Chests Of Cai Shen – Infinity

Chests of Cai Shen Infinity: Slot Overview

Pragmatic Play's Chests of Cai Shen range has reached number three, following the original Chests of Cai Shen and the sequel Chests of Cai Shen 2 with Chests of Cai Shen Infinity. By now, the formula should be familiar. There are chests linked to modifiers, Money symbols, and a hold 'n' win Chest Respin feature as the main event. All of that is back, but before setting your expectations too high, the 'Infinity' part of the title means players get four pots to throw coins at rather than three, not some infinite rabbit hole which breaks the laws of nature. While reaching number three in the series, the question is whether Chests of Cai Shen Infinity adds something worthwhile or whether it ends up squeezing another variation out of a formula that was already starting to look a bit worn.

All three Chests of Cai Shen slots have taken place in the same location, that of a dreamy Asian landscape full of traditional buildings, a lake, and misty mountains. It's a pretty view, but if players were hoping for something new to look at in the background, there isn't much of that to find. An extra chest has been set on top of the reels, increasing the number of chests and therefore modifiers from three to four. But, as you will see when inspecting the gameplay in more depth, Pragmatic Play has chosen not to spend additional effort to concoct a brand new modifier. Instead of throwing off the shackles of restraint and blasting into the unknown, as the name suggests, Chests of Cai Shen Infinity is more a consolidation of what preceded it than an outlet for original ways of thinking.

Play is conducted on a 5x3 grid, with 25 paylines, but the base game is more or less a waiting room for the hold 'n' win Chest Respin round. Players may stake from $/€0.25 to $/€250, and there are a couple of new bonus buys to check out if that's your thing. Highly volatile, the RTP is 96.5%, with lower return configurations also available.

Ten to Ace card ranks are Chests of Cai Shen Infinity's lower-paying symbols, and the rest are snakes, pigs, rabbits, bulls, and Cai Shen symbols. Royal wins are worth 0.8x to 1.2x for 5 OAK, or 1.2x to 3.2x is paid when landing 5 matching character symbols. Wilds land on all reels except the leftmost and substitute for all regular paying symbols.

Chests of Cai Shen Infinity: Slot Features

In the base game, 5 types of Bonus Coin symbols may land. Coins are collected by their corresponding chest on top of the reels.

• Green Bonus Coin - When collected in the Prosperity chest, it can randomly trigger the Chest Respin feature with a modifier that upgrades the values of up to 3 coins on the grid by random amounts at the end of random respins.
• Blue Bonus Coin - When collected by the Fulfillment chest, it can randomly trigger the Chest Respin feature with the Multiplier Fulfillment modifier. Four zones appear on the grid, with a random multiplier of x2 to x100 assigned to each zone. When a zone is filled with Money symbols during the round, the values of Money symbols in the zone are multiplied by its multiplier.
• Red Bonus Coin - When collected in the Double chest, it may randomly trigger the Chest Respin feature with the Double modifier, where the feature is played on two 5x3 grids. Triggering Bonus Coins are duplicated on each grid, transformed into Money symbols.
• Purple Bonus Coin - When collected in the Longevity chest, it may randomly trigger the Chest Respin feature with the Longevity modifier, which awards 4 respins rather than 3.

The fifth Bonus Coin is the Quad Bonus Coin. When it lands, it is collected in each of the four chests. Each collection can randomly trigger the Chest Respin feature with 1-4 modifiers. Bonus Coin collection happens at the end of the spin. If the Chest Respin feature is triggered, 1-4 modifiers are triggered randomly.

Chest Respin Feature

Only blanks or sticky Money symbols may land during this feature. Money symbols are worth 0.6x to 30x, or they award the Mini (10x), Minor (20x), or the Major (150x) prize. The Bonus Coins that were on the grid when the feature triggered transform into Money symbols when the round starts. Three respins are awarded, and these reset when new Money symbols land. When there are no more spins left or all positions are filled, the round ends and the Money symbols are awarded. If all positions are filled, the 5,000x grand is also awarded.

Feature Buys

Paying 200x buys the Chest Respin round, with the Fulfillment feature guaranteed and at least one x100 multiplier on the grid. For 750x, players can buy the Chest Respin round with all four modifiers guaranteed and at least one x100 multiplier on one zone of each grid.

Chests of Cai Shen Infinity: Slot Verdict

The Chests of Cai Shen range is like someone visiting the one and only cafe they patronise and ordering the one and only drink they get off the menu. Except instead of making a heart-shaped pattern on top of the latte, there's a tulip instead. Squint, and it's tough to tell the three Chests of Cai Shen slots apart, and even when diving deeper to uncover the mechanics, much of what's here finds itself in repeat territory. A key difference between Chests of Cai Shen and Chests of Cai Shen 2 was that the sequel removed the Prosperity Chest and replaced it with the Multiplier Fulfillment modifier. Instead of swapping something out of the sequel and wedging in a new modifier, Pragmatic Play has instead just added the Prosperity box back. Maybe it was missed.

Basically, Infinity is more of the same thing, really, beefed up by a few side alterations. One of the biggest shake-ups is that it is now possible to have up to four modifiers active at once instead of the customary three. That's not a bad thing; the more the merrier and all that, but it might have been more interesting if at least one of the modifiers was an original piece. Having an extra modifier has had no effect on the max win, since Infinity matches the 15,000x cap found in Chests of Cai Shen 2. The goal remains the same too - land as many Coins in the bonus round, complete zones to trigger the attached multipliers, and ultimately fill the grid to benefit from the Grand prize added on top. Even the bonus buys mirror what Chests of Cai Shen Infinity had to offer, though they're more expensive now since there are more modifiers.

In short, if you liked where the Chests of Cai Shen series had been heading in the past, chances are good you'll like this one as well. Just don't expect any wild and crazy reinventions. Three-pot slots remain popular, but after reviewing this one and Microgaming's Moonlight Romance Twilight recently, there's a sense that even game developers are getting bored with the format and are tinkering with pot numbers to make things interesting. Did it work? Chests of Cai Shen Infinity is probably fine for certain gamblers - those who couldn't get enough of the previous two games, for example, but it's a fairly mid-range slot that falls short of what its grand name suggests.