Beckon Wins from a Fortunate Feline in Maneki 88 Gold Slot
In Japanese culture, Maneki-Neko figurines are meant to bring their owners luck and prosperity. In the west, however, you’re more likely to see them as cheap decor at your local Chinese takeaway as you’re waiting for your sweet and sour pork.
BGaming may not be your local takeaway but its use of the symbolism in its new Maneki 88 Gold slot feels about as cheap. Let’s see if the slot can redeem itself with some substance.
Do you feel lucky, punk?
During both base game and free spins play, you’ll collect gold coins that will be added to the progress bar above the reels. If you manage to fill the progress bar with 12 coins, the next gold coin you collect will trigger the jackpot round.
Once triggered, the jackpot round will give you a chance to play for one of the four jackpots. To do this, you’ll need to match three of the same symbols with different symbols representing each of the four jackpots. Once you match three of the same symbols, you’ll be awarded the corresponding jackpot amount. There’s a catch, though.
In the base game, you can select to activate between one and five golden symbols. Each activation will increase the amount you’ll need to bet per spin and will also boost your potential wins for each activated symbol. Additionally, the number of symbols you activate will determine which of the jackpot amounts you have a shot at.
- Two symbols activate – only the mini jackpot
- Three symbols activate – mini and minor jackpots
- Four symbols activated – mini, minor, and major jackpots
- Five symbols activated – Mini, minor, major, and grand jackpots
Then there is the slot’s free spins feature. With the appearance of three golden coin doors, you’ll unlock a round of 10 free spins. These spins are fully retriggerable up to a maximum of 300. During a round of free spins, only high-paying symbols, scatters, and wilds can appear on the reels giving you a shot at some golden wins.
The slot also features a handy buy bonus feature that allows you to bypass the pesky need for three scatter symbols to trigger a round of free spins. The feature allows you to select the number of activated golden symbols for your round of free spins.
Is Maneki 88 Gold slot worth its weight in gold?
Slots featuring Maneki-Neko (“beckoning cat”) imagery are nothing new. As a superstition that’s meant to bring people luck, it’s up there with four-leaf clovers and horseshoes. Maneki 88 Gold slot isn’t a particularly innovative take on the theme, but it does feature some fun graphics, a lot of input options for players, and a number of interesting bonus features.
It’s not all good, however. Considering its promise of fortune, the €99,332 max win with a 2,614x max multiplier is a little disappointing. However, with variable volatility and a max RTP of 97.03%, it definitely offers a slot experience for longer gaming sessions. If you’re looking for big winning opportunities, however, this one isn’t going to get you there.
If you’re looking for another fortuitous slot from BGaming, I recommend going hunting for wins with the ever-popular Johnny Cash. And if you’re looking for something a little different, give Minesweeper a try.