Mandarin Fortune Slot Machine

What is Mandarin? A Brief History of the Language

Mandarin is a Chinese language. From the perspective of most English speaking cultures, it the term most commonly referred to as the Chinese language. This is a misnomer as several different languages and dialects are spoken in China.

Mandarin dates back to 12th century A. D. where common speech was starting to emerge from local dialects among regions in Northern China. The language that came about is now referred to as "Old Mandarin".

Over the next 2 centuries, the language would experience more changes and started to be cataloged and codified. From this, "Middle Mandarin" emerged in the late 14th century.

In the 16th century, a Jesuit missionary named Matteo Ricci coined the term "Mandarin" or "language of the officials". This was based on his observation of a Mandarin dialect called Quonhoa that was used as an official language for government transactions. Mandarin was also the dialect that was used by cultured classes as well as a diplomatic language in various provinces. Based on these observations, the Jesuits created the first translations of the language into Portuguese and Spanish.

In the beginning of the 20th century, the Chinese government realized that the various dialects were problematic and sought to nationalize the language. This is when Mandarin started taking its modern form.

After unsuccessful attempts to define standard, it was realized that a single spoken form must be selected. The only realistic candidate was the Beijing-based dialect, which was adapted and developed into the modern Mandarin language.

Playing Mandarin Fortune

Mandarin Fortune Slot machines have a low buy in. You can play for as little as $0.01 per line. Since it is a 20 line game, you can play all lines for as little as $0.20 or you can place a maximum bet of up to $0.50 per line allowing for a $10 maximum bet.

To begin game play, you will start at the bottom left side of the machine. You will then choose how many lines you would like to bet on. You can choose any number of lines between 1 and 20. You will use the up and down arrows to change the number of lines you wish to play.

As these lines are selected or deselected, you will see actual lines appear across the reels to show you how the winning spins will be determined.

Once you have selected the number of lines to be played, you will then select the amount you would like to bet per line in the Line Bet section. The betting options are:

• $0.01 (minimum)
• $0.02
• $0.03
• $0.04
• $0.05
• $0.10
• $0.25
• $0.50 (maximum)

Each time you increase or decrease your wager, you will see the result in the Total Bet section. The Total Bet is determined by multiplying the Lines and Line Bet sections.

Once you have determined how much you want to bet, you have the options of spinning once or allowing the game to automatically spin for you.

You can set the feature to Auto Spin 5, 10, 25, 50 or 100 times. Once started, you can stop the spins manually by pressing the Stop button. The Auto Spin feature will stop automatically if you run out of credits, reach the maximum amount of spins that you have chosen or you trigger the bonus game.

Game Features

Mandarin Fortune contains 2 types of game play. Regular game play and bonus game play. In regular game play, you have the possibility of winning up to 750 credits per line based on a single coin bet. This translates into $7.50 for a $0.01 minimum bet or $375 for a $0.50 per line maximum bet.

The symbols on the reels of the game are mostly derived from Chinese culture, but elements of poker are also used. The symbols used in regular play are:

• The Mandarin Fortune logo symbol
• The Mandarin Lady symbol
• The Monster symbol
• The Sky Lantern symbol
• The Clay Pot symbol
• The Tea Pot symbol
• The Ace of Clubs symbol
• The King of Diamonds symbol
• The Queen of Heats symbol
• The Jack of Spades symbol
• The 10 symbol

In addition to the symbols mentioned above, 2 more symbols appear in regular game play.

The Taijitu (Yin-Yang) symbol is a wild symbol that appears only on reels 2, 3, and 4. This can be used in place of any other symbol except the scatter symbol.

The scatter symbol for the game is represented by an image of a gate with the word bonus written across the image. A combination of 3, 4, or 5 of these symbols in any position on the reels triggers the bonus round.

The most valuable symbol in regular game play is the Mandarin Fortune logo symbol. Multiples of this symbol have the highest payouts of any other symbol in regular play. This is only one of two symbols that will pay out for only matching 2 of a kind on the same line. The payouts for this symbol are:

• 5 Mandarin Fortune logo symbols

  750 credits

• 4 Mandarin Fortune logo symbols

  250 credits

• 3 Mandarin Fortune logo symbols

  50 credits

• 2 Mandarin Fortune logo symbols

  10 credits

The next most valuable symbol is the Mandarin Lady symbol. The payouts for the Mandarin Lady are:

• 5 Mandarin Lady symbols

  600 credits

• 4 Mandarin Lady symbols

  100 credits

• 3 Mandarin Lady symbols

  25 credits

The Monster symbol is the last of the higher tier symbols of the game. The Monster pays out the following:

