9 Lions by Wazdan

As the autumn breeze rustles, lifting the cherry tree leaves and whisking them away, so will this game transport you to a mystical world where the golden lion, red-eyed dragon and all their companions bring you luck.

9 Lions is a player’s game. Why do we say that? Simple: it’s all down to being able to shift between high quality and ultra-lite modes. Thanks to this handy little design feature, you get to choose whether you’re in for the full, gorgeous HD design experience or will sacrifice the game’s sleek looks for a much faster, smoother, not-so-data-heavy version that flies through the spins like everyone’s favourite luck dragon.

The design is attractive and dynamic, reminiscent of cool, breezy afternoons, cocktails in hand, enjoying the best the imperial palace has to offer. With classic Chinese design elements and music that have undergone a serious upgrade, this game is definitely going in our little lacquered box of delights.

Symbols

As the name of the game might suggest, the gold lion head is the highest value card, worth 50x your stake for a payline of 5 symbols. This is followed by five amulets depicting animals: a jade turtle – 35x; a purple dragon – 25x; a red peacock – 20x; and a gold tiger – 18x. This is followed in descending order of value by A, K, Q, J, 10, and the gold dragon head.

For any spin in the normal game, a symbol will become sticky and remain on the reels until the next spin. As the game is programmed to select the symbol with the best odds, this will often be when there are two or more of the same symbol across the reels. This significantly improves your chances of getting a big win. You can also select and change which symbol you would like to remain stuck to the reels.

Features

The gold lion head and the gold dragon head both trigger special features; landing a row of three dragon heads across the reels gives you a shot at one of the three dragon jackpots. This bonus game takes place in a beautiful temple with three golden eggs on the top step of the altar – by selecting one of these eggs you determine the size of your jackpot.

When the lion symbol occurs on a reel, it will also appear in the corresponding position on the grid at the top right-hand side of the screen. Once the matrix has been filled you simply need to wait for three lion head symbols to land across the reels in order to trigger the bonus game. The lion bonus game is nine free spins with sticky symbols; this means that two or more of the same symbol will remain affixed to the reels until the next spin – this is to increase your chances of scoring a big win.

This video slot is widely available online but can be reliably found at Bit Starz and Sports Bet.

9 Lions is available to play on mobile, desktop or laptop. It is supported on iOS, Windows, Linux and Android. Recommended browsers include Safari, Chrome, Edge and Firefox.

Choose your game mode (high quality or ultra-lite) before the time to set your resolution and the game’s data requirements. You will need to exit the game to change it again. This is a medium volatility game, which means a risk-taking approach tempered with some caution is a wise initial approach. Take some time to get to know the game before taking too many big risks, and set yourself a time and budget limit for maximum enjoyment with minimum loss.

9 Lions is a winner, in our books. It’s fun to play, easy to get wrapped up in, and has enough features and extras to keep any level of player happy.