Chinese New Year Online Slot
This is not just another standard Asian themed game which all the slot makers seem to produce these days. Chinese New Year has some amazing cartoon graphics, and is based on the animals which the Chinese assign to different years. Playing this made me realize that I was not sure of my own year – after looking it up; I turned out to be a dog.
The graphics are good enough to put slots by some of the larger producers to shame. Animals are detailed, with excellent shading, and each has a little bit of character. If you are not familiar with the Chinese horoscope, you will find a pig, dog, horse, rat, cockerel and monkey on the reels. The music is traditionally Chinese in flavour at least – though I did have the feeling there was a little bit of and English folk theme in there too at one point. This changes often enough not to get repetitive.
What really stands out for this slot is the animation to start the free spins bonus game. The monkey comes to life, chooses a scatter and your spin numbers via a break out screen. There is a second bonus game, where you choose fire-crackers.
Setup and Play for Chinese New Year
There are 15 win lines in this game, which is lower than many of today’s slots. You can select any number of these. In common with other Play N Go games, you can select the number of coins per line (between 1 and 5) as well as the value of those coins. The max coin value is $1, so at 15 lines and the max 5 coins you can spin for $75 a time. Most people will be closer to the 15c minimum spin end of the spectrum. Auto-play is available for up to 50 games each time.
You can select from up to 15 win lines for this game, and choose between 1 and 5 coins for each line. The max coin value is just 25c, with 5 per line and full lines making the maximum spin amount $18.75c. At the other end of the scale it is possible to play 1c at 1 coin per line – 15c for the full set. Auto play is available for up to 50 spins.
Tigers are the top symbol, and also the wild. You will win 5000 coins for 5 of these on a win-line, with 1000 coins for just 4. Other wins are likely at the same time, using the wild on other lines. This symbol does not substitute for the bonus or scatter symbols.
Animals make up the regular wins. 5 rats will get you 1000, the ox 750, rabbits and snakes 500 – with the remaining animals going down from there. This slot does not use playing card symbols at all, there are plenty enough animals to go around.
There are two special symbols. First the monkey, which appears on reels 1, 3 and 5 only. When you get one of these, the middle reel lights up to see if you get another – and the same with the 3rd reel. 3 monkeys trigger the free spins bonus game. The dragon also causes the next reels to burn, this is the scatter, and also triggers the pick-em bonus game.
Chinese New Year Bonus Games
I was impressed by the introduction to the free spins round. You go to a new screen with a large wheel that contains all the animals. An animated monkey then appears, sitting on the left hand side. He will spin the reel, which chooses an animal to become your extra scatter. After that he hit the wheel (gong) to show your free spins.
You then go back to the main game, with the main difference being your extra scatter. This will often multiply on the screen during your spins, giving you multiple wins. I had 4 entire reels covered while playing this bonus.
The dragon bonus is a simple, though nicely produced, pick-em game. You get to choose from 5 fire crackers, which either give you a win (in coins) or end your game. This is exactly the same pick-em game used in Aztec Idols – just in a completely different context. You can win up to 150 times you total spin amount from this game.
Chinese New Year – Conclusion
This slot was a pleasant surprise for me. It is really nicely produced, with graphics which should put the efforts of the bigger slots makers to shame. I also like the way the sound and visual elements work together. This is an area which many slots fall short on.
2 different bonus games do help to keep you engaged with the play. They triggered reasonably often when I played (though of course your mileage may vary). The free spins with the great introduction and extra scatters is the bonus you’ll want to see.
Overall a great slot and one which should appeal to players not normally drawn to the more generic Asian themed games. I recommend you check this one out for yourself soon.
