Yakuza
login | sign up
Try slots for real money with one of these bonuses: T&Cs Apply
1 | Reels | 5 |
2. | Paylines | 20 |
3. | Progressive | Yes |
4. | Maximum coins | 20 |
5. | Jackpot | 5000 |
6. | Maximum jackpot in coins | 1000 |
7. | Multiplier | No |
8. | Scatter symbol | Yes |
9. | Free Spins | Yes |
10. | Betting range | from $0.02 up to $100 |
11. | Coin Bet Range | from $0.02 up to $5 |
12. | Coins per line | 1 |
13. | Bonus Game | Yes |
14. | Wild symbol | Yes |
15. | Payout percent | 95.87 |
The legend that surrounds the yakuza is that they were originally formed by the misplaced samurai during the industrial changes in Japan centuries ago. The Yakuza slot by Fugaso attempts to capture all of this along with their penchant for violence and influence on gambling. The graphical style of this slot is tremendous with an exceptionally high-quality style that looks inspired by certain hand-drawn approaches. The soundtrack also matches perfectly with the theme, and the gameplay is based on having a strong paytable with a good amount of balance.
Format and Layout
A pretty usual format is found with this game since it has five reels, and the symbols form three rows. There are 20 paylines in this game, but in a bit of a different move than what you'd normally see, they pay both left-to-right and right-to-left. This obviously increases the hit-rate of the game and lowers the volatility quite a bit.
The betting options don't use the typical approach of having a different number of coins per payline and a range of values for the coins themselves. Instead, players will simply choose from a range of total bet sizes for the paylines themselves that go from $0.02 to $5 each. This creates a range of total bet sizes per spin that start at the $0.40 level and that go all the way up to $100 per turn. No matter what stakes you play, you'll find a bet size that works for you with this game.
Scattered Golden Dragon
Players will find two symbols in this game that are more important than all of the others. The first is the golden dragon symbol, and it acts as a scatter in this game. This means that you'll be paid for combinations of this symbol that appear anywhere on the reels, and they do not have to appear on specific paylines or in any certain direction.
The win for five of this symbol on the reels is 4,000x. Likewise, you can win 400x for four or 40x for three, all of which are reasonable wins. The win for four of a kind is the best in the game during regular play.
Wild Boss Symbol
There is a yakuza boss who is wearing a suit and tie, and he's the wild symbol in this game. As is usual for wild symbols, he will substitute for all symbols except for the scattered golden dragon. Five of a kind of this wild on an activated payline gets you a win of 1,000x. This is the second-largest regular payout in this slot, and he's the other of the two most important symbols that you'll find on the reels.
It's important to note that because this wild appears on all five reels, and because this game pays in both directions, you can end up with situations where it counts for two different winning combinations on the same payline, one in each direction. In this case, it'll count for both on this slot. which isn't the case for all others with a similar format and wild.
Free Spins Bonus Feature
Whenever you pick up three or more of the scattered golden dragon symbol, you'll be given a set of 10 free spins. These free spins can be re-triggered during the bonus round, giving you extra value. During the free spins feature, players will also get extra value from the wild symbols. This is because they become expanding wilds (when it would create a winning combination). Getting five of the wild yakuza boss symbol anywhere on the reels will cause them all to expand and give you a win of 40,000x total since there are 20 paylines that pay in two directions multiplied by a 1,000x payout.
Other Important Wins
The female yakuza earns players 800x for five of a kind. You can also win 600x for five of the pair of pistols or five of the katana, and it only drops down to 500x for five of the cash or ninja star. The hand of playing cards gives you a 200x payout, and you can pick up 150x for five of the spade or club symbol. The hearts and diamonds pay 100x apiece for five on an activated payline.
As you can tell from how these payouts break down, the pay table is extremely balanced in this game. There are a lot of fairly large and medium-sized wins with no significant drop-off in value for the majority of the pay schedule.
Overview
The Yakuza slot by Fugaso is a great example of using strong graphics to make a game stand out among others that use related themes. The gameplay benefits from the balanced pay table and increased hit-rate from being paid in both directions, but the bonus feature could have been better. With how good this game looks, the regular gameplay is pretty good as well, but the unoriginal feature is definitely a significant weakness.