Great Abundance Slot
Anyone loading up the Great Abundance video slot from GamingSoft will be greeted by a laughing Chinese emperor who oversees dragons, turtles, red lanterns and other classic symbols that are so popular across slot machines of this type. These colourful symbols are arranged in a 6 x 4 layout and players have 50 paylines to land them across, winning a prize whenever 3 or more of the same type land across a line from the left side on adjacent reels.
Rich red and green patterns, with gold highlights are featured in this game that’s all about wealth and good fortune. The emperor helps players gain real cash of their own when he turns extra symbols into wilds, while a lucky cat pays out scatter awards and triggers up to 50 free spins, while there’s the potential for some big wins in the progressive jackpot round.
To get started on real money games, players will need to wager at least 0.50 per spin, although free Great Abundance video slots are also available, while the maximum bet is 200.00. An autoplay option can be found, and those who just want to get on with things can speed the reels up by clicking the ‘Fast’ button.
Spinning for Great Abundance
Because there are 6 reels and 4 symbol positions on each, it’s a busy-looking slot machine, but attractive anyway. 6-reel slot machines are rare, but they can give players even more opportunities to land winning lines. The usual playing card symbols appear in this game, some accented with fortune cookies, diamonds and blossoms, will pay between 10x and 40x the line bet, when the 9, 10, J or Q make up winning lines, to between 15x and 60x when the K or A land.
A fortune cookie, the lantern, a string of firecrackers and the beautifully detailed sculptures of a turtle and lion will pay out more, but the top awards are paid by our friendly emperor himself. When he’s on 3 reels, prizes of 50x the line stake are won, while 4, 5, or 6 will equal payouts of 100x, 150x or 200x.
This is also the wild symbol who works in a couple of ways to create additional winning lines. He’s able to substitute for others if it’s then possible to complete a combination, or he can stretch wins further across the reels to the right for higher prizes. But in a unique twist, if 2 wild symbols appear on the same row horizontally, any symbols between them will be turned into more wilds, which can lead to some big wins.
Cat-Powered Free Spins
A cat statue is the scatter symbol, so it can be anywhere on the reels and will return wins of 1x the total bet when it stops in 3 places, while the rewards for seeing 4, 5 and 6 cats at once are 5x, 20x and 50x the stake.
It will also take players to a free spins bonus round, with the number of spins determined by how many scatters triggered the round in the first place. If it was 3 symbols, then just 10 spins will play out, but 4 scatters will launch 15 bonus games, 5 of them sees 20 free spins and the maximum of 50 extra games is awarded when 6 scatter symbols are in view at once.
Progressive Jackpot Feature
Multiple progressive jackpots are featured in this, and most other GamingSoft slots, with the Great Abundance jackpot round starting when the pot of golden bowls stops on reels 1 and 6 at the same time.
This opens up a picture of a golden tree, filled with coins and surrounded by further stacks of cash. All that players have to do is click a coin from the tree and they will instantly scoop a percentage of the Mini, Minor, Major or Grand prizes. The actual amount won depends on the bet size, as just 10% of each can be claimed by those on the minimum wager, while only punters placing the maximum bets will qualify for 100% of each progressive prize.
There’s a chart that details what’s available at each level, and while it’s a shame that not everyone will get a massive win, there’s still some decent prizes to claim at lower stakes if the Major or Grand prizes are won.
An Abundance of Similar Slots
There’s a huge choice of Chinese-themed slot machines available to anyone who likes the mysteries of the Orient. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but the 3x Dragon Supreme slot game is very popular, and also has software by GamingSoft, while Choy Sun Doa from Aristocrat has similar symbols, and bonus features that include a choice of free spins games and multipliers.
The Verdict
Familiar symbols and a bright, colourful design should attract those players who like the Chinese theme to the Great Abundance video slot. It’s got an unusual layout, with 6 reels and 4 rows of symbols, but still fairly easy to line them up for reliable wining spins, while the bonus features can be quite rewarding.
The wild substitutions, and the way that symbols between wilds get transformed, plus those scatter awards and extra spins are nice ways to pick up some wins in this stylish slot game.
