Happy Rich Year Demo Slot - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Game Theme & Storyline

Chinese New Year is the biggest and most important celebration in the social calendar. Preparations start the week before with a thorough ‘winter clean’ before houses are decorated with the traditional red lanterns. Dinner with family, setting off firecrackers and fireworks, watching parades and lion dances, and exchanging red envelopes full of lucky money are all part of the festivities, which last for an entire two weeks and end with the Lantern Festival.

As makers of superb Asian-themed games, CQ9 Gaming Slots fully capture the spirit and excitement of the New Year celebrations in this joyful slot.

Graphics & Sound

In the hands of another developer, this slot might have seemed generic and cliche-ridden, but the sheer authenticity of the graphics and sounds elevate this slot above many other Asian-themed slots we’ve seen.

The reels are packed with symbols related to the Chinese New Year, from red envelopes to a magnificent lion. You’ll also find golden nuggets known as yuan bao and a bunch of firecrackers ready to see in the New Year with a bang. Everything from the street scene behind the reels to the traditional drums bring this joyous celebration alive.

How to Play

CQ9 slots are a breeze to set up and play, with the spin button at the heart of the game controls. Click the plus and minus arrows to select your bet multiplier, or click the arrow to the left of the button itself to select autoplay and turbo spins.

To win payouts playing a 243-ways-to-win slot, you’re looking to land three or more matching symbols on adjacent reels reading from the leftmost reel, number 1. There are 11 base game symbols excluding the special symbols of the wild and scatter. Six of these are royals, and the other five are the picture symbols that carry the weight of the game theme. Look out for the wonderfully detailed lion head as five of a kind will win you 2000x your stake.

You can’t miss the wild in this game, which is a good luck pictogram in red and gold. This does the usual substitution duties for all symbols except the red lantern scatter and helps to complete new wins. Better yet, every wild win is doubled with a 2x multiplier.

Bet Sizes & Maximum Win

Slots from this developer offer players a simple and transparent staking structure. You’ll select multiples of the baseline bet that covers all 243 potential ways to win. That gives players a minimum and maximum range between 0.60 and 1500.00 credits per spin.

The maximum win available from the base game is 2000x your stake, and with multipliers available in the free spins round, this figure could push even higher. But beware: although this figure is possible, it’s highly unlikely you’ll get anywhere near this level of payout.

Bonus Features

Happy Rich Year doesn’t do anything particularly innovative when it comes to its bonus features, but they can be hugely rewarding if you hit the maximum free spins and multipliers.

Free spins: Look out for the Red Lantern scatter to trigger free spins and multiplier wins:
- Land 3 scatters for 10 free spins plus a 3x multiplier
- Land 4 scatters for 12 free spins plus a 10x multiplier
- Land 5 scatters for 16 free spins plus a 100x multiplier

Landing three, four or five additional scatter symbols during the free spins will trigger an additional 10, 12 or 16 free spins up to 100 free games.

Free spins are played at the triggering bet.

RTP & Volatility

CQ9 slots offer a slightly above average RTP of 96%, which is reasonable for a high-volatility slot like Happy Rich Year. Theoretically, players could expect a 96.00 payout ratio from a 100.00-credit wager played over the long term, with wins coming from the generous free spins.

The catch is that both RTP and volatility represent a statistical possibility rather than a guarantee of the kind of return you can expect when playing this slot. These metrics are best treated as guidelines as your personal RTP can show a wide divergence based on the frequency and bet level of your spins.

Other Games You Might Like

This developer has created a catalogue of beautiful Chinese-themed slots with exquisite graphics and authentic sounds so you can be guaranteed a superior playing experience when you opt for slots like Double Happiness and Oriental Beauty.

Asian-themed slots continue to fascinate players with their blend of good fortune and intrigue. If you like the any-ways-pays format, Caishen’s Cash has money respins and four progressive jackpots. Fu Er Dai features rich and luxurious graphics and gameplay based on sticky wilds, respins and win spins. Fai Ca Shen is another New Year-themed slot featuring expanding and sticky wilds and free spins.

Our Verdict

This is another terrific Chinese-themed slot from Asian developer CQ9 Games. Already incredibly popular in eastern markets, they’re aiming to break through in Europe and the quality of their output ensures that western players will love their diverse content.

Happy Rich Year has all the usual Chinese cliches in place, but it's done with an authenticity that breathes new life into familiar symbology. Add in the massive potential of playing 16 free spins with 100x multipliers, and this is a highly playable slot - even if you don’t get anywhere near that return.

Disclaimer: Happy Rich Year trademark / license is owned by CQ9 Gaming. This site is not endorsed by CQ9 Gaming.