Kakiemon Slots
The soft pastel colours of Japanese porcelain objects decorate the 5 reels of the Kakiemon video slot from games developer Vela Gaming. In the 17th Century, Kakiemon Sakaida produced this ornate style of porcelain which has become highly collectable and Vela Gaming have chosen this unusual topic for an online slot game which is very relaxing to look at and comes with some simple, but effective bonus features.
Wild substitutions and scatter awards are classic bonuses that spinners will have seen before, but there’s also an interesting way to form winning combinations, with matching symbols running across a payline from either the left or right sides being enough to get a prize, and many symbols only need to be on 2 adjacent reels to pay out.
A total of 30 lines are available and 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or all can be activated, which makes the minimum stake just 0.01 per spin. Free Kakiemon video slots are provided by online casinos that feature the game, but with such a low entry point, most people will probably opt to play for real cash. Only those who activate all lines will qualify for every row of matching symbols that appear, while higher stakes gamblers will be able to raise their bets to a maximum of 250.00 a spin.
Spinning Plates
The reels sit against the dark wooden boards of a table that has the white reels looking a little like a tablecloth and 15 coloured payline indicators are on either side. Sitting on top, there’s the usual high-card symbols J and Q that are worth 3, 10 or 50 coins when landing on 3, 4 or 5 connected reels across an active line, while the K and A will each pay 2, 25, or 200 for the same combinations.
The delicately crafted works of Kakiemon include a narrow-necked vase and plate on a display stand, each of which is worth 2 coins when landing on just the first 2 reels from the left or right, while 3, 4 or 5 on a line will pay out 10, 50 or 300 respectively. A simple blue bowl and an ornate green bowl with feet will both pay 5, 20, 150 or 1000 coins, depending on how many reels of a line they land on, while the best prizes are reserved for the teapot, which returns 5, 25, 250 or 5000 coins.
A nice statue of a tiger is the wild symbol of this game, although it must be said that the paytable is a little misleading, as payouts for lines of between 2 and 5 wilds are listed, but in practice it only appears on the middle 3 reels, so it’s not possible to get 5 in a row. It’s able to act as all the main symbols however, completing win-lines when it can fill in the gaps in a sequence, or add an extra symbol on to the end of 3 matching ones for a higher prize.
Scatter Awards
A blue elephant sculpture is the scatter symbol, and as such, this won’t need to land across an active payline. It also differs from others by paying out multiples of the total stake per spin, not just the coin values, plus it can’t be substituted by the wild symbol.
A single scatter will pay 1x the bet amount, and if 2 land at once, the win will be equal to 5x. Seeing 3 scatters on the reels at once will be worth 10x, with the top prize of 100x being paid when 5 scatters stop in any places in a single spin.
Unlike many themed casino slot machines, there’s no extra bonus round triggered by the scatter symbol, so once the prizes for landing it have been awarded, punters simply click for the next spin.
A Smash Hit?
This is a nice-looking online casino slot machine, although the odd topic of porcelain plates, vases and statues is almost certainly unique. The soft colours and contrasting background are pleasant, but perhaps more importantly, it plays well and the way that winning lines can start from either side makes it easier to get some frequent and reliable payouts.
Simple bonus features will appeal to some players, while putting others off, so it’s really a matter of opinion whether wild substitutions and scatter payouts are enough.
Like all online games from Vela Gaming, the Kakiemon video slot is mobile-optimised, so these reels can be spun on smartphones and tablet computers, with the symbols and controls re-configured to compensate for the smaller screen sizes.
