Without the Jackpot Wars feature there would be nothing new to see here, and Jinse Dao Tiger is very similar to the previously released SG title, Jinse Dao Dragon. The Cash Orb collection feature has been seen in countless games, and the math model is pretty unimpressive. You can win up to 1,000x from the bonus wheel, but the biggest cash orb offers only 200x your stake.
What makes this game worthwhile however, is the innovative and exciting Robot Jackpot Wars concept. This is something brand new in the world of online slots, and it’s no surprise that Scientific Games has decided to launch it in Asia first. Anyone interested in seeing their chosen and modifiable robot fight in a tournament to win jackpots should clearly pay attention.
Whenever you land 1 to 3 glowing orbs on the first reel, you will see the symbol expand to cover the entire reel. As the animated tiger roars on top of a big orb on reel 1, reels 2 to 5 will expand with 1 to 3 extra rows. You will now land glowing orb cash symbols on these “active” reels.
All cash orbs you land on reels 2 to 5 will be collected by the tiger orb symbol on reel 1, and immediately awarded. You can land cash orbs worth between 1x and 200x your stake, and you will sometimes trigger the feature also if you land an orb on reel 2 with no other win.
When you land 3 bonus scatters on reels 3, 4 and 5 on the same spin, you trigger the Wheel Bonus feature. You will then get 1 spin on a Wheel of Fortune, and you stand to win 6 free spins with 40 to 400 extra cash orb symbols on reels 2 to 5 during the feature. You can also win a single cash win of either 20x, 100x, 200x or 1000x your stake.
The Free Spins bonus round plays out more or less exactly like the base game. The only difference is the extra cash orbs added to the reel strips, which should increase your chances for collecting bigger wins. There is no way to retrigger the bonus round in this game.
This is a so-called Jackpot Wars slot, and you will choose your robot up front (can be changed at any time though). There is a heavy, medium and light robot, and each one comes with a unique configuration of attack, defence and shield abilities. You can even name the battle robot anything you like.
You earn gear and ticket icons when you play, and the gears can be used to upgrade your weapons and your robot via the in-game shop. Keep in mind however, that purchased items makes no difference in tournaments. The tickets you collect can get you into tournaments, where progressive jackpots can be won.
There are 4 different leagues offering tournaments, and these are the VIP league, Armoured League, Combat League and Junior League. You can see the entry price and prize pools in-game, and if you win you’ll get away with 85 % of the prize pool. The actual tournament consists of robot battles that play out automatically, and they start when at least 16 people have signed up.
We didn’t get into any robot jackpot wars in our 200 spins test session, but we managed to trigger the bonus wheel around 0:50 into the highlights video. We got 6 free spins with 200 extra orbs, and how much of a difference it made can be seen in the highlights video below.
What makes this title stick out is undoubtedly the Scientific Games innovation called Jackpot Wars. It’s no accident that most games including this concept are aimed towards the asian market for now, as they love robot wars over there. However, time will tell if robots duking it out in tournaments for jackpot prizes will become popular in the west also.
As for the game itself, the cash orb collecting feature is not exactly something new, but it comes with the twist of expanding reels and extra orbs in the bonus round. We got 200 extra orbs in our free spins round, but it didn’t seem to help much. You will find some nice animations here, but the high volatility combined with a weak 1,000x potential is not exactly a strong and attractive math model.
Pros
Cons
Jinse Dao Dragon- is a very similar game to Jinse Dao Tiger, but it’s less volatile and doesn’t come with the Jackpot Wars feature. You will collect cash orbs here too, and there is a bonus wheel where you can win up to 2,000x your stake, or trigger the free spins round.
Jackpot Wars- is an upcoming Scientific Games title where the robot battle has been included also as the theme of the game. Not all that much is known about this game at the time of writing, but it will be released very soon.
Jin Ji Bao Xi- is another Jackpot Wars title, this time from SG partner Shuffle Master. It comes with special higher value gold symbols, as well as a Fu Pot you can fill to win cash prizes. The bonus round can land you wins up to £250,000, and the volatility is more rounded than in the game at hand.