Would you like to try win some cash?

Slot games have themes based on places all over the world. There are plenty set in Ireland, a ton load with an Egyptian theme and of course lots based in the good old USA. This time around, Barcrest take us to the Orient and it’s not to see some football at Brisbane Road. We’re in China and there are some excellent wins (definitely not Leyton Orient then) available from its bonus features.

This slot has a total of five reels and on its three rows, there’s just the ten pay-lines. That’s a fixed amount so at least there’s no worries on having to work out how many to activate on each spin of the reels. You do have to decide on your stake though and the minimum cost of a spin is 0.10 and the maximum.50 unless utilizing the Big Bet feature, more about that in a moment. Simply work out a budget you feel comfortable with.

High value symbols here are the Emperor, the Princes, a panda, a temple, and a lantern. In addition to those are the lower paying symbols that are the Jack to Ace playing cards. The wild symbol here is the dragon, you try telling him he’s not and come away without being considerably scorched. This has the ability to sub for all of the other symbols aside from the firecracker which is the scatter. The dragon can help you get winning combinations especially when expanding to cover a whole reel but doesn’t appear on all of the reels, just the second, third and fourth. It’s important that you find out as much as you can about any slot game before pumping it with your hard-earned cash. Read the paytable and then have some free games to see how all the different features work.

As with many other Barcrest slot games, this has the Big Bet feature. That’s not the busty barmaid from down the pub but the chance to have five spins that have an increased chance to win due to bonus trails and persistent wilds. You can choose from three options. The first sees you playing with five spins and a wild symbol that expands to cover the whole reel and then stays there. Option two again has five spins but this time the expanding wild locks in place and can substitute for other symbols. This has the possibility of getting your Bigger Bet spins. The third option again sees wild symbols expanding and locking over the next five spins with the chance of more Big Bet spins.

The second and third options feature the Big Bet/free spins trail. This can be seen above the reels and you can collect scatter symbols in order to hopefully get some more spins. Everything comes at a price though and you do have to pay a lot extra for this feature, either £20, £30 or £50 so best for high rollers to be trying this.

To receive some free spins, you need to get three or more of the firecracker scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. Three appearing will see you playing with 12 free spins, a couple more are added if four scatter symbols trigger the feature and five will have you jumping for joy with 20 free spins to try and do some real damage with.

You will notice that during the free spins round, the high value symbols can be seen above the reels. They aren’t up there for a better view but to help you get larger wins. At the start the one on the far left will be highlighted and all high value symbols on the reels change into that one after that spin. If you get a wild symbol during the free spins, this changes the selected symbol into the next valuable one, so again some good wins are on their way.

During the spins the high value symbols are displayed above the reels; to begin with the one on the left will be highlighted and all high value symbols on the reels will transform into that one after the spin. Each wild symbol landing will change that selected symbol to the next most valuable one. The good news continues with the fact that it is possible to re-trigger the free spins if those scatters end up on the reels in the required numbers.

If this game delights you, why not have a go at ‘Flame of Fortune ‘which is also designed by Barcrest. Same number of pay-lines also on a 5×3 grid with a free spins round plus expanding wild. It’s a high variance game compared to ‘Emperors Gold’ which is medium. If instead of going to China, you fancy a trip to Ireland, play another Barcrest slot ‘Rainbow Riches Pick and Mix’ which shares the same number of pay-lines, is a medium variance slot and has stacked wilds.

An interesting game with a decent theme that is well adhered to. The Big Bet feature can bring you more wins, just be careful with your cash. The bonus game can be profitable and is well worth triggering, so definitely give this game a good play.