Legend of Hou Yi Slots

There are online slots made these days based on everything from Norse mythology to Polish folk tales and English folk heroes. Tales of heroism and good versus evil are timeless, which is probably why online casinos developers keep coming back to them for valuable source material.

Skywind are no strangers to an Oriental-themed slot or two. The developer has a massive range of Asian slots based on Chinese New Year, astrology, or classic legends. And it's the legend of the Lord Archer, Hou Yi, which forms the basis of their new slot, the Legend of Hou Yi.

According to Chinese mythology, Hou Yi saved the moon with his trusty bow and arrow during a lunar eclipse. In doing so, he rescued China from dragons, monsters, and even nine golden suns that were burning the land.  

Will the Legend of Hou Yi video slot save your bankroll? Let's load up an arrow and let loose on this 243 ways-to-win slot with our expert review of the Legend of Hou Yi slot machine.

Play 243 Ways to Win at 50 Coins a Spin

The Skywind Group has been developing top games and slots since 2012. They already have a healthy range of Asian-themed slots that are available to play online. But not all come with the kind of risk and volatility that some high-limit players enjoy.

 If you like risk, then the Legend of Hou Yi slot is for you. The game is a 243 ways-to-win slot, where winning combinations are paid out simply by matching symbols on adjacent reels. In the free Legend of Hou Yi slot machine, you will have to pay 50 coins per spin in order to play. Coins range from 0.01 up to 5.00 for a max bet of 250.00 on each and every spin.

The Legend of Hou Yi video slot comes mobile-optimized and ready to play on a range of devices. A good mobile browser on your tablet should be sufficient in order to operate the slot. As with most of Skywind's mobile online gambling slots, you can tap the Turbo play button on or off, as well as the Autoplay function.

Hit the Arrows for Big Gold Jackpots

In the myth of Hou Yi, a powerful warrior defeated a range of plagues and monsters to save the country. Icons from Hou Yi's story form the basis for the paying symbols in this online slot.

Hou Yi's golden shield is the top payer in the Legend of Hou Yi slot game. It pays out real cash when you hit three, four, or five matching symbols on adjacent reels left-to-right. Three golden crow shields pay 100 coins, four shields 250 coins, and five shields 1,500 coins.

Next comes the crow with three legs. The three-legged crow, the Sanzuwu, features a lot in Chinese mythology. This symbol pays 50-1000 coins, depending on how many you manage to land on adjacent reels. Hou Yi's helmet pays 40-1000 coins, while the magic potion pays 35-800 coins. Hou Yi's bow and arrow pays 30-500 coins, and the scroll pays 25-500 coins complete the high limit symbols.

The six playing card symbols, 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A, complete the low-limit icons in the game. The payouts aren't great, but are fairly comparative with low-paying symbols in 243 ways-to-win games. The 9 pays 10-100 coins, and the 10 and J both pay 10-150 coins. The Q is a little better and pays 15-200 coins, while the K pays 20-250 coins. The A pays 20-300 coins for three to five-of-a-kind.

Increase Your Wins With the Gold Feature

There are a couple of interesting bonus features to look for in the Legend of Hou Yi slot machine. The gold background symbol can appear behind any other symbol on the reels. Be careful, though, as it only appears on reels, 1, 2, 4, and 5. If the background square lights up a symbol, it will pay on all positions in that reel.

It is possible to get a background symbol on reel 3, but only if you trigger the golden games round. You will need to land three Hou Yi archer symbols on reel 3 to activate 5 golden free spins. The mythical archer expands to fill the whole reel and will lock in place for the duration of the feature. He also acts as the game's wild symbol. The gold feature will trigger for all golden games. That means it's possible to hit those elusive background symbols on reel 3 a well.

The golden games are tricky to trigger. But worse than that, the feature can't be retriggered. You will have to make them count if you want to see any winnings.  

Find Excitement in Other 243 Ways-to-Win Slots

It is sometimes hard to find free spins and stacked wilds together in the same slot. IGT's Asian-themed 100 Pandas slot manages to have both those features. The game is played on a set of 4x5 reels and features 100 paylines. The wild frequently appears stacked and will award a top prize worth 100x the player's line bet if you land five of a kind.

Three scatters on the reels on the center three reels, meanwhile, will trigger a free spins round with 10 games and a 2x total bet prize awarded.   

For another high-octane dose of Oriental magic with expanding wilds check out Bally's Double Dragon online slot. The game features plenty of Yin-Yang symbols, gold dragons, and Chinese coins. But there is also a Dragon Wild feature where free spins are awarded with a stacked expanding wild included. Spins are retriggered if a further wild symbol comes up.

Fire Your Arrow and Land a Big Win

You can give the free Legend of Hou Yi slot machine a try right away. It's definitely on the higher end of the variance scale and probably belongs in the high-limit slots and games bracket, but it has some good features if you are lucky enough to trigger them.

The Gold Feature is perhaps your best bet at securing a decent win, but it does rely on you hitting a high-paying symbol to start with.

Give the game a play today at one of our best online casinos below, and see what you think. It might not be a good online slot for the low-limit gamblers out there, but it has the potential to pay big.