The design in Xing Guardian has a new age feel with pale blues, pinks and purples dominating the screen. A magical canyon forms the backdrop to the reels which include lower value A, K, Q and J symbols alongside a water lily, a pearl ring, a phoenix and a dragon. 5 of each of the mythical beasts awards 75 coins.
The Xing Guardian (the mysterious woman) is the game's wild - she replaces all other symbols apart from the scatter and offers payouts of between 10 and 100 coins. The wild can land fully stacked on any of the reels.
An animated version of the Xing Guardian can float across the screen on any base game spin and create 2, 3, 4 or 5 locked reels. Matching symbols will land on each locked reel making it that much easier to create a winning combination. This is known as the Xing Guardian Locked Reels feature.
Watch out too for the dragon which can roar onto the screen and in the process, reveal a stack of wilds on 1 or multiple reels. This is known as the Rise of the Dragon feature.
The other symbol you'll really be hoping to see is the yin and yang Tao symbol as this is the scatter - land 3, 4 or 5 of them anywhere on the reels and you'll receive a payout of 2, 5 or 10 times your total bet. You'll also trigger the Free Games feature and with it, 10 free spins.
The animated Xing Guardian will appear on each free spin, creating between 2 and 5 locked reels on each 1. You can re-trigger more free spins, 5 at a time, if you land 3 or more scatters during the feature.
As you'd expect given the 1,024 ways to win reel set, there's plenty of action here - you'll find plenty of smaller wins. The free spins weren't that hard to come by either. We never really won a huge amount but weren't left hanging on for ages waiting for a win either.
Chinese-themed slots are ten a penny but Xing Guardian offers something a little different, both in the way it looks and the features on offer. For that reason alone, it's worth taking a closer look if you like your play to come with an Asian flavour. I also recommend you try Prosperity Twin which is also by NextGen Gaming.