88 Fortunes is a game that arrives with some serious hype in tow, as it appears that players around the world can’t get enough of Asian themed online slots game right now. That being said, does 88 Fortunes live up to all the competing titles that currently flood the market? Sep 12, 2017 88 Fortunes: Casino Slots Game for iPhone. Win the Fu Bat Progressive Jackpot on 88 Fortunes. Find the famous Good Fortune Babies in Fu Dao Le. Win epic FREE SPINS rounds in Zeus 1000. 88 Fortunes is a game that arrives with some serious hype in tow, as it appears that players around the world can’t get enough of Asian themed online slots game right now. That being said, does 88 Fortunes live up to all the competing titles that currently flood the market?
In addition to their spectacular Asian themed slots such as Dragon Spin, Bally have produced many solid games – where the focus is very much on the regular on-reel game-play. 88 Fortunes is a great example of this type of slot, and a game which has been popular for many years.
You’ll immediately notice that this game is all-Asian – there are no filler symbols such as playing cards.
There are 4 progressive jackpots, which are won via the ‘Fu Babies’ pick game shared with other titles including 5 Dragons. You will also get a free spins bonus round by lining up 3 of the special gong symbols.
All the symbols contain an element of gold in this game – with gold also coming into play for the randomly triggered jackpot pick round. 88 Fortunes uses a ‘Reel Pays’ system, effectively an all-ways setup which pays all combinations of 3+ on consecutive reels from the left. This gives you 243 winning combinations at a spin cost of 88c and multiples of that amount.
The highest paying symbol is a dragon, which looks like it has been stamped onto a golden ingot. This has a bright red background, creating a vivid contrast. You will also find 3 gold ingots on top of each other, a gold coin (complete with the square cut out of the middle) and a turtle which is made of gold.
Wilds are an elaborate gold and red symbol, with Chinese writing in the middle. This will substitute for all the other symbols (including the scatters). With the all-ways winning system in place, you can create a lot of win-lines with wild symbols in the right place. Each time a wild lands on the reels, even when not involved in a win, this adds gold to a pot above the reels. This increases the chance of the random jackpot game being triggered.
Gong symbols land with the crashing of a gong sound effect. You’ll need 3 of these from the left to trigger 10 free spins.
There are two bonus games, both of which are fairly generic – though they do offer you the chance of hitting a bigger win. The first is the free spins game and the second the jackpot picks game.
3 gongs on consecutive reels give you 10 free spins. Wild symbols will substitute for gongs. Other than the background of the reels turning from a red hue to a darker shade of gold, there is nothing different compared to the base game. You can add 10 more spins at any point with 3+ gongs from the left-hand side.
The jackpot game will start at random – preceded by the elaborately designed pot of gold above the reels closing and wobbling a little. You are given a grid of 12 gold coins. Tapping them will reveal a ‘Fu Baby’ (a pale skinned traditional baby figure). There are 4 types, and you get a jackpot by picking 3 of the same ones. The jackpots start small with a mini-prize (low double figures) and include a grand jackpot which is typically a low 4-figures ($1000 and up)
Even the smallest touches on this slot have an Asian flavor to them. One example is the coin-fountain effect which comes with big wins. This uses gold coins with a square cut out of the middle, in line with traditional Chinese gold coins. I also like the fact that no playing cards or other generic filler symbols have been used.
Having said that, the level of detail is not the most modern – especially when it comes to the individual symbols. These are nicely drawn and smart, though do not have the same level of detail compared to more recent slot games. Stand out examples are the golden dragon and the turtle. Animations are mostly flashing and lines between the symbols when you trigger wins. There is a nice animation and sound effect combination when the gold travels to the pot above the reels from the wild symbols.
When it comes to slots of this type, you do have a lot of choices. All of the main slot makers have a selection of games with this solid base game plus free spins setup. What sets 88 Fortunes apart is that it is all-Asian (no filler symbols) and has randomly triggered progressive jackpot. There is the potential for some big line hits, especially combining the wilds and all-ways winning system. If you enjoy a solid slot, which does not get too fancy or complex, then 88 Fortunes might just be your route to that pot of gold!
