Journey to the West is a pragmatic slot machine with 5 reels and 25 paylines. With a Chinese historical theme, this is the Free Spins feature that lets you get started with 5 free spins. You then have the choice to reveal which symbol becomes superimposed during the function. I would choose the Sha Wujing symbol because it gives you a 5x multiplier on your winnings.

Based on a classic ancient tale, Journey to the West is a Chinese-themed historical Slot Machine by Pragmatic Play. Available on mobile devices, tablets and desktops, this 5-reel, 25-payline game features sleek design, stacked symbols and a free spin feature where multipliers up to 5 times are offered . Play between £ 25p and £ 125 per spin.

The design of Journey to the West is superb – set in a traditional Chinese building with lanterns swaying gently in the breeze, the reels include 4 lower value letters and a quartet of historical figures featured in the book on which this location is based . These are Sha Wujing, Zhu Bajie aka Pigsy, Xuanzang and Sun Wukong aka The King of the Monkeys.

You just have to land 2 character symbols to create a winner. All symbols can land completely stacked. The Monkey King is the most rewarding, paying 100 coins if you get 5 on a payline. Standard symbols are joined by a wildcard that replaces all other symbols except the scatter – it can also land completely stacked and award gains of 10, 30, 100 or 400 coins.

The Golden Dragons symbol is the scatter symbol – 3 or more symbols, anywhere on the reels, trigger the Free Spins feature and, with it, a first campaign of 5 free spins. You will then have a decision to make – choose from one of the 4 main characters or the wild character. Additional stacks of this symbol will be added to the reels for your free spins. Each 1 offers a special multiplier when it is part of a winning combination:

  • Wild wins pay 1x
  • Monkey King wins pay 2x
  • Xuanzang wins pay 3x
  • Pigsy wins pay 4x
  • Sha earns pay 5x

If you manage to get 3 scatters during a free spin during the presentation, 3 other free spins will be added to your total. There is no limit to the number of extra free spins that you can also raise.

Journey to the West is fantastic and sounds good, with the superimposed symbols working beautifully – we found that the Free Spins feature was a hit-and-miss affair, completely missing on some occasions but hitting a lot of others . Nevertheless, we have had some interesting successes in the basic game thanks to the wild stacking. We put the variance in the middle to high range.

Journey to the West is considered a classic of Chinese literature and this version is an interesting adaptation.