Jin Chan’s Pond of Riches

Overview of Jin Chan’s Pond of Riches slot

Jin Chan’s Pond of Riches is the first time the development game team at Thunderkick have stepped in to the Asian themed slot category, and as you might agree this is different to any other slots in the company’s portfolio and as such it is not the best slot that the team have ever released. Apart from the slot running on a return to player that is one of the poorest non – jackpot games I have come across in a long time, but this does not necessarily mean that the slot will be terrible, in fact it may be far from it but time will tell. So, if you are ready to give Jin Chan’s Pond of Riches a spin you can see what the free spins and multiplying wilds bring you.

Theme & Design

Jin Chan's Pond of Riches is extremely attractive for a game of this genre and this slot is expertly executed with the design and real Thunderkick flair. Everything about this slot pays a true homage to the Beat the Beast range, through the reels and royal symbols and so on.

Gameplay & Statistics

The first thing you need to do is select the bet range that you are comfortable playing with and this can range from a minimum of 10p per spin up to £100 per spin, and with this range this is a slot that will appeal to many players. The slot plays out over 5-reels and 15 pay lines. The game area is constructed from a pagoda type of structure which is covered in stunning gold and red carvings and you will see all types of animals adorning the side of the structure.

In English Jin Chan translates from Chinese to 'money frog' or 'money toad.' You may have seen the famous statue of the frog that has three legs and a coin in its mouth, well this is Jin Chan. In the same way that most Chinese symbology is used in slots to represent wealth and good news, Jin Chan is not so much wealth related due to the return to player rating of 94.27%. However, this slot may be more enticing for players due to the high potential and high volatility that this slot has to offer. It is up to player if they are happy to deal with the under-par return to player whilst battle for the big wins.

When it comes to the pay table you will find a collection of low paying symbols which are crimson in colour and run with the usual playing card symbols 9 through to Ace. When it comes to the higher paying symbols you will come across a koi, turtle, heron and Jin Chan the frog, the most valuable is Jin Chan and if you land five you will be rewarded with 50x your stake.

Features

Although this slot may appear to be rather short on features to begin with you will soon learn that it can be highly effective when it is playing on all cylinders. The wild is the most desirable symbol in the game but even more so than usual, as not only can the wild substitute for the other symbols, it can also activate multipliers when it is part of a winning combination.
The multiplier values are based on the specific reel that the wild lands on, therefore if you have a wild on your 1st reel has a 1x multiplier, a wild on your 3rd reel will have a 3x multiplier and so on. Wilds multiply each other if they are on the same line and this is how you can create a multiplier that is worth 120x your stake.

The free spins tops, the wild multiplier feature and is activated when you land the gold coin which is the games scatter. If you land 3, 4, or 5, scatters and you will be rewarded with 8, 12, or 16 free spins. The scatter remains in play during the free spins and are collected up whenever they land.

Once you have collected 3 scatters you will have a wild added to each free spins moving forwards, manage to collect 6 scatters and two wilds are added to each spin and if you collect 9 scatters you will have three wilds added at the beginning of the free spins. For every scatter you collect you will also be rewarded with a free spin to your total. Once you have collected 9 scatters and there are no additional wilds left you will continue to add free spins.
As well as this for every win you land on a re-spin activates the Sticky re-spin feature. The winning symbols lock in place whilst the other positions re-spin to give you an even better chance of landing a better win. Landing more matching symbols will see the re-spins keep coming. The Sticky Re-spins come to an end when there are no new win symbols turning up or your grid is full.

Conclusion

Jin Chan’s Pond of Riches look superb and the team at Thunderkick have certainly designed a game that is chunky and attractive with plenty of character. When you design a slot in this genre there is a formula that developers use and Thunderkick has done this well whilst still managing to retain elements of individuality.

The slot provides pleasant aesthetics, and the features that are on offer are good too. The wild multipliers can rise to mental levels and although it will not happen that often there is a 120x multiplier up for grabs. The free spins are an excellent feature and so long as you get a good number of scatters you will get to fully appreciate the benefits you can get from the added wilds and free spins. The potential of winning 10,000x your bet is the icing on the cake. It is just such a shame that the slot has been saddled with the poor return to player.

Even though this is a slot that offer nifty features the main downside that may put players off is the truly absurd return to player and it got me thinking, is this the developers way of testing the waters, and if players are ok with this rating does this give developers a blank page to do exactly what they want, however, lowering the rate without a reason such as a jackpot does feel like bad play. This may just be a one off and this could be the last you see of it. Either way this slot is classy, offers great potential and has some worth while features.