Journey to the West Slot Machine
You could be forgiven for thinking that this developer had gotten their compass points wrong, for Journey to the West feels more like an Oriental-themed slot. Regardless of its setting, it looks like a chirpy and upbeat kind of game, with cartoon vibes and bleepy music that’s of the 16-bit video game style. Inoffensive in other words but effective.
The free Journey to the West slot is a 5-reel game housed on a standard 5x3 board. Proprietary Games are a capable developer but it would be stretching the truth to describe them as one of the best in the industry. Certain elements of the game design for Journey to the West look unnecessarily cheap and dated, such as the use of shimmer and shadow effect typefaces. The symbols themselves however look the part, with clean colours and nice detail. Journey to the West should be a mobile-compatible slot, for its interface has certainly been designed with large buttons for touchscreen devices, but you may encounter a timeout error when trying to load this game in the Chrome browser depending on your settings.
Going West is Best
The playing controls for this online casino game are easy to locate thanks to their size and prominent position either side of the reels. The aforementioned shadow effect needlessly cheapens the lettering however and detracts from what is an otherwise smart looking slot. Your coin size can range from 0.01 to 5 and your total bet can be set up to a max bet of 125 coins per spin. As a result, this makes Journey to the West suitable for high limit players as well as letting smaller stakes punters get in on the action.
Journey to the West by Proprietary Games is a 243 ways slot, so you’ve got ample ways to win, tempered by the fact that you’ll typically spend more per spin to enjoy this plethora of winning opportunities. In confirmation of the fact that this game is more east than west, its backdrop depicts a Chinese water garden complete with rocks, cherry blossoms, waterfalls and Chinese lettering. In terms of animations, there’s a shimmer effect which darts across the top of the board regularly – a little too regularly it must be said – plus the Spin button is like a miniature whirlpool, brilliant blue and constantly in motion.
The Hand of Gold
There are a lot of playing card symbols you’ll encounter in this game. They don’t look particularly nice or thematic, but on the plus side they’re worth a fair whack – or at least they are if you’re wagering 125 coins per spin. 5x A are worth 2,000 for 5, while the 5 themed symbols comprise horse, pig, dragon, samurai and princess. There are two special symbols, which are of course wild and scatter. Wild is the hand of gold, a raised palm that glows gold and which will substitute for all symbols except scatter when it appears on reels 2-5. Scatter resembles an ancient book of some kind with Chinese lettering. It will award at least 10 free spins when it appears on reels 1, 2 and 3.
Heading East
To find games that are similar to Journey to the West, you need to flip the compass and head east. Something like East of the Sun, a Gamesys slot with 25 paylines, should hit the spot. This medium variance game awards at least 5 free spins accompanied by a multiplier of 2-5x. Jewels of the Orient is another option, a simple but colourful slot from Microgaming with 9 paylines, medium volatility and 10 free spins to be claimed. Finally, you could take a look at Asian Riches, a Gamesys slot that utilises an unusual honeycomb board and which boasts 15 paylines.
Reasonable Effort
Journey to the West is a reasonable slot from Proprietary Games, one which might not set the heather on fire, but which is a fun game to play nonetheless. Best enjoyed on mobile, when the oversized buttons and controls prove their worth, Journey to the West is fun for five minutes or so. It’s hard to see anyone choosing to linger for longer over a game that offers nothing new by way of features. Scatters, wilds and free spins are as good as it gets. On the plus side, as a 243 ways slot there should be plenty of small wins to keep you going as you chase down a larger payday that might just cause you to take a shine to Journey to the West.
