The battle for the Asian gambler is on. Microgaming is also fully participating. So far, this has been done by giving existing slots an Asian design. Dragon Dance, featuring a dancing dragon, was one example. Emperor of the Sea is no exception. Old wine in new bottles, this time with a dragon ruling the China Sea.
Microgaming slots’ payout percentages vary by casinos available for UK players without GamStop. The highest payout percentage is 96.28%. Emperor of the Sea, with a 96.28% payout percentage, can be played at Casinoland. You have a chance to win up to €82,500 per spin.
Pros and cons of Emperor of the Sea
Want to try this online slot? First, consider the key pros and cons of this underwater slot.
Advantages
- Excellent RTP of 96.28%
- Especially suitable for low rollers
Disadvantages
- Outdated graphics
- No engaging gameplay
- Prizes to be won are disappointing
How does Emperor of the Sea work?
In almost all of Asia, 88 is a lucky number. So, if you want to be successful at a slot machine in Asia, you’ll need to incorporate this number somehow. Microgaming has chosen to give Emperor of the Sea 88 paylines. You can also play with 38 or 68 active paylines.
This means the minimum bet is €0.38 at non GamStop casinos. The maximum bet on the Emperor of the Sea is €44. You can reach this maximum bet with a coin size of €0.05 and 10 coins per payline. Setting your bet isn’t very convenient on this slot, however. You have to open a menu. In that menu, you then have to fiddle with the coin value and the number of coins per payline. Microgaming has put these in dropdown menus. Terribly inconvenient.
Emperor of the Sea base game symbols and payouts
The base game of this online slot isn’t particularly special. The highest-paying symbol is the Wild symbol, recognizable by the inscription “Emperor of the Sea.” This symbol yields up to 525 credits per payline and bet level. With the maximum bet, this is only €262.50.
The Chinese dragon pays out up to €250. Note: this is per winning combination. With up to 88 paylines, it’s not uncommon to land multiple winning combinations simultaneously at non GamStop casinos. Other symbols are also typically Chinese: a green pot of coins, a turtle with points, a Chinese yacht, and two brightly colored carp.
Bonus features of Emperor of the Sea
Emperor of the Sea really gets interesting when you spin scatters on the reels. These can lead to some serious cash prizes, especially with the Rolling Reels and Growing Wild features in the free spins bonus game.
Chinese cooking pot as scatter
A Chinese cooking pot is the scatter symbol. So it doesn’t matter whether this pot appears on one of the 38, 68, or 88 paylines. You’ll always receive euros and access to the Emperor of the Sea bonus game. The payout in euros can reach up to 100 times your stake. To win, you need five scatter symbols. Three? Then you’ll receive twice your stake. Not exactly something to write home about.
Free spins
You always get free spins. These are available regardless of the number of scatter symbols (8). The bonus free spins are played with the same reels and payout schedule as the base game. However, two features are included to make the bonus game more appealing: the Rolling Reels and the Growing Wild Feature.
The Rolling Reels feature is familiar from MicroGaming slots like Football Star and Rugby Star. If you land a winning combination in the bonus game, the winning symbols are replaced by other symbols. You essentially get a re-spin, giving you an extra chance to win prizes. Each spin also adds a Wild symbol to the reels. You start with 8 Wild symbols on the reels, stacked on the reels. The number of Wild symbols increases with one Wild symbol per bonus spin, up to a maximum of 15 at non GamStop casinos.
Conclusion about Emperor of the Sea
Compared to NetEnt, Microgaming’s quality is much more volatile. Fantastic slots like Lost Vegas, Playboy, or Jurassic Park alternate with massive blunders. Or simply releases where everything shows that Microgaming’s design team took things too easy. This is also true for Emperor of the Sea.
In all respects, Emperor of the Sea is a very mediocre slot. The graphics are unremarkable and seem to be from the previous decade. The gameplay in the base game is equally unremarkable. A medium variance means this slot certainly won’t stand out to players who enjoy wagering bonuses, or to players looking for an adrenaline rush. The gameplay flows smoothly on a very calm sea.
The bonus game can’t save this game either. For serious gamblers, the maximum prizes, variance, and bets are on the low side. Players who appreciate original features will only see repetition here. The Rolling Reels feature is found in a whole host of other Microgaming slots.