Chinese New Year is one of the most popular holidays in Asia, and the festival of sky lanterns is one of the most spectacular traditions devoted to it. Each year, thousands and millions of lanterns are sent flying all across the world in order to celebrate the transition before years and to honor the God of Heaven who would otherwise send his dragons to bring havoc and destruction onto poor humanity.
As the sight of numerous lights in the skies is very exciting, no wonder that the Lantern Festival tradition is well known all around the world and has highly influenced the pop culture. Lot of different video games are inspired by this beautiful Oriental tradition, including slot machines, and Lantern Festival by Williams Interactive (WMS) is one of such games. What differs it from others is the fact that, just like a lot of other WMS games, Lantern Festival is not just online-only slot game, but instead it is an online version of a successful real-life slot machine that is hugely popular at casinos all around the globe, including Las Vegas. This game lets players not only gamble for real money, it also brings them a little closer to the mysterious Asian culture. In addition, it demands no download and even no registration.
How to Participate in Lantern Festival
Gameplay and Prizes
Lantern Festival offers its players a chance to win a Jackpot of 100,000 dollars, which is average by modern-day standards. What actually exceeds the average in this game is the number of paylines, as there are as many as 40 of them.
The game is played on 5×4 reels, which is also slightly uncommon as for the era of 3×1 and 5×3 slots. Among the paying symbols, there are common cards from 10 to an Ace as well as more Asia-themed images, including traditional firecrackers, a Chinese rose, a fortune cookie, a beautiful image of fireworks and pagoda and a Dragon mask.
As Lantern Festival is based on a real-life slot machine, it does not contain any form of the autoplay mode. The game graphics and animations were excellent for a time when this game was first released, but years have passed since that day and now the visual component of Lantern Festival can be called decent and quality made.
What are the Gifts of Lantern Festival
Features and Bonuses
There are two types of bonuses present in Lantern Festival. First of them is a scatter symbol that looks like a sealed envelope on a green background and awards players with free spins. This bonus round looks different from most other slot games, as the size of the reels in this mode is increased twice (making it 5×8) and the number of paylines increases accordingly (to 80).
The second bonus is a wild symbol that is made with the use of the Extreme Symbols technology. This means that for the regular game, it can have the size from 1×1 up to 1×4, and for bonus mode, its size can reach up to 1×8. In the game, this wild symbol is depicted as a Chinese dragon made of separate sections.
Verdict
While having average graphics and non-unique setting, Lantern Festival can boast of some truly uncommon mechanics, like doubled reels for free spins and Extreme wild symbols. This makes this game a good choice for experienced gamblers that seek for new shades of the gameplay. However, beginners should also consider giving it a try, as it has intuitive interface and no complex menus or a deep tactical component.
Lantern Festival user reviews
(0)