Lion Festival Slot Review

Feel the power of the lion’s dance in this celebratory online slot machine from Blueprint Gaming. The 5-reel video slot takes on the festivities of Chinese New Year, presenting a set of reels that are adorned with a rich display of wealth and prosperity. And the game certainly lives up to the billing with a set of progressive jackpot prizes courtesy of the software company’s Jackpot Kings bonus feature.

As for the main game, Lion Festival is played with 10 paylines which pay in both directions, meaning that there are more wins to be found than first expected in this medium volatility slot machine. As far as the bonus features are concerned, player will not come across any conventional wild icons or free spin triggered scatters in the game, although they will be handsomely rewarded with a special Lion Re-Spin feature and a unique random symbol gameplay element.

Lion Party

Every year, Chinese communities in China and across the globe get together on the night of the first full moon since the winter solstice. In 2017, the festivities begin relatively early on January 28th and they will last until the February 15th when the Lantern Festival brings the turning of the year to a close. As well as eating lots of delicious dumplings and presenting loved ones with gifts of money, Chinese New Year is a time for spectacular arts and performances, the most important of which is the lion dance.

This customary exhibition of dancing is often performed by two dancers who are covered by a colourful lion costume, and, not only does it look spectacular, but it is considered a vital aspect of the festival since it will ward away any bad luck and evil spirits. No one has time for bad luck or evil spirits!

This slot machine pays homage to the Lion Festival in beautiful fashion. The reels are typically embellished with red, gold and black colours to emulate the Asian style while the symbols are designed in a cute and simple way. In contrast to Super Lucky Frog – another recent Blueprint Gaming release with an oriental theme – this slot machine opts to use two dimensional Anime style illustrations rather than bright and bold 3D animations.

Pays Both Ways

The 10 paylines of Lion Festival are permanently fixed in place and they award wins in both directions. As such, there are effectively 20 different ways to line up rows of matching icons on the reels since wins are found going from right to left as well as from left to right. With that in mind, the minimum wager level of 0.20 isn’t too shabby while the maximum stake of 100.00 is ideal for high rolling spinners.

With the biggest possible bet in play, punters can hope to be in for a top base game prize of 50,000 coins thanks to the 1,000x line bet multiplier jackpot. This prize is awarded whenever spinners manage to line up five matching girl symbols, with four girls offering 150x and three awarding just 50x. In fact, the size of the potential prize does drop off quite rapidly with the second highest line bet multiplier giving no more than 100x. Players can hope that they get extremely lucky and trigger the random Jackpot Kings bonus game. If this were to happen then they will be able to play a special side game for a three-tiered progressive jackpot kitty.

Lion Re-Spin Bonus

If players are looking for the same old free spins and standard wild wins, then they better look elsewhere because this slot machine offers something a little bit different from the norm. There are wild wins – the wild symbol is depicted by the dancing lion – although this icon will trigger a special Lion Re-Spin feature in which the wild symbol extends to cover all three reel positions as the reels spin again, free of charge.

Other than that, players should keep an eye out for the lucky waving cat icon, since this little kitty could boost your bank roll kitty by turning into a random symbol when it stacks up on the reels.

Happy New Year!

Lion Festival is one of many new slot machines online which look to celebrate the coming of Chinese New Year. The game promises plenty of cause for celebration by offering up the chance to win a progressive jackpot prize as well as a base game jackpot of 50,000 coins. Unfortunately, the game is a bit light on the bonus front with no conventional free spins to speak of.