Chests of Cai Shen

Chests of Cai Shen: Slot Overview

Seeing as he's the God of Wealth in China, it doesn't take a Mensa member to grasp why Caishen, or as he is also referred to, Cai Shen, is a regular guest in online slots. He's the star in today's game, Chests of Cai Shen, which is an Asian-themed slot designed by software provider Pragmatic Play. This provider is no Asian slot noob, with a number of these sorts of releases under its belt already, but that doesn't mean gamblers should expect cutting-edge experimentalism. Chests of Cai Shen is a conservatively designed game, centred around local jackpots and a hold 'n win round with 3 combinable modifiers.

Whether this is a compliment, a criticism, or a neutral observation, Chests of Cai Shen looked like a slot partner studio Reel Kingdom might have made. Something about the gaming area's wiry reels, the line of jackpot prizes, and chests combined with the quasi-photorealistic background triggered those thoughts. It's all very Asian, no arguments there, turning on the traditional music, the quaint naturalistic setting, and so forth. Can't deny which genre Chests of Cai Shen slides into.

Chests of Cai Shen is played on a 5x3 reelset where 25 paylines evaluate winning combinations, starting from the leftmost side of the grid. Players are able to wager 25 c to $/€250 per spin or buy one of the two feature buys. Regular betting attracts a maximum RTP of 96.47%, and the 5 out of 5 rating means Chests of Cai Shen is a highly volatile game.

While hanging about for the bonus round to trigger, line wins are there to keep players engaged through the main game. Ten to Ace royals are the low-paying group, and hitting a 5 OAK winning combination of them awards 0.6 to 1.2 times the bet. The high pays include a fish, a rooster, a turtle, a frog, and Cai Shen, paying 1.2 to 2 times the stake for a 5-of-a-kind hit. Wild symbols appear on the reels, too, substituting for anything except Bonus Coins and Money symbols.

Chests of Cai Shen: Slot Features

In Chests of Cai Shen's base game 3 types of Bonus coins may land - Green, Red, and Purple.

• Green Bonus Coin - these are collected in the green Prosperity chest above the reels. When collected from the reels, it can randomly activate the Chest Respin feature with a modifier that upgrades the values of up to 3 coins on the reels by random amounts at the end of random respins.
• Red Bonus Coin - these are collected by the red Double chest on top of the reels. When collected, it can randomly trigger the Chest Respin feature played on two 5x3 grids. Both grids start with the same triggering Bonus Coins on them, transformed into Money symbols with the same base game values.
• Purple Bonus Coin - these are collected in the purple Longevity chest on the grid. When collected, it can randomly trigger the Chest Respin feature with one extra respin, also resetting up to 4 rather than 3.

Bonus Coin collection happens at the end of a spin, which may trigger a Chest feature. If the Chest feature triggers, 1, 2, or 3 modifiers are active for the bonus round. Triggering Bonus Coins are transformed into Money symbols at the start of the bonus round with the same displayed values.

Chest Respin Feature

Money symbols may appear in this feature, displaying a value of 0.6x to 30x the bet. Or they may land with the 10x Mini, 20x Minor, or 150x Major prize. Only Money symbols and blanks appear in the bonus round, which initially starts with 3 (or 4 in the Purple bonus) respins. Money symbols are sticky, and landing a new one resets the spin count. The round ends when all positions are filled or the respins run to zero. If all positions are filled with Money symbols, the 5,000x the bet Grand prize is also awarded.

Buy The Chest Respins Feature

Buying the Chest Repsins feature comes in two ways. One is paying 50x the bet to trigger the round with 1, 2, or 3 modifiers hitting on the triggering spin. The second is to pay 100 times the bet for all 3 modifiers guaranteed to trigger.

Chests of Cai Shen: Slot Verdict

Chests of Cai Shen is a real chicken fried rice from the local takeaway shop type game. You know exactly what you are getting - traditional Asian slot sights and sounds, plus predictable gameplay. Well, there is a slight twist on the bonus feature since it doesn't send you into a completely no-frills round. Like those Power Combo slots, you can enter with 1, 2, or 3 variants triggered, modifying the hold 'n win feature in various ways. Nothing out there freaky wild, though, basically just double grids, a greater number of respins, plus a money symbol upgrade mechanic. Useful stuff, but Money Train 5 this ain't.

But, that was very likely Pragmatic Play's point when making Chests of Cai Shen, aiming it at players who dig the simplicity and the few twists or turns the game presents. Fair enough, Chests of Cai Shen looks and sounds exactly how one would assume a game of this type should, thereby joining a legion of similarly designed Asian slots. There's not much else to say beyond that. If this style tickles your fancy, and chasing a sizable top prize capped at 10,000x the stake with the aid of three basic combinable hold 'n win features is on your to-do list, then Chests of Cai Shen does it about as well as any other in its class.