Wishing Tree Slot Review

There are many ways to design a Chinese-inspired video slot game, and given how popular the genre has become you are likely to be familiar with them already. Wishing Tree from Merkur is a slot game that showcases the more traditional aspect of the culture. This very simple game is organised around few rules and a low variance that makes it extra dynamic.

Wishing Tree offers players a standard 96.08% RTP, just to make sure that everyone has a fair chance to start winning big soon. The stakes are actually quite high in this game, and you won’t have many options to turn to once you find yourself in the middle of a dry spell. Will the tree answer to your prayers? Let’s find out in this full review of the game.

Total Immersion Guaranteed

Wishing Tree sticks to a typical Chinese atmosphere, at least as far as slot games are concerned. The bright red background shows the silhouette of many traditional wooden buildings and their characteristic pointy roofs. The reels are placed within a golden frame, with a very simple command bar at the bottom.

Overall, Wishing Tree looks exactly like we would expect a Chinese slot game to. The graphic quality is very decent, but nothing exceptional compared to many other games with the same theme. If Wishing Tree wants to stand out, it better have some really original gameplay. Let’s check that out next.

Ultra Basic Rules

Wishing Tree lets players bet on 5 reels with 20 paylines available at any time. The betting range is rather short, from 0.20 to 40 credits per turn only. High rollers might feel a little frustrated at that, to be honest. You can always skip ahead with the bet max button to go all-in right away, or turn on the autospin mode. As you can see, Wishing Tree actually sticks to a very basic set of rules after all. Each win gives you access to a mini game, where you need to guess the colour of a hidden card. If you choose to play and win, your prize is automatically doubled.

The low variance does make playing Wishing Tree a dynamic experience, with plenty of occasions to score small cash prizes right from the very beginning. The paytable is made up of 4 card icons designed to look like colourful Chinese characters, with several lucky charms and drums as the high-paying symbols. The most you can win at once is 1000 times your wager, which is more than we expected. To help you out, the beautiful Wishing Tree can appear at any moment during the game. It serves as a wild card, and all adjacent symbols will turn wild as well, triggering new winning combinations in the process.

Other Options You Should Check Out

Looking at the gameplay solely, Wishing Tree is actually very close to Arcade Bomb by Red Tiger Gaming. Both slot games have basic rules and lack most bonus features found elsewhere, such as free spins or bonus rounds. Arcade Bomb does have a slightly higher volatility, making it a bit more difficult than Wishing Tree overall.

Chinese New Year from Gamesys looks more like the traditional Chinese slot games that most players are familiar with. Despite sharing a similar look with Wishing Tree, both games have very different rules. All that Wishing Tree lacks in terms of free spins and multipliers, for instance, Chinese New Year has them readily available.

Not as Thrilling as Expected

Wishing Tree is a simple and straightforward slot game with easy rules and a great design. Apart from these positive elements, the game really sticks to the most basic functions you could expect. There are no bonus features except for the Wishing Tree expanding wild, which makes hitting the jackpot a little challenging.

If not for its looks, we wouldn’t really recommend Wishing Tree to any gambler. We felt a bit frustrated playing the game, as even the Wishing Tree turned out to be a little rare on the reels. The Merkur developers could have added free spins and other surprises to really spice things up and make Wishing Tree more memorable.