirvana
All of the symbols are related to the theme, with the cherry blossoms or scrolls returning the smallest wins when landing on 2, 3, 4 or 5 connected reels running from the left across an active payline. Depending on how long the line is, payouts for these symbols range from 2x to 100x the line stake. A sword, shield, horse, writing tablet and white box are the other lower-value symbols, and then we move onto the characters for the high-paying combinations.
The beautiful Gong Yu in a white fur throw is worth 15x, 75x and 250x the line bet if she’s on 3, 4, or 5 reels of a line, while Lin Chen in his armour, pays out 20x, 100x, or 500x. Mei Changsu returns 30x, 125x and 800x, while the best wins come when an ensemble picture of the characters appears across an active line, with 50x, 125x and 1000x the line stake awarded.
A white tablet serves as the wild symbol, which will be able to act as all except the scatter icon and complete winning lines. If players have a gap in the run of matching symbols across a line and the wild is the right place, they will still get paid out for the win.
Golden Scatters and Free Spins
Lining up 3 or more golden bowl symbols will trigger a free spins bonus round, but before these begin, players will be awarded 3x, 10x or 50x the total bet, depending on how many of this scatter symbol appeared.
There’s one more task to perform before the bonus games play out, as spinners are invited to click any of the scatters in view to reveal how many free spins they have been awarded. A nice little puff of smoke accompanies the opening of the bowl as the number of games is announced.
During these games, if the wild symbol becomes part of a winning line, the value of the prize can be multiplied several times over and players could cash out some big wins, potentially making this a particularly valuable bonus to trigger.
Wild multipliers in free spins bonus rounds are a popular feature with punters, helping to ensure that by the end of the feature they have boosted their bankrolls, although nothing in life is guaranteed and it’s still possible, if unlikely, that these games can no win-lines at all.
The Verdict
This game may leave some players a little cold, as it has a chilly backdrop to the reels and generally wintery atmosphere, but anyone who watched this short series will want to re-visit their favourite characters from the show. Symbols are highly realistic and there’s actual photos main cast, which adds to the appeal. There’s lots of slot machines themed around films and game shows, but relatively few are based on a TV series and while it’s a great slot, even Game of Thrones, from Microgaming follows the books rather than the hit show.
We found the Nirvana in Fire video slot to be a low-volatility game where lots of lower value win-lines are created and wild substitutions are very common. Triggering the free spins isn’t too difficult either, although 5 to 10 bonus games seems to be the normal range awarded, and it’s not guaranteed that wild multipliers will be landed before these games end.
Anyone who likes to access games on smartphones and tablet computers will be pleased with the fact that this slot is mobile-compatible, with symbols re-sized and control buttons arranged to suit the smaller screens.
