Sadly, not a slot hailing the bearded baddie in Flash Gordon, The Great Ming Empire is in fact based on the famous dynasty that ruled China from the 14th to the 17th century. Powered by Playtech, this 5 reel, 5 payline, win both ways game comes with a pick me bonus round where you can boost your cash prizes with a 10x multiplier. Play from just 5p per spin.
The visuals in The Great Ming Empire have a rich, opulent feel. Set against a backdrop of the Great Wall of China, the reels include Chinese style playing card values from A to J and a junk ship alongside the emperor and empress. Winning combinations can be formed from right to left as well as left to right which certainly boosts your potential for success.
Likewise, the fact that you only need to land 2 symbols in a payline to create a winner. 5 of the emperor symbol will get you a 1,000-coin boost. The Chinese temple symbol is the wild. It only substitutes for the emperor and empress and not the lower value symbols. 5 of these in a line will get you a 2,000-coin haul.
There are also 3 scatter symbols – a vase, a crystal and a set of scrolls. Land 3 or more of these on consecutive reels and you’ll trigger The Great Ming Empire’s only feature, the Treasure Room Bonus feature.
A set of giant golden doors will open to reveal a selection of 8 objects, behind which lie a series of cash prizes – you get to pick 3 of them. You can also boost your wins with a multiplier depending on how many scatters triggered the feature. Three scatters and it’s a standard 1x, four and your winning total will be trebled. Trigger the feature with five scatters and your coin picks will rocket with a 10x multiplier.
The Great Ming Dynasty is a fairly volatile slot with the variance in the medium to high range. It’s well produced and the win both ways technology helps things along in the base game but the limited range of features, especially the lack of free spins, is a little disappointing. Playtech offers a huge range of quality slots with Land of Gold and Jekyll & Hyde good options.