Microgaming Empress of the Jade Sword Slot Review and Free Play

Empress of the Jade Sword is a historical Asian-themed video slot from Bla Bla Bla Studios and Microgaming. Played using a 5 reel, 20 payline game engine, it offers re-spins with a sticky wild every time a wild lands. There are also free spins and a pick me round on offer. Stakes range from between 20p and £20 per spin.

With traditional buildings and cherry blossom trees in the background, the reels include lower value A to J playing cards, a trio of middle range jade fans, swords and scrolls and 3 higher value human characters, all of whom can land in full stacks and fill whole reels. The best of these is the Empress who pays 500 coins if you land 5 on a payline.

Keep a special eye out for the Jade Sword Wild – as well as performing the usual substitution functions, it also awards a re-spin. The wild is locked in place on that re-spin. If 1 of the mid value jade symbols lands next to the wild, it too will become wild. This is known as the Jade Wilds feature.

Empress of the Jade Sword also comes with 2 more feature rounds. You have the Free Spins feature which is triggered by landing the pagoda scatter – land 3, 4 or 5 of them and you’ll receive 8, 12 or 20 free spins. Re-triggers are possible here too so 40 free spins can be won overall. Furthermore, the 3 high value symbols appear 3 high meaning you’ll get bigger wins.

Then you have the Ninja Bonus feature which is triggered when you land 3 ninja bonus symbols. Choose from the ninjas to reveal cash prizes or multipliers. The total amount of cash prizes are added together and then multiplied by whatever multiplier you were awarded.

The design in Empress of the Jade Sword is nicely done. The imagery has a slight manga feel and has the look of an old school cartoon. The sweeping soundtrack matches the historical feel very well. The features stack pretty well too. The free spins and picks round do exactly what they say on the tin. The wild re-spins is a nice addition, especially if you manage to land a jade fan, weapon or scroll next to the original wild.

Empress of the Jade Sword is a relatively simple game. There’s nothing too flashy on show but it all works well enough. We’re not sure how a game can get to release without an autoplay option though. That aside, there’s enough on offer here if you like Asian-themed video slots to make Empress of the Jade Sword worth a spin. I would also suggest you take a look at Ninja Magic which was also produced by Microgaming.