Gifts of Fortune Megaways

Gifts of Fortune: Slot Overview

Gifts of Fortune is an Asian-themed online slot from Australian developer Big Time Gaming, and before launching in, it might pay to step back and take a look at the concept of the 'red packet'. Red packets, or red envelopes as they are also known, are part of a tradition practised in certain Asian countries such as China. The packets are filled with money and given as gifts during social gatherings like weddings or festive events like Chinese New Year. The envelopes are coloured red for good luck purposes and for keeping away evil spirits. In this day and age, it is also possible to send digital equivalents via mobile wallets and apps.

The reason we brought this up is because red packets play a pivotal role in Gifts of Fortune. Before we get to them, let's take in Gifts of Fortune's appearance. For it, BTG has gone all-out Asian, using a lot of reds, golds, and green hues, which often adorn these sorts of slots. Rather traditionally designed, the game grid is housed in a sloping roofed, columned building, like a pagoda, with lanterns and gold trim. The background keeps things relatively simple, made up of twirling circular objects like the bird's eye view of an umbrella, and stylistic clouds as they drift by. It's tasteful, nothing extraordinary, but clearly made with a specific type of audience in mind.

As for the active gaming area, Gifts of Fortune uses a Megaways grid, with 6 reels in the main zone, while a 4-symbol tracker reel up top spins horizontally. The number of symbols landing on the main reels can vary, so the device as a whole can provide up to 117,649 ways to win. Mathematically highly volatile, the theoretical return value remains the same at 96.29% whether betting on individual spins or buying the bonus. Wagers can be set from 20 p/c to $/€20 per paid base game round which should cater to most players.

The symbols used in Gifts of Fortune have an Asian touch while retaining a classic BTG look. More so, the low-pay 9-A card royals in this latter regard, whereas the four premium symbols are gold statues in the form of a frog, fish, turtle, and dragon. Hit a six-of-a-kind winning way to collect 0.4x to 0.5x the bet for the lows or 1x to 50x the bet for the highs. Winning ways trigger the reaction mechanic, which removes the win from the reels and replaces it with symbols from above. Reactions continue until no new win is created after a drop.

Gifts of Fortune: Slot Features

Reactions lead us to the features because when winning symbols are removed from the board, one or more Fortune Prizes will be shown. On the top reel is where Wild Red Packets may appear. Fortune Prizes are awarded for each Wild Red Packet in view on the top reel. As the name suggests, Wild Red Packets can also substitute for any paying symbol. If Wild Red Packets are not on the reel, Fortune Prizes are not awarded. When used in a win, the Wild Red Packet moves to the left on reactions. If it is in the leftmost position of the top reel, it will be removed in a win.

Treasure Pot

The Treasure Pot may reveal a multiplier of up to x10 at any time. All Fortune Prizes that are awarded are multiplied by the Treasure Pot value.

Free Spins

Gifts of Fortune has not one, but two scatters, a regular scatter and a Megascatter. Landing 3 scatters in the base game awards 10 free spins, plus 2 free spins for each additional scatter in view. If one of the triggering scatters is a Megascatter, Enhanced Free Spins are instead awarded.

• Free spins begin with a Pot Multiplier of x1. This value increases by +1 for each Wild Red Packet that occurs. This multiplier is applied to awarded Fortune Prizes. Landing 3 scatters while free spins are active awards an additional +4 free spins, plus 2 free spins for each scatter beyond 3.
• In Enhanced Free Spins, at least 1 Wild Red Packet is guaranteed to land on every free spin.

Win Exchange

When a win of 80x the bet occurs, players have the option of exchanging an amount equal to 80x the bet for 10 free spins. Or, when a win of 25 to 80 times the bet happens, players can bet the amount for the chance to win 10 free spins on a green and red wheel. Alternatively, eligible players can buy a regular round of free spins for 70 times the bet or Enhanced Free Spins for 200x the bet.

Gifts of Fortune: Slot Verdict

Like a Christmas slot, Gifts of Fortune feels somewhat geared towards a certain time of year, that being Chinese New Year. Unlike Christmas, however, Chinese New Year takes place on varying dates, and festivities last for more than two weeks. In some ways, then, there's potentially a greater window of time to get a bit of mileage out of a game like Gifts of Fortune compared to a Christmas slot. Though really, it can be enjoyed at any time of the year, especially since red packets can be given as gifts for numerous reasons. In short, there's no compulsion to play Gifts of Fortune at certain times and dates on the calendar despite red packets being intimately linked with the Chinese New Year.

As a celebration of the red packet cultural tradition, Gifts of Fortune is a rather good one. Big Time Gaming has built an enviable reputation for innovation, and while Gifts of Fortune doesn't light the sky with trailblazing ideas, the studio has seamlessly married the phenomenon of red packets with the gameplay. There's an extra thrill when a winning combination is removed from the reels since a prize amount is revealed. Presumably, this feeling mirrors the anticipation of opening one of these envelopes in real life to see what sort of bounty lies within. To collect a prize, it will have to be revealed when a Wild Red Packet symbol is present on the top reel, of course, as it's the only way to reap the reward. It's nice that it occurs in the base game as well as free spins, though, unsurprisingly, the Enhanced version has the greater desirability since every spin will drop a Wild Red Packet on the grid. Nice, too, that Wild Red Packets aren't removed when they are used in a combo (unless in the leftmost position on the top reel), remaining in view for potential use in consecutive wins.

To sum up, Gifts of Fortune has got the sort of solid stats we've come to expect from Big Time Gaming, a smart main feature, and runs like a charm. Gifts of Fortune didn't strike one as a BTG game changer of a slot, but the studio has successfully dipped its toe in a culturally minded slot and come up with a neatly designed package that should be right up the alley of players in the mood for some Asian-inspired gaming.