Lucky Firecracker slot's Free Spins bonus is the crown jewel of the game

The Chinese New Year is always a special time of the year, especially for those that were born and brought up in that culture, but the spectacular, colourful celebrations that are customary at this time of the year are also proving very attractive to people in other parts of the world thanks to the sheer spectacle of fireworks, dragon dances and much more.

Along with many other explosive elements, the humble firecracker has been a staple of these celebrations for many, many years and the firework is now the topic of a Microgaming slot game, called somewhat unimaginatively, Lucky Firecracker.

First released back in 2015, with a mobile-version of the game then released four years later, the Lucky Firecracker slot was one of a couple of games, the other being the Gung Pow slot, that were released at the same time of the year and which are thought of as a pair in many slot players eyes, although there were a number of differences between the games.

So how does this medium variance, 5x3 reel slot that plays using the 243-ways to win system hold up when we ran our eyes over it? Let's take a closer look at what we found out.

Overview

• Game: Lucky Firecracker
• Developer: Microgaming
• Reels: 5x3
• Pay Lines: 243 Ways to Win
• Minimum Bet: 0.25
• Maximum Bet: 250.00
• Jackpot: 45,000x
• Free Spins Bonus: Yes
• Other Bonuses: No
• Progressive: No
• Volatility: Medium

Presentation

Chinese-styled slot games, regardless of the developer, tend to follow a similar pattern in terms of how they look and sound. And the Lucky Firecracker slot falls into that category with a rather elegant red and gold backdrop to the slot combined with a soft Chinese-style soundtrack playing as you spin the reels. It is perhaps not the most original approach to adopt for this kind of slot, but it is one that certainly seems to work.

The symbols on the reels are brightly coloured and have been made to look as Oriental as possible, with Chinese writing on a number of the higher value items. Disappointingly, we have the playing card low symbols as the lower value symbols in the game, from the 9 through to the Ace and I would have perhaps liked to have seen something a little more imaginative used for these symbols, perhaps something more in keeping with a Chinese New Year theme.

What is on the reels?

As we have mentioned above, there are the standard lower value symbols on the reels and these are the playing card lows, that range from the 9 through to the Ace. One thing to note here though is that the smaller value wins in this game are very small indeed, with three symbol wins using the lower value symbols paying out from just 0.08x your bet up to 0.32x your bet. However, wins for four and five symbols are better paying with a maximum win of 8x your bet possible with the lower value symbols.

The higher value symbols all appear to me some kind of Firework, or a Chinese Lantern, and these offer a range of wins starting from 0.4x your bet and increasing up to 120x your bet for five of the highest value symbol in the game (which for some reason, are rockets, rather than Firecrackers).

You can also win small amounts of 0.28x and 0.48x your bet with the two higher value symbols on the reels landing just twice across the reels.

Alongside these higher value symbols there are two other symbols on the reels, the Scatter and Wild which lead us into the other features of the slot below.

Wild features

The Wild symbol is the Lucky Firecracker logo and this appears on just the second and fourth reel in the game. It therefore only acts as a substitute symbol in the game and will substitute for any of the standard symbols on the reels to help create more wins. It cannot be used as a substitute for the Scatter symbol.

Free Spins features

The Scatter symbol is the Chinese Coin and this can appear once on all five reels on any given spin. If you land two or more Scatters then you will receive a payout based on the size of your triggering bet. If you land two Scatters it is 1x your bet, three Scatters is 2x your bet, while four sees a more enticing 10x your bet and if you can land all five then you will win 100x your bet.

Furthermore, if you land three or more Scatters on the reels then you will trigger the Free Spins bonus game on Lucky Firecracker. This will see you rewarded with 15 Free Spins and for the duration of the Free Spins bonus, you will have a 3x multiplier in play on all wins.

One nice touch is that you can re-trigger the Free Spins bonus round from within the bonus game, which means you could play through many more than the original 15 spins trigger.

One final aspect of the slot is that after any win in the base game, the Gamble feature is activated which allows you the chance to double the value of your win. You simply need to predict the colour of the card drawn randomly from the pack, either red or black. Correctly guess the colour and you double your money, guess wrong and the money you just won, you now lose.

Best feature of the Lucky Firecracker slot

While the Lucky Firecracker slot isn't overburdened with features, there is no doubt that the Free Spins bonus round, with that 3x multiplier and the chance to re-trigger the bonus game, is the crown jewel of the slot. This bonus can offer you some of the better value wins in the game and a chance to earn more than the standard top line jackpot and up to 45,000 coins can be won. The Gamble feature should be used sparingly and in truth, I feel it is best used only with micro stakes wins.

Conclusion

Lucky Firecrackrer is essentially a body double of the Gung Pow slot that Microgaming also released at this time. It offers a slightly different look but many of the features of the slot are roughly the same. That's not a bad thing with a very decent Free Spins bonus round, but the problem I have with the slot is the size of the base game wins, which can be very small indeed, just a few pence for a 1.00 bet is not a great return. That said, it is still a fun and enjoyable slot to play and its bright colours and design will attract plenty of players.