Emperor of the Sea is a Microgaming video slot themed after Chinese mythology.

Ancient China was a sea-faring nation, that projected its culture and language onto its neighbors, and many of their beliefs are spread all across East Asia, as a result.

If you are brave enough, come aboard the boat, as we are going to strike at the Emperor of the Sea. During the hunt, you will encounter stacked Wilds, free spins, rolling reels, and growing Wilds.

Emperor of the Sea introduction, including RTP and variance

The game is played on a 5×4 playing field with 88 flexible paylines. Pays are awarded by connecting three or more identical symbols in adjacent positions, starting with the leftmost reel. This applies to all symbols except for Scatters, as they can pay in any position.

The theoretical payout (RTP) for this title is 95.62%, which is slightly above the average. Emperor of the Sea has medium volatility that balances between smaller, more frequent pays and rare, but very lucrative jackpot scores.

Gameplay and paytable

Symbols are split into higher and lower-paying tiers. The lower paying icons include playing card royals – 9, 10, J, Q, K, and A all make an appearance, with slight Chinese elements added to make them fit in better.

Higher paying symbols include a red ancient Chinese ship, a red and black fish swimming in a circle, a turtle sitting on a pile of golden coins, a pot full of gold, and a sea dragon – the Emperor of the Sea after whom this release is named.

The slot’s logo is the Wild symbol and can replace any icon except for Scatters. The golden Chinese hat is the Scatter symbol, used to win a cash prize and trigger free spins.

Emperor of the Sea bonus: growing wilds + rolling reels = lots of small wins

There is only one special feature available during normal gameplay, and that is stacked, Wilds. They also appear stacked during free spins.

Three or more Scatter symbols reward eight free spins. The number of Scatters does not determine the number of extra turns, but it does impact the cash prize Scatters will reward. During free spins, both Rolling Reels and Growing Wilds become active.

The Rolling Reels feature destroys icons that were part of winning combinations, making room for new ones to appear. This allows players to chain several wins together.

Growing Wilds increase the size of Wild stacks by one Wild per spin, to a maximum of 15 stacked Wilds.

CasinoWizard’s verdict: 2 out of 5 stars

This is a slot where you spend your time alternating between having fun during free spins, and the dullness of playing without them. The other two bonuses, Rolling Reels and Growing Wilds, only appear during free spins, making them invaluable.

The continually increasing stacked Wilds, paired with winning symbols blowing up and making room for new pays, is a combination that you will quickly get addicted to. The other special feature which appears outside of extra turns is stacked Wilds which can provide a nice cluster of successive wins here and there.

Emperor of the Sea’s RTP is slightly above the average compared to other titles by the same developer. The visuals are a Microgaming standard, which feels somewhat dated. We know their artist team can produce much better-looking slots than this, but this seems to be considered a B-list game, so they did not bother. So while we enjoyed the gameplay a fair amount, we had to dock points for the boring graphics.

The medium volatility is something most gamblers will enjoy. The wins are not as great as they are with high-variance games, but the more frequent pays and special features make it more interesting to play. The largest jackpot you can win is worth 1,875x the total bet, making it quite difficult for any player to resist giving this Microgaming release a try.

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