Gou Nian Cai Shen - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Introduction

There is plenty for players to enjoy in this fantastic 5x4 slot with 50 paylines. Packed with brilliant features, this celebration of the Year of the Dog, or Gou Nian, has massive replayability and some decent potential.

Grab yourself a win with the duplicating wilds that can randomly shift reels or trigger free spins with a special gift feature that adds more duplicating symbols or spins to your free games.

Land three Cai Shen bonus symbols and you will play the two-part bonus to pick up some useful instant wins. Play this Skywind slot demo here at Slots Temple to get to grips with all the great ways to win.

Gou Nian Cai Shen is also fully optimised for Apple, Android and Windows mobiles and tablets.

Theme, graphics & soundtrack

Asian inspired slots are enduringly popular. This is definitely one of the better examples, with gorgeous cartoon-style graphics and brilliant animations both in the base game and the bonus feature.

Taking place in a gift factory, this slot dares to be different and you won’t see the same old symbols repeated. There is a dog, of course, which triggers the duplicating symbol feature. The 11th symbol of the zodiac, dog people are determined, loyal, kind and stubborn.

There are also drums, spring rolls, dumplings and flags, all set in a wooden frame with a Chinese lantern claw that animates and drops symbols randomly on the reels. This is a fairly frequent base game feature and livens up the gameplay.

Skywind has created plenty of beautiful Asian slots, but the fun vibe of this one adds an extra level of enjoyment. There is also a charming Chinese soundtrack and some fabulous game sounds that really add to the atmosphere of this highly playable slot.

RTP & volatility

The metrics of this game are designed to appeal to most players with medium volatility and an RTP of 95.88 per cent. This is a little under the industry average but the bonus action does a lot to make up for it.

How to play Gou Nian Cai Shen

Skywind slots feature a well-thought-out user interface that makes the game setup fast and easy. If you haven’t come across this developer’s slots before, here is how to play:

1. Click the i at the left end of the user interface bar to open the paytable.

2. If you want to play the game in full-screen mode or mute/unmute the game sounds, use the icons in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.

3. Use the + and - buttons to adjust the total bet.

4. Click turbo to speed up your spins.

5. Click auto to play up to 99 autospins or until a feature lands.

6. To play, set your autospins or hit the spin button to play manually.

Enjoy playing Gou Nian Cai Shen responsibly by setting a session budget and taking frequent timeouts.

Bet sizes & paytable wins

There is a good spread of total bets in this slot, which shows the coin value of each wager. Casual players and risk-takers will find a bet at their level:

- Minimum bet: 0.50 credits per spin
- Maximum bet: 250.00 credits per spin

The paytable isn’t the richest around but there are still some good-value prizes. Payouts are calculated as multiples of your line bet and these are the awards you can expect for the maximum five of a kind wins:

- Dog pays 300x
- Lion pays 250x
- Pictogram pays 200x
- Drum pays 150x
- Rockets pay 125x
- Dumplings pay 100x
- Spring Rolls pay 90x
- Lantern pays 80x
- Flag pays 75x

Max-win 300x

Volatility Medium

Top RTP 95.88%

Bonus features

We really like the selection of bonus features in this slot. They are well-balanced and feature enjoyable twists on classic gameplay:

- Duplicating wild

The fearsome dragon is the duplicating wild and randomly duplicates and shifts to reel two or three when it lands on reel four.

- Duplicating symbol

The dog is also the duplicating symbol and triggers when you land two symbols on a payline plus another anywhere on the reels. The additional symbol is duplicated and added to the payline to create a winning combination.

- Free spins

Look out for the old man symbol, as he will trigger the free spins feature with some special gifts thrown in. Land the Cai Shen symbol to earn more free spins and additional duplicating symbols during your free games.

- Bonus game

Cai Shen is the power symbol here and will also unlock the two-part bonus game. This is a simple pick and win-type game, but the animation is great to watch and you will have three choices to unwrap your presents and earn some decent instant win prizes.

Overall review: our verdict

There are some fabulous and not-so-fabulous Asian slots out there, but this one has plenty to offer players with its gorgeous graphics and brilliant gameplay. With a generous 50 paylines and compelling features, you will find Gou Nian Cai Shen is well worth playing.

Habanero has a reputation for creating interesting twists on traditional themes and we recommend its Fa Cai Shen slot with its expanding wilds, substituting symbols, free spins and tripled wild wins.

Disclaimer: Gou Nian Cai Shen trademark / license is owned by Skywind. This site is not endorsed by Skywind.