Monopoly Lunar New Year

Monopoly Lunar New Year: Slot Overview

Monopoly is one of those things that seems like it's been around forever, whether in board game form or as an online slot. A staggering number of households across the planet have a copy tucked away somewhere. However, this wasn't always the case in certain countries like China, where Monopoly was banned due to its capitalist leanings. The ban was said to have been lifted around 2001, however, when China joined the World Trade Organisation. Now, Chinese people are free to enjoy the thrills of buying up streets and bankrupting their nan when she can't pay the rent.

This leads us to Monopoly Lunar New Year from SG Digital, which blends Asian culture with aspects of the famous board game. Mostly Asian aspects, though, since the game is played in one of those red rooms, decorated in gold trim and a tastefully patterned back wall. A funk Asian soundtrack provides an additional touch to a scene almost entirely devoid of anything related to Monopoly. This is more Asian gaming with a Monopoly twist than Monopoly with an Asian twist.

Playable from 22 p/c to $/€20 per spin and offering a return to player value of 95.95%, Monopoly Lunar New Year uses what SG calls an Any Ways pays system to cobble together combinations. In the default 5-reel, 3-row grid mode, this means 243 ways to win, occurring when matching symbols land left to right from the first reel onwards; any position is fine. Pays are made up of J-A royals worth up to 1 to 1.5 times your stake, and goody baskets, pigs, gifts, tea sets, archways, and Mr Monopoly paying out 1.5 to 7.5x for five of a kind. Finally, appearing on reels 2, 3, or 4 is the wild symbol which substitutes any pay symbol to complete a winning line.

Monopoly Lunar New Year: Slot Features

Monopoly Lunar New Year comes packed with quite a few features, many based on a previous game called Marvellous Mouse. Here we find Lunar Coins and Chests, Expanding Reels Free Spins, Lunar Chest Free Spins, a Jackpot feature, and a Red Envelope feature.

Lunar Coins and Chests

At the top of reels 1, 3, and 5, Chests appear displaying either a bet multiplier up to x188, Lunar Chest Free Spins, Expanding Reels Free Spins, or the Jackpot feature. When a Lunar Coin lands on the main grid, it reveals either a Token Value multiplier of up to x10 or a Crescent Moon symbol. If a Crescent Moon is revealed on reels 1, 3, or 5, it awards the prize from the Chest above it.

Expanding Reels Free Spins

When a Lunar Coin triggers this feature from the base game, 8 free spins are awarded. During Expanding Reels Free Spins, the reels may expand from 5x3 to 5x4, 5x5, or 5x6 in size, increasing the number of win ways up to 7,776. When coin symbols land, they award an extra +1 or +2 free spins up to a maximum of 50 free spins.

Lunar Chest Free Spins

This feature is triggered from the base game when a Crescent Moon is revealed on the same reel as a Lunar Feature Chest. When it does, 8 free spins are awarded on a grid where only Lunar Coin symbols may appear, along with Chests appearing above all 5 reels. When they hit, Lunar Coins reveal a token value multiplier, extra spins (up to 50), Crescent Moons or Full Moons. Crescent Moons award the Chest prize above them, while Full Moons award all five Chest prizes. Chests during this round only show token value multipliers.

Jackpot Feature

The jackpot feature can only be triggered from the base game. When active, players are presented with 15 picks. Each pick reveals 1 or 2 cards which may be either Property Cards or Upgrade Cards. If 3 Upgrade Cards are uncovered before a Jackpot is awarded, all Jackpots are upgraded to the next level, and the Grand Jackpot upgrades to a Double Grand Jackpot. When 4 Property Cards are uncovered, the associated Jackpot or Jackpots are awarded. Initially, the Mini, Minor, Major, and Grand Jackpots are worth 10, 25, 100, and 2,000x the token value.

Red Envelope Feature

At any moment in the base game, players may randomly be awarded a Red Envelope Mystery Prize of up to 3,888 credits.

Monopoly Lunar New Year: Slot Verdict

Monopoly Lunar New Year recreates a lot more of the Asian culture side than it does the Monopoly element. For the vast majority of the time, the only reference to the board game is when Mr Monopoly symbols occasionally hit. The rest is solidly Asian, so if you're more interested in Monopoly, there are a number of slots better suited to celebrating the spirit of capitalism. Having said that, the approach is actually justified as the game is directly based on Hasbro's board game.

There are numerous ways of potentially winning cash in Monopoly Lunar New Year too, which might excite players interested in feature-rich Asian slots. Get used to scoring the majority of feature wins from Chest multipliers above the reels in the base game. The three bonus rounds proved challenging to trigger, and with the bizarrely high token value system can take a real bite out of a balance before they do. When activated, however, Monopoly Lunar New Year is capable of producing surprisingly high potential wins of up to 13,771x the bet.

At the end of the day, Monopoly Lunar New Year offers plenty for players who, for one reason or another happen to be into traditional Asian themed slots, to get stuck into. SG designed the game to celebrate the Lunar New Year, and there are several references to that. However, it is light on the Monopoly part, so for players looking to experience the famous board game on the reels alongside Rich Uncle Pennybags, other slot options lay it on a lot thicker than this.