Play New Year Rich for Free

In the UK, New Years celebrations are usually about knocking back as much champagne as possible and then breaking your New Year's resolution on the first day of January. In China, the festivities are a little bit more spectacular, with a series of celebrations that last from the first new moon of the Chinse lunar calendar until the mid-point of February. During this time, people make extra effort to be with family and friends to eat good food, exchange gifts and watch awesome displays of fireworks and dance performances. All in all, the emphasis of the partying is not so much on getting drunk and eating a dodgy kebab on the way home, but on harbouring good luck and fortune for a wealthy and prosperous year to come.

New Year Rich does a fairly good job at emulating the financial focus of Chinese New Year by presenting 5 reels that are filled with luxurious icons from golden sycee ingots to money envelopes and decorative ornaments. The game also features some of the festival's typical culinary delights, from mandarin oranges to delicious steamed dumplings. All in all, the slot machine is well designed with high definition 3D icons and a traditional eastern soundtrack to take players far away to the Eastern-most reaches of Asia. Players will also notice that the game's action is guided by a 3D female character who – considering that the Chinese New Year takes place in the middle of winter – could probably do with an extra layer of clothing!

With 30 paylines and a low to mid range variance level, this slot machine is bound to bring some prosperous spins to the punters. Then again, the general size of the prizes offered in the paytable are far from being the biggest in the business. In fact, there are no three-in-a-row symbol combinations that will return more than the total bet since three of the most valuable icons will pay a line bet multiplier worth 30x. So, the real rewards are to be found whenever four or five icons match up on the reels, with a base game jackpot of 500x whenever five flower ornament symbols align. This game also offers three progressive jackpots which are awarded at random after any spin.

All of the 30 paylines are fixed in place, so players won't be able to limit their losses by playing with fewer lines. Nevertheless, the game has a very open range of wagers, with a minimum total bet of 1.50 credits and a maximum total bet of 600 credits. So, no matter if you are a high roller or a casual spinner, there should be a bet to suit your needs.

There are a couple of ways in which players can boost their wins in this slot machine. First of all, the slot has a “Bombing Reels” feature which occurs after every winning spin. This essentially causes the reels involved in a winning combination to explode like a firework, allowing new symbols to fall into place for the chance to win again without placing an extra wager. On top of that, players will trigger a round of free spins whenever three gold sycee scatter symbols appear. Players will have to choose the number of free spins along with a particular symbol that will appear on its own along with the lower value icons and the wild firecracker symbol. The more valuable the symbol is, the fewer the amount of free spins are available.

Chinese themed slot machines are gaining more and more popularity as the online betting market looks to the east for new punters and marketing opportunities. As such, spinners can find an increasing amount of slots with an oriental theme. Some notable examples from recent months include games like Huang Di the Yellow Emperor by Microgaming, Fire Rooster by Habanero and Super Luck Frog by Blueprint Gaming.

New Year Rich is a pretty spectacular slot machine that offers a glimpse into the extravagant festivities of Chinese New Year. The slot machine may not have the biggest base game wins but punters will surely enjoy the chance to place for big wagers as well as the explosive Bombing Reels feature and the unique free spins feature. Plus, with the opportunity to win a progressive jackpot after every spin, this slot could make for a very happy New Year indeed!