You can play 88 Fortunes slots for real money at the following online casinos:
NOTE: 88 Fortunes slots, made by BALLY is not yet available to play for cash online in the US or Canada - to play real money, please see our Online Casinos Page.
The 88 Fortunes slot has been around for many years, but you might be forgiven for only having seen it recently. That's because up until a few years ago, it has mostly been seen in Chinese casinos (in Macau), but not so much in the US. New versions of the game now adorn the Vegas casinos and very good they are, too.
Orient themed slots are a great choice whenever you feel the need for a bit of luck, bundled up with some traditional features. Although it seems that the software developers will never seize launching Asian inspired games, there's always room for one more, especially since some themes are considered timeless. Regardless of how the market changes and evolves, oriental slots will never die out and players will always welcome a new addition.
88 Fortunes by SG Interactive is a classic contribution to the genre, with a twist – the slot features four Jackpots and has both golden and standard version of Chalice, Turtle, Boat, Coin and Bird icons, together with the Wild Fu Bat, one of the most notable symbols of prosperity and good fortune.
88 Fortunes slot has 243 win ways and for a combination to produce payment icons will have to be positioned from left to right, forming a string on the connecting reels. The minimum and the maximum stake amounts are symbolic.
The bets start with $0.88, with the coin size set to the minimum value of $0.01, while the maximum wager is capped at $88.00. As you have already noticed, 8 is a dominant number, being one of the prominent symbols of fortune and wealth. It would be even better if RTP also ended in 8, but this is regrettably not the case and the expected return to the player is 96%.
To the right of the gaming screen, the player will be able to see the Jackpot amounts, gain access to the payout table, turn off the sound or switch to Auto Play mode, with preset sessions of 10, 50, 100 or 200 auto spins. Expanding the screen will reveal additional settings, enabling the player to choose the cash amount that will stop the Auto Play mode.
Fu Bat is the Wild and can, therefore, stand for all other symbols. The same icon triggers one of the Jackpots which are triggered according to the bet level selected by the player; with higher stakes, additional golden symbols are unlocked, making the player eligible for higher Jackpots.
When the player triggers the Fu Bat Jackpot Feature, a different game screen will be activated, presenting the player with 15 coins. The Jackpot amount will be awarded in accordance to the 3 matching coins revealed by the players: Mini, Minor, Major, and Grand.
Gong symbols will award 10 Free Spins, which can be reactivated during the feature and the low-value icons will not appear on the reels for as long as the bonus games are in progress.
Play Slots for Real Money
Finding a game with a decent RTP (even if it does not end in 8) and re-triggerable Free Spins is undeniably a major success, but if you add 4 Jackpots and bonus rounds with only high-value icons into the mix, you really hit a Home Run.
Eliminating A, K, Q, J, 10 and 9 from the Free Spins is a nice touch and thanks to it you will only score big time during the extra games; that alone would be sufficient to rank 88 Fortunes highly – with re-triggerable Free Spins, the game really makes the grade.
A downside is that it can take quite a few base game spins to unlock the bonus rounds but everything comes with a price...
SG Interactive definitely does not fall back compared to other software developers who have been interpreting the same theme and 88 Fortunes is a worthy representative of the genre, with a few additions that make the game quite distinctive, such as Free Spins featuring only high value icons (brilliant idea!) and golden counterparts of the standard icons that can be purchased – a great way to change the slot's volatility and dynamics and adjust the gameplay to your own budget and style.
Things have changed over recent years and the game, which is hugely popular in Macau and dominates the slot floor there has stated to become very big in the U.S. and many other countries, including UK and Canada.
When you play for cash in a land-based casino, if you are observant, you will notice that the pot of money is at different levels on the different machines.
What you need to look out for is the machine with the fullest pot of money, because it means that it is more likely to pay out the jackpot soon (it might be a small jackpot, but it is still worth winning).
This is really interesting, because it is so different from Las Vegas casino games, where the chances of winning a jackpot is generally the same on each and every spin. With this one, the more the pot in the jackpot, the higher the chance of winning it.