Lucky 88 by Aristocrat – Slot Machine Review
Lucky 88 is the sort of impressive slot machine that you can’t help but want to try out, its 88x wild multipliers making the gameplay as exciting as it gets. That’s not even the only feature that is fun inside, as you will find out for yourself. It’s a game with an obvious Chinese-inspired theme, using the lucky number 8 that’s so popular in their culture. Aristocrat, a giant of the casino market, is the creator of the game.
While some things are unique and exciting, others are boring but dependable, like the standard layout with 5 reels that host 25 active lines. Unless you trigger one of the features, the game plays like any other. Features do include some exciting ones though, such as the wilds with up to 88x multipliers, the scatters, free spins or bonus games.
Betting
The standard betting range in Lucky 88 starts at $0.25 and can go as high as $50, which means that for each line you are using $0.01 to $2 wagers. The Extra Choice option takes the bet to 30 coins, giving you better free spins in exchange, with extra features active for them. The betting range becomes $0.30 to $60 then.
Lucky 88 Jackpot
On their own, the game’s best rewards will multiply your line bet by 888x ($1,776), for five of the right symbols together. Have a wild symbol appear next to the best regular symbols, and the multiplier applied by it of up to 88x will take the original payout of $176 (88x) to as much as $15,488. These multipliers are a huge part of the experience in this case, and without them the game doesn’t feel that exciting, since the regular wins are just too low.
RTP wise, the game actually ends up being a better paying slot than many coming from Aristocrat. It’s a 95.5% RTP, close to what’s expected of a modern day game.
Special Features
Aristocrat designed the game to be exciting to play, and with up to 88x wild multipliers in use, it’s obvious how they tried to do that. I’d say that they succeeded for the most part, but I’ll let you read about its offer and decide for yourself.
Emperor Wilds With Multipliers
The part that makes the slot worth playing, the wild symbols of Lucky 88 can be expected to form combinations and offer rewards as high as 888x. The best part about them is when you use them as substitutes though. They’re usable in combination with any symbols for regular wins, and they apply 2x, 3x, 5x, 8x, 38x or 88x multipliers on those new rewards.
Free Spins vs Roll Your Lucky Dice
A Red Paper Lantern, a common enough sight in a Chinese themed slot, will be your scatter and the way for you to get free spins to start. The rewards come before that though, and they vary between 1x and 188x the bet for two to five symbols.
The feature starts with a choice for the player. You pick whether you want the free spins directly, or if you’d rather get the Roll Your Lucky Dice feature.
Free Spins: if you go with the free spins, then you get one more pick, with the options being:
- 25 spins where wild multipliers are 5x or 18x
- 15 spins with wild multipliers at 8x or 38x
- 8 free spins where wild multipliers are 18x or 88x
- 4 free spins with wild multipliers always at 88x
Roll Your Luck Dice: here, you get to roll a dice three times. Each roll needs to get you a number other than 8, in order for it to be considered spent. Once you get through all three dice rolls, you get paid based on the shown matrix and the “8” numbers collected for it.
Clearly, it’s the free spins that hold the most appeal for players in this game, with those 88x wild multipliers being a big reason why the slot is popular.
Design
The number 8 gives you a very good idea on the type of theme the slot will use, as it’s the Chinese that consider it lucky. The symbols are mostly standard ones for their themed slots. Some might show the Emperor or Paper Lanterns, while others get temples, statues or drums. Even more will be showing Royals, the regular kind that get no customization to fit the theme.
Summary
Thanks to its 95.5% RTP, its huge multipliers and the free spins it offers, Lucky 88 can be an exciting release for players, and many do enjoy the experience.
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