Houyi's Legend - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

It has 5 reels, 3 rows and 243 payways. Neither its RTP nor its variance have been published by the maker and there is no other reliable source for this information. It is based on the Chinese legend of the mythical archer Houyi. It features wilds, scatters and free spins.

Introduction

While any thematic source is of course fair game for any game developer, it’s interesting to see Iconic reclaiming the Houyi legend that we’ve previously seen used in other games and reimagining the Chinese settings of a game like NetEnt’s Legend of Shangri La Cluster Pays slot. As the company builds its reputation and wins more fans, Iconic Gaming free play slots are more widely available which makes it much easier for gamers to go down the free slots route before playing with real money. Always try before you bet is a good motto.

Houyi’s Legend has a 5-reel, 3-column grid with 243 payways. The minimum bet is 0.50 and the maximum is 250.00. There are 9 regular symbols: a phoenix, a flaming lion, snakes, a warrior, a wild boar and the 4 highest playing cards. The wild is a sun wheel at which Houyi is firing his arrow and the bonus scatter symbol is Houyi’s bow with three arrows.

Theme, graphics and soundtrack

Set on a rocky crag, the game has visuals reminiscent of a graphic novel and the primal environment is powerfully rendered. The design is generally very impressive and really comes alive when Houyi starts firing at the suns. A really good-looking game.

Houyi's Legend RTP and Variance

The makers have not provided any details of what they consider to be the game’s RTP which is therefore unknown. The variance is also unrecorded.

How to play Houyi’s Legend

1. Houyi’s Legend is played with 243 win ways. The aim of the game is to land combinations of the same symbol in 3, 4 or 5 adjacent positions across the reels, starting from the leftmost reel.
2. Clicking on either of the large minus or plus buttons will change the number in the bet indicator until you reach the one with which you wish to start playing.
3. You open the auto play and turbo mode options by clicking on the small play button at the top right. The minus button turns into the auto mode button to the left of the main play button. Click this to select a number of automatic spins from a choice of 20, 50, 100 or 300 or you can set it to spin continuously until you cancel it. The number of spins which are left will count down on the play button. If you wish to leave auto mode simply click on the number displayed at any time.
4. At the same time as the auto button replaces the minus, you will also see that a lightning bolt has replaced the plus sign. You can click on this to go into the fast play mode. Click the bolt again to exit fast play.
5. Press the play button to start the reels spinning at the bet level you have chosen. Alternatively, use the space bar to spin them. You can stop the reels at any time by pressing the play button or the space bar again.
6. The wild will replace any symbol except for the bonus symbol. The wild appears only on reels 2, 3 and 4.
7. If a wild appears on the left or right of a bonus symbol you will receive 2x the current wager amount. If a wild lands on both the left and the right of a bonus symbol you will receive 10x the current wager amount.
8. We are committed to safe gambling and support BeGambleAware. Please always play responsibly. If you decide to wager money please remember you could lose as well as win. Keep within the limits of what you can afford. When you are no longer enjoying the game you should stop.

Bet sizes and paytable wins

The bet size ranges from 0.50 to 250.00. The maximum payout is 8,925x.

The paytable symbols pay out for combinations of 3x to 5x and the highest multipliers for each symbol are as follows:

Phoenix, Lion

5 = 750

Snakes, Warrior

5 = 500

Wild Boar

5 = 250
        
Ace King

5 = 125

Queen, Jack

5 = 75

Houyi’s Legend bonus features

Free Spins Bonus

The bonus symbol appears only on reel 3. A bonus symbol next to a wild wins you 2x the bet and a wild on each side wins you 10x. It also triggers the free spins mode.

No bonus symbols will appear in the free round. 10 suns will appear in free games and after each spin Houyi will shoot down a sun. The sun will fall at random onto one of reels 3, 4 or 5. The selected reels will lock onto the wild symbol and execute the free mode 9 times.

Houyi's Legend Review: our verdict

Although the game play is fairly limited, this is a slot where the sheer strength of the graphics and animation make it a game you really shouldn’t miss. Recommended.
 

Disclaimer: Houyi's Legend trademark / license is owned by Iconic Gaming. This site is not endorsed by Iconic Gaming.