Play Legend of the White Snake Lady for Free

The Legend of the White Snake is one of China's oldest folk-tales, having been passed down for many generations, well before the invent of written traditions. As such, it is one of the most celebrated stories in Chinese culture, often adapted and revised into new films, musicals and theatre productions. But what's it all about exactly?

Well, there are many different variations on the tale but, in the most basic order of events, this legend tells the tale of Xu Xian who falls in love with a beautiful young woman called Bai Suzhen. Little does Xu Xian know, however, that Bai Suzhen is actually a mystical white snake spirit who gained immortal powers after swallowing some immortality pills eighteen years ago. In fact, it was actually Xu Xian who gave the White Snake Lady her powers since he was the one who originally bought the pills in the first place from Lu Dongbin – one of the Eight Immortals. As you do.

And it doesn't get any less weird from here on in. Because, after Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen get all lovey-dovey, a jealous terrapin turtle transforms into a Buddhist Monk called Fahai who sets out to split them up. Lots of fighting, deceit and trickery occurs until eventually Fahai is defeated by Xiaoqing (the White Snake Lady's friend, who is actually a green snake in human form), after which the terrapin monk flees to hide in the stomach of a crab. Oh, and if your not lost in all the madness yet, Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen end up having a baby and they all lived happily ever after (albeit a little bit confused as to what on earth just happened).

We have to hand it to Yggdrasil gaming, because they have managed to do a pretty stellar job with the design of this slot machine. Not only is the game pleasant to behold with its variety of colours and captivating cartoon illustrations, but it also manages to capture each and every character from the story, leaving no room on the reels for the same old generic symbols such as playing card suits or values.

Keeping in line with the convoluted twists and turns of the original narrative, this slot machine presents punters with a plentiful amount of winning opportunities with each and every spin. 243 to be precise. That is because this video slot doesn't have any paylines, per se, but instead it will award wins whenever three or more matching icons appear on adjacent reels, starting from the left or from the right. Spinners can place a variety of bets down on each spin, with coin values that range from as little as 0.01 to as much as 5.00 credits. However, players should note that these bets are always multiplied by 25x to calculate the total bet per spin. So, in actual fact, the biggest bet in the game is 125.00 credits.

One of the most interesting things about this game is the fact that most of the symbols offer the same coin multiplier value when five in a row appear, that being a 2,500x prize. However, smaller combinations will warrant smaller and larger prizes depending on the symbols involved in the winning sequence, as you can see in the table below:

As you can see from that paytable, this game also has a wild icon which will substitute for all icons to help complete sequences of symbols. This special symbol is, in fact, the game's only bonus feature, and it will only appear on the third reel of the game. However, when it does pop up, the reels will be re-spun free of charge while the wild symbol stays in place for another chance to line up a big win.

This slot machine might easily be written off as just another Chinese themed game to add to the ever-growing collection on the internet. However, this effort by Yggdrasil is up there with the best of them, not only because it tells one of the culture's most loved stories, but also because it has some very handsome winning opportunities. Let's face it, it's not everyday that you'll find a slot in which every symbol can pay a 2,500x coin multiplier.