Bao Shi

Bao Shi Slot Review

Inside a temple decked for lunar new year – red lacquered columns, lanterns swaying in the eaves, incense smoke drifting across the floor – Bao Shi puts almost everything it pays onto two symbols and one golden handout. That’s a bold way to build a 1,024-ways game: below the Lioras pair, this paytable is thinner than most festival slots would dare, and the whole design leans on coins and upgrades to make up the difference.

From Play’n GO, it runs on a 5×4 grid with 1,024 ways to win, a 96.2% RTP and mid to high volatility. Lioras, the golden figure watching from above the reels, collects drums and hands out coins that multiply every win on the spin. The studio’s Fu Er Dai and Prosperity Palace tread similar ground, and Legacy of Dynasties shares the dynasty styling.

Symbols and Paytable

Any matching symbols on adjacent reels from the left count, regardless of position on those reels. There’s no payline map to read. With four rows per reel, the 1,024 ways mean a full grid of matching symbols pays on every possible left-to-right combination at once.

The paytable is unremarkable at the bottom and sharpens considerably at the top, where the two Lioras symbols pay from just two of a kind while everything else needs three. The premium tier is where the theme does its work: gold ingots and gold fish sit above coin tassels and red lanterns, before the royal run of A, K, Q, J and 10 rounds things out. The paytable values for each matching combination are as follows:

• GOLDEN LIORAS: 2 pays 1x, 3 pays 2x, 4 pays 3x, 5 pays 6x
• LIORAS: 2 pays 0.5x, 3 pays 1x, 4 pays 2x, 5 pays 4x
• Gold Ingot: 3 pays 0.7x, 4 pays 1.5x, 5 pays 3x
• Gold Fish: 3 pays 0.5x, 4 pays 1x, 5 pays 2x
• Coin Tassels / Red Lantern: 3 pays 0.4x, 4 pays 0.6x, 5 pays 1x
• A: 3 pays 0.3x, 4 pays 0.5x, 5 pays 0.7x
• K, Q: 3 pays 0.2x, 4 pays 0.3x, 5 pays 0.5x
• J, 10: 3 pays 0.1x, 4 pays 0.2x, 5 pays 0.3x

The two Lioras symbols swap places depending on where you are. The plain LIORAS belongs to the base game; GOLDEN LIORAS only appears during Lioras’ Blessings and the free spins round, where it takes over as the top-paying symbol on the board.

The DRUM is the base game wild. It appears only in the base game and only on reels two, three and four, substituting for everything except the scatter. It has a second job that matters far more, which the next section covers. The GOLD COIN takes over the substituting role once features are running, standing in for all symbols except the scatter and revealing a multiplier on top.

Lioras’ Blessings

Every DRUM that lands is collected by Lioras, the figure stationed above the reels. Collecting one can award the Lioras’ Blessings feature at random in the same round, and when it hits, two things happen at once.

First, every LIORAS symbol on the reels upgrades to GOLDEN LIORAS, the game’s top-paying symbol. Second, two or three GOLD COINS drop onto the grid. The coins can’t land on top of scatters, drums or golden symbols, and they can’t substitute for the scatter.

Each coin may reveal a multiplier of x2 or x3 in the base game. Multipliers are added together and applied to every winning symbol on that spin, so a pair of x3 coins pushes a single win to x6. Because the coins substitute for all symbols except the scatter, a coin sitting in a winning line both completes the combination and multiplies it.

The upgrade is what makes the feature. A coin drop on its own would be a modest affair; turning the whole board’s Lioras symbols golden first means the multiplied win it lands on is usually the best one available. The feature is a base game event only in that sense – it doesn’t need free spins to reach its x3 ceiling, but its bigger version lives inside the bonus round.

Free Spins

3, 4 or 5 scatters trigger the free spins round, with the count scaling by trigger:

• 3 scatters award 8 free spins
• 4 scatters award 12 free spins
• 5 scatters award 15 free spins

The round opens with every LIORAS on the reels already upgraded to GOLDEN LIORAS, and they stay that way throughout. The top symbol is the only Lioras in play for the whole round. The DRUM disappears with the base game – in the round, coins and golden symbols carry everything.

Lioras’ Blessings can also trigger at random during the round, awarding three to five GOLD COINS instead of the base game’s two or three. The coins are stronger here too, revealing multipliers of x2, x3, x4 or x5, again added together and applied to each winning symbol on the spin. Three coins all revealing x5 would multiply that spin’s wins by x15.

Retriggers are unusually generous: every scatter that lands adds one free spin, with the round capped at 100. A run of scatter-heavy spins can keep the round alive long past its starting count.

Our Honest Verdict

Overall Rating: 7.1/10

Most of your time in Bao Shi is spent watching drums land and hoping Lioras is feeling generous. That waiting is the point: this is a game where one coin drop can rewrite an otherwise forgettable session, and the temple is handsome enough that the wait doesn’t sting.

The free spins round is where the design pays off. With golden Lioras locked in from the first spin, coins that stack to x15, and a retrigger on every single scatter, it’s a round that builds rather than peaks early. The weakness is everything underneath it: the paytable below the Lioras pair is thin to the point of filler, and a dry base game stretch gives you very little for your patience.

For players who enjoy a long build and a bonus round that can run, this is an easy game to like. Those who want regular returns will find the mid to high volatility a quiet temple indeed – worth lighting the incense only if you’re happy to wait for it to catch.

Bao Shi FAQs

• What is the RTP of Bao Shi?

  Bao Shi runs at an RTP of 96.2%, which sits just above the typical industry average.
• How do you trigger free spins in Bao Shi?

  3, 4 or 5 scatter symbols trigger the free spins round, awarding 8, 12 or 15 free spins respectively. More scatters mean more starting spins.
• Can free spins retrigger in Bao Shi?

  Yes. Every scatter that lands during the round adds one free spin, up to a maximum of 100 free spins in total.
• What does the Lioras’ Blessings feature do?

  Lioras collects every drum that lands. A collection can randomly award Lioras’ Blessings, which upgrades all LIORAS symbols to GOLDEN LIORAS and drops two or three gold coins carrying multipliers. In free spins the coins are worth three to five coins with multipliers up to x5.
• What does the DRUM symbol do in Bao Shi?

  The DRUM is the base game wild, appearing only on reels two, three and four and substituting for all symbols except the scatter. When it lands, Lioras collects it, and a collection can randomly award the Lioras’ Blessings feature. It appears during the base game only, so you won’t see it in free spins.
• What does the GOLD COIN symbol do in Bao Shi?

  The GOLD COIN appears during Lioras’ Blessings and the free spins round. It substitutes for all symbols except the scatter, can’t land on top of scatters, drums or golden symbols, and reveals a multiplier of x2 or x3 in the base game feature, or up to x5 in free spins.
• How many paylines does Bao Shi have?

  Bao Shi doesn’t use paylines. Wins pay across 1,024 ways, so matching symbols on adjacent reels from the left count wherever they sit.
• Who makes Bao Shi?

  Bao Shi is a Play’n GO release, joining a festival-and-fortune run that includes Fu Er Dai and Prosperity Palace.