Tree of Fortune Slots
Playing Tree of Fortune is a bit like stepping into an archetypal Chinese restaurant in downtown Chinatown: a lot of fun, if a little hack in style (but then the familiarity of hack design really works both in Chinese restaurants and in slots). Golden cats wave robotically, fans and lotus flowers pop up on the reels and a bonsai endowed with gold rings takes centre stage. The mystique of the Far East holds an endless fascination and the gentle sounds add to the evocation of atmosphere and ambience. The mechanics are quite basic compared to some more technologically advanced slots, but in terms of game play this doesn’t matter all that much.
A 243 ways to win game such as Tree of Fortune by iSoftBet moves you away from the more traditional style of play. It’s good news as it means it doesn’t rely on the usual number of limited active paylines and wins can be gained from left to right, right to left and on adjacent reels. It’s quite unusual to see iSoftbet using this setup, as it’s a prolific tool of software giant Microgaming. The more variations on offer for gamers the better though, so it’s great to see more diversity in the market and developers mixing things up.
Golden Cats, Coins and Cockerels… Obviously!
iSoftbet, a London based online and mobile casino games supplier, have a strong record of producing quality games, many of which are quite filmic and animated in style. This addition to their portfolio is more basic than many of their other big hits, with a greater emphasis on the spin animation than narrative adventures. Tree of Fortune is a 5 x 3 slot with a 95.5% RTP, a medium level of variance (for a 243 ways to win slot the volatility is quite high) and 15 free spins on offer.
There’s a sense of crass opulence to proceedings with plenty of gilted edges and symbols which include a golden cockerel, golden dragon, the kind of waving cats to be found in Hong Kong gift shops, a lotus flower, some Buddhist cymbals and the namesake Tree of Fortune scatter. The usual alphanumeric playing cards are wrapped in additional items like fans and dynamite sticks. Wilds only appear on reels 2 and 4. You play on a screen background which is red, not a random choice of colour scheme, because this is the lucky colour in the folklore of China.
Tree Spins
Each spin costs 25x and in terms of stakes you have the golden cockerel with a 160x stake, the waving cat with 100x, a lotus flower with 80x, tokens with 40x, firecrackers with 20x with six card values paying 8, 6 or 4x. Free spins are triggered by tree scatters (try saying that one at speed, it’s quite a tongue twister). 3 or more scatters are required anywhere on the reels to get the 15 free spins with a 3x multiplier and these can be re-triggered. Watch out for the re-spin features which can really end up costing you, it may well be safer to play each reel at a time.
Other Decent Games to Try
If you find you love playing this mobile-compatible game and want something along the same lines, software developer Amaya has two great options with an almost identical spec. Red Hot Free Spins and Grand Prix are both 243 ways to win slots with a 5 x 3 spin layout, 15 free spins, 3x multiplier with free spins and a very slightly lower level of volatility - so if it’s that latter factor that puts you off Tree of Fortune, definitely give these two a go. The only other significant difference is that the RTP is unknown on these and of course the themes are very different. Red Hot Free Spins is more similar in terms of the atmosphere in the game, whereas Grand Prix takes to the tarmac for some motoring fun.
Good or Bad?
The high level of volatility might put some gamers off playing the Tree of Fortune video slot as there is the potential to lose badly, but it also of course carries the potential to proffer big winnings, so it can be worth the risk. It’s not the most exciting slot out there, but neither is it the worst.
iSoftbet have more interesting options to pick from and there are steadier 243 ways to win games to choose from too, but if you’re happy to give it a go you never know, you might just have the luck of the dragon on your side. This is a game which you should be able to play for free at most online casinos before you decide to play for real money.
