Lucky Mahjong Box Slot
Although the ancient Chinese game of Mahjong is traditionally played with four people, online casino games developer Evoplay Entertainment have taken the basic concept of decorated tiles and applied them to their Lucky Mahjong Box video slot, which only needs a single person to get the reels spinning.
Played over 5 reels and just 9 paylines, there’s no real similarity with how the game works, but punters probably won’t mind that when they start to bring in the wins as matching tiles land on adjacent reels across a line from the left side. There are even a couple of special symbols like the red dice that launch a high-value free spins round and a green wildcard that’s worth some massive prizes of up to 9000x the line bet.
Evoplay Entertainment games all look great and Lucky Mahjong Box is no exception, with the tiles lined up on a dark green playing surface, surrounded by a beautifully detailed area covered in spare tiles, which looks like the lucky box has been opened up. These are just for effect, but it all helps to make this an attractive sight, while the piano music in the background adds to the ambience. The sound effects even include the clatter of tiles as they drop into position on the reels and then drop away the next time the ‘Spin button is clicked.
Traditional Meets Modern
The control panel underneath it all is used to set bet sizes, although more cautious gamblers can practice free Lucky Mahjong Box slots before making real bets. The minimum stake is set at 0.01 per line, or 0.09 a spin, while coin values can be adjusted up from there to suit. Wins are calculated as multiples of the amount bet per line and the paytable details which tiles are worth how much.
This is where the choice of Mahjong tiles can cause confusion for anyone not used to the traditional game, as they all have abstract symbols on them, or Chinese writing, so many players will just have to spin the reels and gradually learn the values.
The lowest-paying tile only needs to land on a line across reels 1 and 2 to be worth 2x, while a full run pays out 100x. The next 8 tiles gradually increase in value until we get to a gold symbol which returns wins of between 2x and 750x the line bet depending on how many reels it stops across.
Green Card Wild Wins
The wild symbol is both the highest-value icon and is able to act as others to help complete winning combinations. Let’s look at the huge payouts on offer first, as just 2 wilds on a line will be worth 10x, while 3, 4 or 5 sees prizes of 250x, 2500x and a high limit of 9000x the line bet returned to lucky punters.
In its function as a wild symbol, anyone who sees matching tiles across a line, but a gap in the sequence, can still get a win if the wild is in the right place to fill the gap, or they could see a winning run extended across extra reels.
A Roll of The Dice
The main bonus feature however, is triggered by the red dice scatter symbol. This image can be literally scattered in any places and wins are multiplied by the total bet per spin, not simply the line bet, with a 2x payout whenever 2 dice roll into view at once. Prizes of 5x, 20x and 500x are awarded by 3, 4 or 5 scatters respectively, and once these have been paid out, 15 free spins will begin.
During these bonus games, any winning combinations will pay out at triple the base rate, and while there’s no guarantee that players will see symbols line up favourably before the 15 spins are done, you would be pretty unlucky not to end the round better off than you were when it started.
Is It A Lucky Box To Open?
This online slot machine is sure to appeal to Mahjong players, but if, like us, you have never played the game before, there is still lots to enjoy. The biggest issue is learning what each tile is worth, and it would have been nice to be able to play Lucky Mahjong Box on mobile platforms, but aside from this, the nice design, satisfying sound effects and of course, various bonus features all add up to another quality slot from Evoplay Entertainment.
The best payouts from the wild symbol are exceptional, and once the free spins are triggered, there’s a generous 15 chances to land some tripled wins, but even in the base game, this can be a nice slot to play, although only related to the traditional game in the way it looks, not how it plays out.
