China Mystery

This China-themed game gets a hard pass from us due to its average return on investment (96.10 percent), low volatility, weak gameplay, and sloppy graphic design.
China Mystery - Konami - 5-Reels

China Mystery – This China-themed game gets a hard pass from us due to its average return on investment (96.10 percent), low volatility, weak gameplay, and sloppy graphic design.

China Mystery RTP 96.1%

Slot functionSlot description
Slot Provider:Konami
Slot date created:2014
RTP:96.1%
Features:Free spins, Autoplay, Quickspin feature
China Mystery themes:5-Reels, Asian
Popularity:Medium
Available on:Mobile, Desktop
Win lines:30

Review of the China Mystery

Theme and plot of the story

Several Konami slots are based on the country of China, and China Mystery and China Shores, another of their slots, both employ a huge number of the same graphics for its low and medium value symbols, demonstrating how interchangeable Konami’s Chinese-themed slots are.

The biggest difference between this version and the previous one is the absence of pandas and the use of a blue backdrop instead of green.

There isn’t much storyline going on in these slots, but the central theme is generically Chinese imagery. China Mystery is distinguished by the use of square-holed coins and ladies wearing conical farmer’s hats as distinguishing images.

Graphics, sounds, and animations are all included.

This is where the true enigma lies: where did Konami’s funds go on this? While their video game division produces triple-A titles such as the Metal Gear series, their slot machine division created a slot that was quite simple in appearance.

Despite the fact that the art is uninspiring, it is rendered in almost exclusively unappealing shades of each color. With the exception of the reel spins and a flashing line to signal a win, there is hardly little animation to speak about in this game.

There is no musical soundtrack, and only the most basic sound effects are used, which do little to enhance the ambience or tone of the slot machine’s environment. The Ode to Joy is activated after the free spins, but it comes much too late and is far too little. Furthermore, German classical symphonies are incompatible with the aesthetics of East Asian countries.

As a consequence, the beginning of this slot is ugly and does nothing to maintain the interest of its viewers.

Gameplay

A total of thirty fixed win lines are available on the five reels and three rows of the China Mystery slot machine.

In addition, there is just one bonus, which consists of free spins, and no gamble function in this game (see below).

As a result, the gameplay is really simple. Whereas other slots use this to their advantage, in this case it just serves to reinforce the impression that not much thought was put into the player’s experience when this slot was designed.

Wilds, bonuses, and free spins are all included in this game.

The Wild symbol may be used to replace any other symbol on the reels, although it does not show on reel one.

When three or more Bonus symbols appear on the reels, a Free Spins bonus is triggered, awarding eight spins for three symbols, ten spins for four symbols and fifteen spins for five symbols. Additional bonus symbols result in even additional spins, and they may appear during the Action Stacked Wilds bonus feature as well as other times. It is also possible to win more free spins over the course of the Free Spins round itself.

Any earnings the player accrues throughout the free spins round are multiplied by two.

Before beginning to play the free spins, the player is given the option of accepting the free spins they have just won or accepting a randomised one-time Credit Win, which is comprised of a random award starting at 40 times the player’s wager per line and increasing in value.

Players may use this option at any time while they still have more than 20 free spins remaining on their account. Despite the fact that the randomised rewards are lowered in proportion to the amount of Free Spins the player has remaining.

Bet sizes, return on investment (RTI), and variance

This game has a return to player percentage of 96.10 percent. Our standard for average is around 96 percent, so this falls within that range.

There was a wide variety of bets available on the site we tested, ranging from a minimum wager per spin of $/£/€0.30 up to a maximum stake per spin of $/£/€75.00. A reasonable spread that is unlikely to be a problem for players with a variety of bankroll amounts.

Our slot machine techniques, which rely on high volatility, do not work well with this game because of its low volatility.

Conclusion

China Mystery is a game that is both boring to look at and much duller to play. It has very nothing to recommend it, and the average return on investment (RTP) does little to make up for the game’s numerous flaws.

Because of the low volatility, this game is of limited use to players who want to employ our recommended techniques.

This is a time period that we do not suggest.

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