Imperial Riches Slot

Graphics

We’re transported to an idyllic location in Japan, with lush gardens, ponds and delicate hanging lanterns in the background. Already we feel nice and relaxed, which is further enhanced by the cool, calm symbols on show. This includes the card values 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace, along with Coins, Koi Carp, Lanterns and Bamboo.

The Golden Fish is the most rewarding, giving us 100 times our stake for five on a payline, while the Gong is the slot’s Wild and appears on the second, third and fourth reels to help us create winning combinations. And when we do, the screen gains more colour and we feel like we’re in for a firework show.

Gameplay

One of the standout features of Imperial Riches is that it uses NetEnt’s Avalanche feature, just like on other NetEnt slots like Gonzo’s Quest. That means the symbols fall down from the top, so when we get a winning combination, those symbols disappear, creating new spaces for symbols to fall in from above. This keeps on happening until no more combinations can be made. Unlike Gonzo’s Quest, though, Imperial Riches only features 15 paylines, which can mean that symbols that would form winning combos across multiple paylines in other games don’t here. Fortunately, we have some epic bonuses and jackpots to look forward to instead.

Keeping in theme with symbols falling down, Imperial Riches has a Free Fall feature, which is triggered when we land three of the Lantern Scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. The Free Falls is essentially Free Spins, but during each spin, the Avalanche feature comes into play to help get even more wins. But it’s so much more than that.

Each win sees the symbol collected as a jewel, which you can then use in the subsequent Lucky Pond Bonus Game. Our jewels make a splash into the pond and either the Bonus Fish or Coin Fish will eat it. The Coin Fish gives us a win if it eats a jewel – either 0.33, 0.66 or one times our stake. Whereas the Bonus Fish can enter us into the Jackpot Game if it eats three more jewels. We’re more inclined for the Bonus Fish to gobble up our jewels as we can then play for the Midi, Major or Mega jackpots!

Verdict

What starts off as a simple, calming slot soon turns vibrant once we trigger the bonus rounds. The Free Falls and extra spins are great ways to ramp up the wins. But the jewel nibbling fish add more excitement to our slots play. Especially when we can keep winning Multipliers or one of the massive jackpots! We’re glad this is nothing like Star Wars after all.