With a rich cultural history to draw upon, Orient and Asian slots capture the imagination; from imperial China to beautiful Geisha to modern-day cityscapes, there’s plenty of treasure to uncover.
When we talk about Oriental slot machines or slots with an Asian flavour, it’s mainly focusing on the countries in Far East Asia.
So China, Japan… OK, it’s mostly China and Japan.
But that’s not to say that if you live in Vietnam, visit the Pearl of the Orient, or have trekked through Cambodia, you won’t recognise some of the themes in these beautiful-looking Asian slots.
Isn’t that the point of a good slot theme? To take you away from the day-to-day drab of your living room and take you to somewhere beautiful and exotic?
There’s a reason Oriental phone slots have proven to be one of the most popular casino themes around.
Plenty of different aspects of this culture fire the imagination, from its rich history to its modern influences on the world and popular joyful festivals to bring a smile to your face.
Choose between Japanese or Chinese slots
Why China? Why Japan? To be honest, most gaming studios play it safe. There’s a reason why there’s a whole load of slots for St Patricks Day – it’s a worldwide recognised festival.
And so, of all the cultures in the Orient, China and Japan rule because China and Japan are the ones that everyone knows.
It helps that Macau is a bigger gambling mecca than Vegas, Atlantic City, Tokyo or London, with millions of Chinese citizens and tourists crossing the bay from Hong Kong.
There’s a saying in China, “If you don’t gamble, you don’t know how lucky you are”, and that fits nicely with our slot game themes: if you don’t play, you won’t know how much you love the far east.
With lots of lucky symbols, lucky numbers, and stories of good fortune, why wouldn’t you love a good Chinese slot based around ancient Emperors, the number 8, and mystical folklore full of dragons and gods of prosperity?
Then there are Chinese New Year slot games, which we’ll get to in a moment. Needless to say, there are plenty of wonders and good fortune to be found in these beautiful slot machines.
Where once you could only find Sushi and Dim Sum in the mini china towns of capital cities, now you get takeaway directly to your door from most good size towns; as the world gets smaller, so we become more fascinated with the great cultures from the east.
Japan brings the modern edge; from Manga to anime and Kawaii slots
The Land of the Red Dragon may have more Oriental video slots to its name, but the Land of the Rising Sun has far more modern fares.
Japanese slot themes are based less on luck, good fortune, and its ancient past and more on ideas that spark the imagination.
Fearless Sumos go head to head in a battle to get your attention from the Samurai and Ninja slot games that bring Imperial Japan to life.
But it’s a modern culture where you see the biggest influence of Japanese casino-themed slots.
From games like Moon Princess, which is a riff on the Sailor Moon anime series, to Koi Princess that takes the manga styles and creates its own folklore, or even the Tokidoki slot by IGT that goes full Kawaii.
Online Japanese slots make us wish we could be strolling down the streets of Kyoto, with the cherry blossoms in full bloom, as we head to the nearest Hello Kitty store for souvenirs for the whole family.
Modern Japanese culture is a crazy mix of ancient tradition and a colourful alternative lifestyle you’ll only find in one place.
It makes for some very creative and unique Japan-based slots that can be about schoolgirls, J-Pop, K-Pop, Geishas and Honour… or all at once.
There are lots of Journey to the West slots
We can’t mention Oriental or Far East slots without discussing the most famous folklore: Monkey or the Journey to the West book.
This legend has strong roots in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology, and Taoist and Buddhist philosophy.
So, of course, it’s a good source for a mobile slot machine… right?
OK, fine, it might not seem like an obvious choice until you realise that this book has a monkey king that fights with a magical staff and flies around on a cloud.
Add some monks, a friar and a pig man, and you have the perfect recipe for a little imaginative play.
And whilst many literature graduates will probably frown at us for comparing such an immense literal genius as such, it’s essentially the most famous fairytale or mythology in China.
