Lucky Zodiac Pokie Machine
Astrology themed slots have been seen before, so anyone who is interested in the idea that the positions of the stars influence how our lives play out may want to take a look at Lucky Zodiac from Microgaming. While they will certainly find a perfectly serviceable 5-reel, 20 payline pokie, what they are not going to find is a game packed full of images from the 12 signs of the zodiac. In fact, there’s just a single ram, which represents Aries to give Western players any signs that it justifies the title.
Ignoring the lack of bulls, crabs, twins, fish and archers that perhaps would be expected on the reels, what we have here is a Chinese themed game decorated with fans, fireworks, lotus flowers and lanterns. The overall design is the clue that this is a game aimed at the Chinese market, or players who like Chinese designs, which is why the signs of the zodiac known to Westerners are not featured.
That still makes it an attractive, if not stunning game to play, and it’s got a couple of bonus features like wild symbols, multipliers, free spins and a gamble round to keep it interesting.
Surrounding the reels is a soft jade green frame with some subtle decorations to it and the game title above. On each side of the reels we find the payline indicators that show where each of the 20 lines starts and finishes, while the control buttons are below it all.
These buttons are used to adjust the amount staked per spin which can start from just 0.01. This will activate just a single line, so the minimum needed to play them all is 0.20, while the most that can be wagered per spin is 100.00.
The paytable has all the information needed for players to work out what they will win each time the symbols land in the right places, and to create a winning line, they need at least 3 of the same type to come to a rest across an active line. The row of symbols has to run from the reel on the left side, and the symbols need to be on adjacent reels for a win.
Like many pokies, Lucky Zodiac uses the playing card icons 10, J, Q, K and A as the lower value symbols, while higher value ones consist of game-specific images. In this game, the symbol that pays out the most is the red lantern, with players getting up to 40x the bet per line when it lands across the reels.
Lucky Zodiac
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Bonus Features
The Lucky Zodiac logo is wild, acting as any of the standard icons to help complete winning lines, while also being worth up to 150x the line bet when it makes up a line without help from any others.
The firecrackers are a scatter symbol, which means that they can literally be scattered around the reels to make up a winning spin. This symbol also pays multiples of the total bet, rather than the bet per line, with just 2 of them being worth 2x, 3 scatters pays 4x, 4 of them are worth a win of 20x and should 5 scatters land after a spin, players get a win equal to 200x the total bet.
Any 3 or more will also take players to the main bonus feature, which is a potentially lucrative free spins round. 12 spins are awarded, but there is a random multiplier attached to each win throughout them, which can be as much as 7x the base value. The sheep finally comes into play as well, acting as an additional wild symbol, so hopefully players will stand to get a few winning spins before the free spins end.
Players win more free spins if they land 3 or more scatters again.
Lucky Zodiac features a gamble game which they can opt to try after a winning spin. To double the amount just won, players have to guess what colour a playing card will be revealed as, while to quadruple it, they need to get the correct suit. Any wrong guess and they lose the bet that started the gamble game along with any wins made so far in the round.
The Verdict
As long as players are not concerned with the fact that this isn’t actually themed around the 12 signs of the zodiac and is instead a Chinese style game, they should be able to enjoy a decent pokie. Normal gameplay is pretty standard, but the free spins bonus round can have a nice multiplier attached to any wins, and with an extra wild symbol, players should be able to pick up a prize or two along the way.