Great 88 Slot
Great 88 is a 5-reel, fixed 30-pay line online slots game from Betsoft. Microgaming have been flooding the online slots market with Chinese-themed games for most of 2016, so it's nice to see a different provider get in on the act. The number eight has long since been thought of as lucky in China – because 'ba' (which means 'eight') sounds similar to 'fa' (which means 'wealth'). The number eighty-eight is doubly lucky, hence the name of this slot. In China car number plates with eight in them are sold for highly inflated prices, and the 2008 Beijing Olympics began at 8pm on the 8th of August, the eighth month.
The images used in this slot are very similar to one of PopCap Games' most popular games, Rocket Mania. PopCap Games are best known for 'Bejeweled' and its sequels.
Play this game and you'll find several aspects of Chinese culture represented. The one, two and three bamboo symbols are inspired by Mah Jong. You'll also see firecrackers, jade frogs and traditional Chinese dragons and lions. You can choose your coin size in this game from 0.02 to 0.10. There are thirty pay lines in this game, and that's a fixed number. You can select your 'bet level' from one to five as well. Your final bet is your coin size, multiplied by your bet level, multiplied by thirty. When you're ready to order a Chinese, hit that spin button.
Payout & bonus rounds
The lowest winning payout available here is for three identical bamboo symbols. That will win you five coins. The jackpot in normal play is for five firecrackers – that will win you an appropriate 8,888 coins!
Look out for Lucky Boxes when you play this game. Land three or more Lucky Boxes anywhere on the reels, and you will reveal extra-special features. These could be high-paying symbols, instant wins, firecracker wilds, free spins or a go on the bonus wheel.
If your Lucky Boxes contain bronze coins, then you've gained an instant win. Eack box will reveal between one and three bronze coins. You total win is your stake multiplied by the number of coins you reveal.
Your Lucky Boxes may contain bonus 'Firecracker Wilds'. When this happens the firecracker explodes, turning one or two other symbols into wilds.
Jade coins may also be found in your Lucky Boxes. Each box may contain one, three or five jade coins. This will trigger between three and twenty-five free spins. Note that during free spins Lucky Boxes do not appear.
We're still going with the Lucky Boxes! They may contain a Golden Dumpling! Every dumpling you uncover awards you a spin on the Bonus Wheel. Via the wheel you can earn eight free spins, 5x, 10x or 20x your total stake or a spin on the Mega Win Wheel. The Mega Win Wheel has three segments – 100x, 750x and 6,000x your total stake!
The firecracker symbol is wild here, and substitutes for all other symbols aside from the Lucky Boxes.
You may gamble any win, or half of any win via the 'Double Up' feature. You are presented with a golden coin and you must choose whether the coin – once span – will come up heads or tails. Guess right to double your stake, but guess wrong and your stake is lost. You may gamble as many times as you want in succession.
There's nothing that's not impressive about this game. The graphics and animations are top drawer – well up to Betsoft's usual standards. The real thrills come when you land a few 'Lucky Boxes' (even though the lucky boxes look as if they contain Big Macs) and they pop open to reveal your special treats. Like a box of chocolates, with a Lucky Box you never know what you're going to get! Another great online slots game from the experts at Betsoft.