In Europe, we have tales of little girls wearing red hoods and having poor memories of their grandmother, and so we create Fairytale games or ancient Greek gods slots to bring back our biggest well-known tales.
So Journey to West has the same, if not more, of an influence on Chinese Literature. And whilst making slots about Mao Zedong or Confucius would be of poor taste, we’re sure the Monkey King would nod his head at us for making a few choice casino bets in his name.
Our favourite Monkey Journey slots are:
- Wins of Fortune by Quickspin
- Legend of the Golden Monkey by Yggdrasil
- More Monkeys by Lightning Box Games
Celebrating Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival
More than any other subject, the most popular Chinese slot theme has to be Chinese New Year, otherwise known as the Spring Festival.
With over 4,000 years of history, the holiday begins on the second new moon after the winter solstice and ends 15 days later.
Every year, you can be guaranteed that the game studio providers will release one or two games based on this famous festival.
Much like Easter slots or Christmas slots, you get a couple every year added to the list, making the list of Chinese New Year gambling games abundant.
Which is, at heart, what this festival is all about: originally meant to pray to the gods for fortune and a good harvest, now it’s about wishing those around you wealth, luck, health and family.
From the bright lanterns to the red envelopes full of cash to colourful fireworks, this is a once-a-year celebration celebrated worldwide.
Mostly, of course, everyone knows that this is all about the Chinese Zodiac: the year of the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, or Pig.
Every year has its own characteristics and is lucky or unlucky depending on your zodiac.
That idea of luck, the festivities, and those beautiful dragon slots create powerful imagery that beautifully fits those 5 or 3 reels.
Our favourite Spring festival slots have got to be:
- Chinese New Year by Play’n GO
- Gong Xi Fa Cai by IGT
- Zhao Cai Jin Bao by Playtech
Why is the number 8 so lucky?
In the west, you’ll see the number 7 as a classic symbol in a slot machine, especially in fruities and 3 reel slot machines.
Not so much with Oriental games, where you’ll notice many slots have the number 8 featured within them.
8 is the luckiest number in Chinese culture because it sounds like 發 (fa), which means wealth, fortune, and prosperity.
This makes multiples of 8 even better, and not just because it’s more is better. 88 bears a resemblance to 囍 (shuāng xǐ), which stands for ‘double happiness’.
Who, when gambling at casinos, isn’t looking for wealth, prosperity and happiness? Now you understand why the lucky number 8 has pride of place in these Asian casino games and just generally in all Chinese households.
Our favourite number 8 slots:
- Lucky88 by Aristocrats
- 108 Heroes Multiplier Fortunes by Microgaming
- 88 Fortunes by Williams
Food, Sushi, Dragons and Pandas
We’ve mentioned some of the most popular themes with Asian mobile phone slots.
But some other recurring themes that pop up from time to time are hard to ignore.
The first is food. If you know nothing about The Republic of China, the Far East or Asia, you’ll have eaten something from a country that way at some point.
It could be something as simple as a classic Chow Mein or a Pad Thai to the more adventurous sashimi and Dim Sum.
Whatever your taste, food is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and gambling is all about bringing your pleasures to the screen.
So, you’ll find plenty of sushi slots and Dim Sum novelties over five reels.
The second is the two most beloved animals in Chinese culture.
The Dragon is a symbol of power, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy. And if you are worthy, these Dragon video slots will pay out big.
And whilst you will find lots of golden koi in these Far East games, nothing is more iconic of China than the Giant Panda, with all its cuddly awesomeness.
The last symbol we couldn’t ignore is that iconic round coin with a square in the middle. It is one of the “Eight Treasures” and reflects the Chinese view of the earth as a square and the heavens as a circle. It represents wealth and prosperity.
Our favourite generic Asian-themed slots are:
- Big Win Cat by Play’n GO
- Double Happiness by Aristocrats
- Panda Pow by Lightning Box Games
- Sushi Yum Yum Extra Wasabi by IGT
- Hong Kong Tower by Elk Studios
