The design in Emperor's Gold has a very traditional feel - the A to J values are drawn in a Chinese-style typeface. They're joined by a lantern, temple, panda and tiger. The most rewarding symbols are the empress and emperor who pay 40 and 60 times your total stake respectively if you land a 5-in-a-row combination.
Appearing on the middle 3 reels only, the golden dragon is the game's wild - whenever it lands, it will expand to fill the whole reel in which it appears. At stakes of less than £2 per spin, it substitutes for all other symbols bar the scatter. Play at more than £2 per spin and the dragon replaces the scatters too.
The emblem with firecrackers is the scatter - land 3, 4 or 5 of them anywhere on the reels and you'll trigger the Free Spins feature and be awarded 12, 14 or 20 free spins. The reels are a little different in the feature - on each free spin, they are made up of the A, K, Q and J as well as 1 clumped picture symbol.
The stacked wilds are in play here - when they land, they'll breathe fire and add a more valuable clumped symbols to the reels. They can also add extra free spins to your tally. The scatters are in play during the feature too so it's possible to retrigger another set of free spins (up to 40 possible).
Like many games from Barcrest, Emperor's Gold gives you the chance to play in Big Bet Mode - this is a series of 5 linked spins which will set you back a little extra per spin but add some potentially lucrative extras:
- At the £20 Big Bet stake, any expanding wilds that hit will become frozen and will be held in place for the remainder of your 5 spins.
- At the £30 Big Bet stake, you'll benefit from the frozen expanded wilds. You'll also trigger the Super Bonus Trail - any scatter that lands will add to the trail and in the process deliver extra spins.
- At the maximum £50 Big Bet stake, you'll still get the sticky wilds as well as activating the Mega Bonus Trail. Scatters once again add free spins to your total as well as added picture symbols.
The higher stakes you play, the better the Return to Player rate on offer - at less than £2 per spin, it's 94%. Over £2 and it rises to 96%. Play in Big Bet Mode and it increases to 98%.
Emperor's Gold is a typical Barcrest slot game, blending glossy visuals with an impressive free spins round. The Big Bet options aren't cheap but can be worthwhile if you have deep pockets.
The Chinese theme remains an incredibly popular one - Emperor's Gold is another interesting and entertaining addition to this crowded genre and certainly worth a closer look if you like the Sino theme. I also recommend Rainbow Riches Reels of Gold from Barcrest which uses popular WMS technology (a sister company).