The Great Ming Empire Slot Review

The Chinese love gambling just as the gambling world loves the Chinese as a source of inspiration for new video slots. Little did the ancient Chinese know that one day they would be immortalised not in history books but in casino games that allowed Western players to button mash in the pursuit of cash. 3,000 years of history reduced to a hi/lo gamble.

The Ming dynasty ruled China for almost 300 years until 1644, and was known at the time as the Empire of the Great Ming. Playtech have elected to dispense a hastily assembled history lesson as they take it back – way back – to the ancient China of yore.

The Asian Persuasion

Everyone seems to love Oriental slots…except for Asian gamblers, who seem nonplussed by them and largely fail to get what all the fuss is about. When they look as pretty as Playtech’s The Great Ming Empire, however, such games are most certainly worth making a fuss about. This 5-payline slot, boasting the sprawling Great Wheel of China as its backdrop, is a real looker. It’s got the obligatory Chinese style font, just as it’s housed in an obligatory red tiled temple with Chinese lanterns hanging from the side. The memes are real and the cultural appropriation is strong.

The game’s five lines can be adjusted, as can the bet per line, ranging from 0.01 all the way up to 100. With the ability to stake 500 on every roll of the reels, there’s serious cash to be won and lost in this game. Dare you go all in and risk it all in the pursuit of riches? They say fortune favours the brave, but those words will be scant consolation should you wind up forfeiting it all. Read on to discover the best way to maximise your prospects of success in The Great Ming Empire.

The Empire Strikes Back

Lines pay both ways in The Great Ming Empire, whose basic symbols are made up of playing card values, followed by a Chinese junk (a type of ship), an attractive Chinese woman and a moustached warrior, worth 1,000 for five in a line. The game’s wild and scatter symbols are where things start to get more interesting. There are three types of scatter symbols to collect, a Ming vase, a crystal ball and a scroll. Collect three of the same kind to activate The Treasure Room Bonus. Wild is rendered as a Chinese temple and is worth 2,000 for five. It will substitute for just two symbols in the game – the man and the woman.

The trifecta of scatter symbols are the gatekeepers that will determine whether you survive long enough to win serious sums from The Great Ming Empire. Three or more scatters anywhere on consecutive reels will be enough to activate the feature. Once it’s been triggered, your next task will be to select three items from the various treasures displayed in the room. The amount you win here is determined by the number of scatters that triggered the feature. Four will secure a 3x multiplier and five will earn a 10x multiplier.

Similar Games

If you’re to perform a smash and grab, relieving this slot of more than you started out with, the scatter symbols will prove instrumental. The Great Ming Empire is rated as a medium variance slot with an RTP of 96%. Players who find themselves drawn to it should try similarly themed games, of which there is no shortage.

Obvious contenders include 777 IGT’s China Years and Chinese Dragon, a similarly styled slot from Merkur with 10 paylines, and scatters triggering up to 10 free spins at a time. Then there’s Moon Temple by Lightning Box which features a whopping 80 paylines, but has a similar theme to The Great Ming Empire.

Ming the Merciless

The Great Ming Empire finds itself in a very crowded marketplace, one that’s saturated with Oriental slots. Despite the tough competition, this pleasingly designed game succeeds in holding its own thanks to its fine animations and feature game. Playtech haven’t exactly broken the mould here, but that’s okay. What they have done is come up with a 5-reel slot that’s blessed with the simplest of learning curves, one that’s easy to pick up and surprisingly hard to put down.