• 5 Monster symbols

  500 credits

• 4 Monster symbols

  50 credits

• 3 Monster symbols

  20 credits

The lower tier symbols start with the Sky Lantern or balloon symbol. The Sky Lantern symbol payouts are:

• 5 Sky Lantern symbols

  250 credits

• 4 Sky Lantern symbols

  40 credits

• 3 Sky Lantern symbols

  15 credits

The next symbol is the Clay Pot symbol. The Clay pot payouts are:

• 5 Clay Pot symbols

  250 credits

• 4 Clay Pot symbols

  40 credits

• 3 Clay Pot symbols

  15 credits

The Tea Pot symbol is the final symbol that is associated with Chinese culture on the pay table. It is the only other symbol aside from the Mandarin Fortune logo symbol that pays out for only 2 matching symbols. The Tea Pot pays out:

• 5 Tea Pot symbols

  250 credits

• 4 Tea Pot symbols

  40 credits

• 3 Tea Pot symbols

  15 credits

• 2 Tea Pot symbols

  5 credits

The next set of payouts are based on playing cards. To have a winning line with these symbols you must have 3, 4, or 5 of a kind (i.e. 3 Aces). While they all pay the same, you cannot combine these symbols for a winning pay line (for example, Ace, King, Queen isn't a winner). The payouts for these symbols are:

• 5 A, K, Q, J, or 10 symbols

  150 credits

• 4 A, K, Q, J, or 10 symbols

  20 credits

• 3 A, K, Q, J, or 10 symbols

  5 credits

The wild symbol for the game, the Taijitu (Yin-Yang) symbol can be substituted for any symbol listed above to form a winning pay line.

The final symbol in regular play is the Bonus scatter symbol. The scatter symbols can appear anywhere on the reels and do not have to be one the same pay line to win (although it must appear on a pay line that has been bet on). The Bonus symbol pays out both credits and spins. The Bonus symbol pay table is:

• 5 Bonus symbols

  50 credits + 16 Free Spins

• 4 Bonus symbols

  10 credits + 12 Free Spins

• 3 Bonus symbols

  1 credit + 8 Free Spins

The Bonus Round

The bonus feature shares some similarities with the regular game. The same Chinese symbols are used and the payout values for these symbols are the same as normal play.

However, bonus play does not mimic regular play exactly.

The game automatically spins for you. This eliminates the option to select one spin at a time and to stop a spin as you would have in normal game play.

While all the Chinese symbols are used in the bonus game, the card symbols aren't. This allows for more chances to win and higher payouts.

The scatter symbol is available during the bonus round. If you get 3, 4, or 5 bonus symbols on any reel during the free spins, more free spins are added. The spins and payouts are the same as the regular game.

The wild symbol plays a dual role in the bonus game. First, as with the regular game they can be substituted for any symbol except the scatter symbol.

Second, they act as multiplier bonuses in the round. The multipliers for the Taijitu symbol are:

• 1 Taijitu symbol

  2 times or 3 times the win

• 2 Taijitu symbols

  4 times or 9 times the win

• 3 Taijitu symbols

  8 times or 27 times the win

The multiplier will depend on the position of the Taijitu(s) on the reels.

Expected Payback

Developing slot machines and slot machine software relies a lot on math and science. One aspect of the development of these games used the science of statistical analysis.

Game developers use these statistics to determine how much a person can win playing a game.

They use the results of thousands of spins over several hours to determine the maximum winning potential of a game. This is known as the expected payback.

For Mandarin Fortune slot machines, the expected payback is 95.05%. This means that for every $100 you bet, you can expect to win back $95.05.

This isn't by any means a guarantee, however. This is a theoretical percentage and is based on long term play. Short term play may lower this percentage.

Conclusion

Mandarin Fortune slot machines are a great way to play for small amounts. The maximum $10 bet will keep losses low and will allow you to play the game longer.

We did test the game and found that the bonus game is very hard to get to. Out of several hundreds of spins, we were only able to reach the bonus game a few times.

We did find that they bonus paid very well and was able to even hit the 9x multiplier once.

The game play was straightforward, but we still recommend trying out the free version before you start placing actual bets.

One point that may cause confusion for many potential players searching for the game was search engines would show results for a second version of the game: Mandarin Fortune 2.

When we went to these sites and attempted to play the game, they all came up with errors and contained a message stating that the URL was bad. It would seem that this version has been permanently taken offline.

The original version worked fine on all the sites we checked.