Emperor of the Sea Slot Review

Find your sealegs and perhaps a jackpot or two with this new oriental slot machine from Microgaming software. Emperor of the Sea is a 5-reel, 88-payline game which focuses on China’s maritime exploits, featuring an ocean of waterborne riches and a few sea monsters to boot. All in all, successful sailors of this slot machine can win up to 4,400 coins with any spin of the reels.

The game won’t be all plain sailing, however. In fact, this medium to high volatility slot has the tendency to withhold its wins for a while before the big wins start to show up. Fortunately, spinners will be able to make the most of the winning opportunities with a round of free spins that offers “Growing Wilds” and “Rolling Reels”.

China by the Sea

The Chinese might not be that well known for their maritime endeavours (we’d back a Viking in a rowing race any day of the week), but the sea has still provided plenty of opportunities for the Asian nation over the years. When people think of ancient trade routes to China, they tend to think of the land-based silk road which runs from Europe and Africa to the far east of the Asian continent. However, China was also accessible by sea via many seaports, some within the territory of the country itself and other ports which are now in modern day countries like Vietnam.

This slot machine aims to celebrate the history of Chinese maritime culture by revealing the ships and the wealth that they brought to the country. The game is set within a swashing sea with reel icons that depict great galleys, jade pots filled with gold, turtle statuettes filled with gold and the iconic golden sycee ingot. The reels also play host to some aquatic pond-life with koi carp for tranquil garden ponds and beastly sea serpents for ocean-sized ponds. Far from being a threat, the Chinese dragon actually represents power, wealth and good luck.

Lucky Number 88

It’s safe to say that Chinese culture is full of superstitions when it comes to luck and prosperity, and this comes across in the game’s 88 paylines. Rather than just being a completely random number, 88 has been specially chosen since it is considered to be the luckiest number of all. What’s more, the number is specifically considered to be the harbinger of fortune since the Chinese word for the number actually sounds similar to the word for wealth.

There is no guarantee that the medium to high variance game will bring you riches but, with a 96.28% RTP, you’ll always be in with a chance. The biggest payout in the game is offered by the scattered sycee symbol, five of which will multiply the total bet by 100x. With wagers that go up as high as 44.00 credits, this makes for a base game jackpot worth 4,400 coins. If you’d rather not spend so much on one spin, then you can place smaller wagers to the minimum limit of 0.88.

Free Spins with a Twist

Not only Is the golden sycee the most valuable icon in the game, but it will also trigger a round of 8 free spins when three or more appear on the reels in any position. During the free spins, players will benefit from two special gameplay elements – Rolling Reels and Growing Wilds. The first of these features causes winning icons to disappear so that new symbols can fall into place, meaning that there is every chance to create two wins consecutively. The Growing Wilds aspect causes a stack of wild symbols to grow by one wild up to a maximum of 15 wilds.

Go East

Unless you are completely new to the world of slot machines and this is the first game that you have come across, then you will be well aware that the oriental theme is an increasingly popular one. However, there aren’t too many slots out there which explore the maritime aspect of Chinese history and culture other than 1421 Voyages of Zheng He by Spielo. That’s not to say that there aren’t any oriental games with an aquatic twist as players will be able to enjoy some refreshing Asian themed spins in China River by Bally, River Dragons by Genesis Gaming and Legend of Qu Yuan by Booming Games.

An Ocean of Wealth

There may be loads of Asian themed games out there, but there is still much about the Chinese culture for spinners to discover. Emperor of the Sea offers a unique perspective into how the riches of the ancient country were created, with a sea based theme that is based on the wealth of maritime merchants. Who knows, you might even find your own wealth if you sail through this slot machine’s bonus round of free spins!