Ten Suns

Rival Gaming makes a big splash with their maximalist, Chinese-themed slot Ten Suns. This game has everything: expanding wilds, plenty of original bonus features, and a theme of epic proportions. Though the visual design is perhaps not the most modern-looking, gameplay remains smooth. Look for the wild symbol to expand in any of the four directions to trigger big wins.

Theme

This title is based on a traditional Chinese story, in which our planet has ten suns instead of one. In order to save the earth from drought and scorching heat, a divine archer shoots down nine of the ten suns, leaving only one sun in the sky, which remains there today. Gaming symbols include lanterns, gold coins tied together with ribbon, lotuses, a young woman, mustachioed man, flaming red bird, golden toad, and the game’s hero, the archer, who acts as the wild symbol. A toothsome dragon acts as scatter, red treasure chests activate a separate bonus feature, and five Chinese characters act as lower-value symbols. Eastern-style music is plucked in the background. While the grainy visuals seem well behind the times in 2017, the story comes from antiquity, so there’s something strangely appropriate about less-than-sharp digital definition.

Betting Options and Functions

Ten Suns is a complex game; nowhere is this made more clear than in its betting structure. The 25 paylines are fixed, all paying from left to right, with coins per payline adjustable from one to ten. Coin value can be set from 0.01–0.25, yielding an overall betting range of 0.25–62.50 times the betting currency per spin. Autoplay is available, and a detailed pay table explains paylines, bonuses, and the betting structure. The theoretical return-to-player is a decent 94.43

Features

This epic slot has no shortage of bonus features. The one players are likely to notice first is the archer wild: this gaming symbol, which appears only on the middle three reels, frequently makes things interesting once the reels have stopped spinning. Drawing an arrow to his bowstring, the archer can fire up, down, right, or left, leaving a string of wild symbols in the path of his shot, triggering big wins.

Next comes the Treasure Chest Pick ’N Click Bonus, which occurs during base play. When three or more treasure chests appear on the screen, players will have the chance to choose which open. Each chest contains a different amount of coins, which will multiplied by the coins staked per payline in deciding the win total.

The fierce-looking dragon is the key to free spins: three or more of this scatter symbol will award between five and ten free spins. This bonus mode resembles base play, but with an addition called the drop icon feature. Here, all symbols involved in a winning combination will vanish after payment is awarded, with the icons above them falling down to take their place, possibly triggering additional wins. This allows multiple wins (in theory, without limit) to be awarded on a single free spin.

Our Take

Rival Gaming shoots for the skies in this title, and plenty of players will appreciate that. The problem with putting everything into an online slot, though, is that with a whopping 15 gaming symbols distributed over 25 pay lines, players can come away empty-handed for long stretches at a time. In trying to give players everything they could want, it’s easy to disappoint across the board. Still, Ten Suns is worth a try, especially for players who are keen on slots with a Chinese theme.