From ancient Chinese culture to modern manga, Asian slots have a rich history of symbols and sounds to call on. Whether it’s lucky 8’s or lucky cats, fiery dragons or noble ninjas, Asian and oriental slots are always packed full of colour, excitement and action. And where else do you go when you need to shortcut your way to the top Asian slots? OJO, that’s where. Are you ready to master the art of Asian slots, Player San?
What are Asian slots?
The Asian slots genre is possibly one of the oldest and widest in online gambling, covering everything related to Japan, China and the Orient.
But what do you need to make a great Asian-themed slot machine? Let’s start with the luckiest of all the numbers. In oriental cultures, the number 8 is lucky, which explains why online slots like 88 Fortunes and 88 Pearls have become so popular.
Animals play a big role in Asian slots too. One look at any Asian slots collection and you’ll see ornate dragons, golden lions, the much-revered panda and the iconic waving lucky cat, also known as the maneki-neko or ‘beckoning cat’ that brings luck to its owner.
Asian culture is full of symbols too, from the Chinese alphabet or ‘hanzi’, whose style is borrowed for many paying symbols on Asian slot reels, to the money tree or prosperity tree seen is slots like Fortune House.
This slot theme is also a great place to wax lyrical (or just wax on and wax off) about martial arts slots, with games like Ninja Fruits delivering extra thrust and . Although there are almost 200 martial arts, we’re not splitting hairs when it comes to slots based on Karate and Kung-fu. As long as they’re exotic, dramatic and exciting, that’s all we ask of a great Asian slot.
Most of what we’ve just covered is rooted in centuries of history, from the Chinese dynasties of 200 BC to the Japanese samurai era which ended in the 19th century. But modern oriental culture has also been a gift for Asian slots developers, with games like Thai Flower and Moon Princess referencing anime and manga cartoon subcultures inspired by Japanese illustrations.
Choose any of those, throw in and dash of red and gold and you’ve got yourself a classic Asian slot!
The world’s most popular Asian slots
From koi carp and lotus flowers to brave oriental warriors, our list of popular Asian slots has it all. As Confucius said, ‘do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire’, and we desire these slots plenty!
88 Fortunes
SG Digital’s 88 Fortunes is one of the most eye-catching Asian slots. You’d never call it minimal! It’s a 243 Ways game where the more credits you play per spin, the more jackpots are available.
The Fu Bat symbol is both a wild and one route to the jackpot bonus, where the number of Fu Bats you spun determines which of the 4 jackpots you play for. Hit 3 or more gong symbols to unlock 10 Free Games on special reels with all of the low value symbols removed. If 243 ways ain’t enough, give the 88 Fortunes Megaways slot a spin!
Fortune House
Ask slots players what the definitive Asian slot is, and chances are most will go with Fortune House. This 20 line Red Tiger slot is the coolest, cleanest and classiest of all the Asian online slots, and style is just the opening round. With prime features like a Fortune Tree that drops mystery symbols like leaves in autumn, a Dragon Wheel with mega multipliers and Fortune Respins, there’s no mystery to why this slot’s fortunes have continued to rise since its birth in 2016.
Dragon’s Luck
If you’re a Fortune House fan, you’re probably be familiar its cousin, Dragon’s Luck. Same provider, same release year and same premium experience. Unusually, this one’s a low volatility game, so you should get plenty of action and limited bankroll fluctuations. Features aren’t as important but the fire-breathing dragons are a nice touch and deliver random symbol matching bonuses. When a slot spawns Megaways and Dragon’s Luck Power Reels versions too, you know it’s worth a spin.
Moon Princess
Play ‘n GO are guaranteed to feature in any slots Top 10 these days, and their Moon Princess slot from 2017 is still drawing in the crowds. With high volatility, a 5,000x top prize, this anime slot is an interesting combo of gentle graphics and punchy action. The 5×5 grid and cascading symbols alone are enough to make it stand out from the crowd, but the 3 princess with their own special powers are the heart of the gameplay. Fill up the on-screen meter to trigger Free Spins, or unlock a whole array of reel modifiers that add, remove or transform symbols in view.
Koi Princess
You can always rely on NetEnt to totally buy into any theme they choose, and their Koi Princess slot has many layers of Asian culture. We’d need a whole Koi Princess slot review to do justice to the 8 different bonus features, so it’s lucky we’ve got one! Random multipliers, various incarnations of Free Spins and a wheel of fortune are just some of the mystical delights that await you when you play this classic Asian slot. It is the first anime slot that NetEnt produced and it is still their best.
Thai Flower
Reel Time Gaming are famous for their Fishin’ Frenzy and Eye of Horus slots and their Thai Flower slot is cut from the same old-school cloth. You don’t see many games based on this region of the Far East, and it’s a welcome addition to the category.
Based on the original game from land-based fruit machines, Thai Flower’s gameplay revolves around the 12 Free Spins feature, with a special set of reels that only include 3 of the symbols. If you like the style but want something a bit more up-to-date, Thai Flower Megaways is bloomin’ good too!
Floating Dragon
Floating Dragon is a 2021 release from Reel Kingdom via Pragmatic Play with 10 fixed win lines. As well as its retro take on Asian design, this game stands out through its Hold & Spin feature. Land 3 money symbols to enter the Hold & Spin bonus with respins, multipliers of up to 4993x and a minimum guaranteed win of 20x.
You can also bag yourself up to 20 Free Spins where you can collect fish paying symbols, accumulate wilds and trigger more Free Spins. The 4 out of 6 volatility, 5000x max win and 96.71% RTP are all in this one’s favour.
Ninja Master
GVG’s Ninja Master slot is a dojo-based ‘pays both ways’ game with floating Chinese symbols. The ninja master character can appear randomly to award Free Spins with the added bonus of random multipliers if you hit a ‘wild win’. There’s also a great little ‘double up’ game where you can double any winnings if you slice open the sack with gold, rather than rice. You can only play Ninja Master at PlayOJO, so get signed up today.
Big Bamboo
Big Bamboo from Push Gaming is one of the sensei-tions of 2022. As well as the game’s calming background and unique symbols, it has a 5-reel-, 6-row format that delivers 50 ways to win.
There’s plenty of mystery in oriental culture, and it’s a big feature of Big Bamboo. Reels with stacked mystery symbols disguise wilds and special symbols, while the Golden Bamboo bonus ‘s reveal & respin has loads of win potential. Add in the 50,000x top prize, and there is no mystery to why this Asian slot machine, released during the Chinese New Year, is already a big hit.
Terrific Tiger Coin Combo
Another slot released to coincide with the Chinese New Year is SG’s oddly named Terrific Tiger Coin Combo, a 243 Ways title with a 12,000x maximum win. At first glance, it has quite an 88 Fortunes vibe, with a similar set of fixed jackpots and coin bowls hovering over the reels. Collect element coins to trigger 1 of 7 bonus features, from Free Spins with wild multipliers to a jackpot picker or even a combination of the two. The red mystery envelope that creates random cash wins during the base game is a nice touch too.
Our verdict
The Asian slots theme is the most diverse of all the slots themes, a world of games where old meets new but the quality and colour is just as good, whatever online slot you play. But if you’ve only got 5 minutes to spare today, go for Fortune House, the definitive Asian online slot.
As Bruce Lee said, “if you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of’. So what are you waiting for? Find your inner peace, choose your style of oriental culture and immerse yourself in the world of Asians slots.
Looking for more slot themes?
The online slots world is probably one of the few places you can leap from the Orient to Dublin, to the plains of the Serengeti and onto to the hot seat in the Deal or No Deal studio in just a few taps. Go explore!
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