The last game I tried from Jili had a very mobile-centric user interface, so I expected this game to be the same. Strangely, though, that did not turn out to be the case – I guess these guys have not settled on a consistent style for their slots just yet. Golden Empire slot is a six-reel game that even describes its pay ways as “Megaways” on the paytable – that’s potentially a brave decision given that Big Time Gaming licenses that term, but I’ve always thought that was a little ridiculous myself! The actual design of this game doesn’t copy the Megaways formula anyway – it has up to 32,400 payways, an above-average RTP of 97%, and a maximum jackpot prize of 2,000x the total bet.
Feature-wise, Golden Empire employs a similar “Golden Frames” mechanic I’ve previously seen used in many games created by Pocket Games Soft (PGSoft). This machine features such frames on reels two through five – dubbed “axles” by Jili – and any winning combinations that form in positions which have a golden frame will cause those spaces to transform into wilds that can persist for several spins. One aspect of the gameplay that definitely borrows from the Megaways formula is the ascending multipliers that appear during the free spins feature, and a lucky session can easily result in your global multiplier getting high into double figures.
Interested to see what Jili can do with a many-ways style online slot? We have a Golden Empire slot demo that’s free to play below, so why not check it out.
| Provider | Jili Games |
| Reels | 6 |
| Rows | 6 |
| Paylines | 32,400 |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 1 - 1000 |
| Volatility | Medium |
| Max Win | 2,000x |
| Bonus Buy | Yes |
| RTP | 97.00% |
| Our Rating | 7.2 |
Golden Empire Casino Bonuses
Golden Empire Slot Demo
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Golden Empire Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
The “Golden Empire” referenced in this game’s title is the Inca, which was the largest empire in pre-Columbian Latin America. The Inca civilisation rose from the Peruvian highlands sometime around the early 13th century but was eventually wiped out following the Spanish conquest of the continent during the late 16th century. There have been a few attempts at creating Inca-themed online slots recently – one of the best came courtesy of Play’N’Go and was titled Legacy of Inca. That game was effectively a sequel to the excellent Legacy of Egypt, improving on the latter in several ways. That makes for some tough competition for Jili, although Play’N’Go’s game was firmly in super-high variance territory, whilst this machine is clearly targeted towards those who enjoy their games with a slightly saner risk-to-reward ratio!
As with previous games from Jili, the paytable of the Golden Empire slot is presented as a list of payouts which relate directly to your current stake. This is a very player-friendly feature, in my view, as prizes listed in coins can often give a false impression of how large your potential winnings might be. The symbols used by this machine are a little hard to describe – the most valuable of the bunch is a red mask which offers 2x the total bet for a full payway of six of a kind, followed by a purple eye with a return of 1.6x for all six symbols. The green totem offers a payout of 1.2x for a complete payway, whilst the final high-paying symbols feature a stack of rocks and a plant with blue and grey backgrounds alongside payouts of 1x and 0.8x, respectively. As for the low pays, these are divided into three groups – six Aces will net you 0.6x your bet, whilst the Kings/Queens are worth 0.4x and the Jacks/Tens 0.2x each.
I’m unsure if the betting range displayed in the free-play version of our Golden Empire slot matches exactly what will be offered when playing for real money. As it stands, it appears that the minimum/maximum permitted stakes are €1.00 and €1,000 per spin respectively, but I think it’s fair to guess that those numbers will probably be a little lower if playing in Euros, Pounds, or Dollars.
Golden Empire Slot Base Game
The playfield used by the Golden Empire slot does resemble that used by Megaways slots in many ways. There are six reels and an additional horizontal reel that only appears above main reels two through five. Where things differ slightly is that each reel can divide into just five “rows” rather than the seven, which you’ll find in most Megaways games that use the Big Time Gaming formula. This change reduces the maximum number of payways from 117,649 to 32,400. That’s still a huge number, of course, and in reality, you probably won’t notice any difference during play.
Golden Frames
Symbols landing on reels (or “axles”, if we’re going to use Jili’s preferred terminology!) two, three, four, or five can sometimes appear surrounded by golden frames. When a golden framed symbol is eliminated, it will be replaced by wild cards that can sometimes appear with a number displayed in the bottom-right corner.
Wilds can appear at varying heights, just like regular symbols, and those that display a number will become sticky until they have been included in the specified number of winning combinations. Whenever a wild features in a winning combination, the number shown in its corner will decrease by 1; when the counter reaches zero, the wild card will disappear.
Golden Empire Slot Bonus Features
Many online slots ask you to hit three scatter symbols to trigger a bonus round. Unfortunately, the larger playfield used in the Golden Empire slot increases this requirement to a minimum of four – don’t worry, though, as the bonus still seems to activate just as frequently as it does in any other game. Furthermore, if the triggering combination includes more than four scatter symbols, you’ll receive two additional free spins for each extra scatter on top of the default of eight.
Free Spins Feature
In this mode, all wins are subject to a global multiplier, increasing whenever you hit a winning combination. Winning combinations are immediately removed from the playfield, allowing new symbols to fall in to fill the resulting gaps; this mechanic means that it is possible to boost your current multiplier many times during each free spin.
The multiplier does not reset between rounds during free spins, which makes a re-trigger extremely valuable! Hitting four scatters during the free spins feature will add eight rounds to your remaining counter, plus two more spins for any extra visible scatters.
Pros
- Well-designed paytable and documentation.
- Looks great on all devices.
- With a bit of luck, huge multipliers are possible during the bonus round.
Cons
- The maximum win of 2,000x is below average for a modern online slot.
- The regular paytable wins are very small, even for a game with such a large number of payways.
Final Thoughts
Jili has borrowed elements from many other games when creating the Golden Empire slot, but the resulting machine is surprisingly well-presented and coherent. It’s a shame that the jackpot isn’t a little bit larger, but the gameplay is fun, and unlike many games with ridiculously huge jackpots, I can at least realistically imagine hitting 2,000x my bet during a lucky set of free spins!
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