Hopefully, with no pun intended, this can be your year of fortune. This is probably what Real Time Gaming had in mind when they rolled out this 5 reel, 25 payline video slot to the online casino gaming space for the pleasure of their loyal gamers. Given that the number 8 is considered lucky in Chinese culture, you should expect the reels to be filled with them - and this is indeed true. We’ll drop a little bit of knowledge here early on the special characters: the ox is the Wild symbol and the Year of Fortune symbol is the Scatter.
As a progressive slot, there’s potentially a lot more money to be won in Year of Fortune Slots than in other, no-progressives. This is because the total jackpot isn’t fixed; it keeps on growing depending on the number of people that play it for real money. Obviously, this represents a wonderful opportunity for the risk-takers among you; especially when the lowest allowed betting amount ensures that almost anyone can play. Put down just $0.25, or choose a value that’s in-between that one and the maximum of $5 per line, which equals up to $125 per game overall. This is a left to right paying slot; except for the Scatter - which pays any which way.
As for the remaining symbols, you will find the number 8 displayed prominently in several different colors - gold, blue and green. There’s a Chinese dragon, as well as an assortment of other distinctly Chinese characters rendered in the traditional style. The Golden Ox symbol shows up on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th reels and endows its substitutive properties on any other symbol except for the Scattered Game Emblem, to complete a winning payline. The Ox also doubles the payout of any symbol combination when it appears in conjunction with them. The Scattered Game Emblem, on the other hand, leads to the Feature Game when 5 of them show up; plus the combination will endow you with 88 free spins (see? We told you the Chinese really like the number 8 - it’s brimming with luck!). Four Scatters also get you to the Feature Game, and it delivers an additional 18 free spins. If you get 3 Scatter symbols, then there are no free spins - but you still get to the Feature Game for a shot at more prizes and cash.
The highest paying symbol is the Temple; 5 Chinese Temple symbols guarantees an 8888 coin prize, 4 Temple icons gets you a 288 coin prize, 3 Temple symbols gets you an 88 coin award, and 2 Temples delivers an 8 coin award. As stated above, when the Wild appears with these, the prizes of each gathering of symbols is doubled. Next up is the Chinese Dragon symbol; 5 of them are worth 888 coins, 4 Chinese Dragons deliver 188 coins, 3 Dragons get you 18 coins, and 2 symbols gets you 4 coins. The Lion Statue guards the entrance to the Chinese Temple, and so it is a high-paying symbol. For 5 Lions, the prize is 288 coins, for 4 Lions, the prize is 88 coins, and for 3 Lions, the prize is 8 coins.
The rest of the symbols are still pretty lucky; but they are low-paying. The Wild still doubles the prize, though, so there’s a chance to come away with a lot more than you anticipate. The air balloon symbol, for five of a kind, is worth 188 coins, 4 air balloons are worth 88 coins, and three of them gets you 8 coins. The lamp and the floater are worth the same amount; for five of a kind you get 188 coins, for four of a kind you get 28 coins, and for three of a kind you get 8 coins. The final symbols are the multicolored 8s; the gold, the blue and the green are worth 88 coins for 5 of them separately on the reels. For 4 of them, you get 18 coins, and for 3 of them you win 8 coins.
The most important symbol in the game has not even been discussed to this point; it is the God of Wealth. If 5 Gods dominate the reels, then you’re in for a prize of shocking value - it’s the jackpot! Even just 4 of the God of Wealth symbols on the reels still gives you a whopping 8888 coins. For three God of Wealth (you might recognize him from Cai Hong Slots if you’ve played other Asian-themed video slots) symbols, you win 888 coins, and for two of him you get 18 coins. It doesn’t get better than scoring that many of this huge symbol across the reels - especially if you’ve chosen to play for real money.
