Chests of Cai Shen Slot Review
A misty southern-Chinese river valley, pagodas on both banks, and three lidded chests bolted to the roof above the reels. Chests of Cai Shen makes its paytable almost irrelevant on purpose: five of the best symbol returns just 2x the total bet, because the real game happens up on that roof, where collected coins quietly decide when everything pays. Strip the chests away and you’d have one of the thinnest 25-line games going. Leave them in and you have a slot where every spin banks something towards the next round.
Pragmatic Play have run this river before, with Chests of Cai Shen 2 and Chests Of Cai Shen – Infinity already on the bank. This one runs on a 5×3 grid with 25 paylines, high volatility, a 96.47% RTP and a 10,000x maximum win, with bets from 0.25 to 250 per spin.
How the Base Game Pays
Wins pay left to right across the 25 fixed paylines, with only the highest combination counting on each line and multiple line wins added together. The wild is a red character symbol that substitutes for everything except the bonus coin and money symbols. That’s its whole job, and it does it without ceremony.
The paytable is on the thin side for a high volatility game. Values are multiples of the total bet:
- Man (red robed figure): 0.08x for two, 0.2x for three, 0.6x for four, 2x for five
- Frog: 0.2x, 0.4x and 2x for three, four and five
- Turtle, Rooster, Fish and A: 0.2x, 0.4x and 1.2x for three, four and five
- K, Q, J and 10: 0.08x, 0.2x and 0.6x for three, four and five
Even a full line of the best symbol returns just twice the total bet. The base game isn’t where the money lives.
It’s the engine that feeds the chests, one coin at a time, while the paylines mostly cover the cost of the trip.
The Three Bonus Coins and Their Chests
Three colours of bonus coin can land on any spin, and each one is collected into its matching chest on the roof at the end of that spin. Collection alone doesn’t guarantee anything. Any coin, once collected, can randomly trigger the Chest Respin feature, and when it does, one, two or all three modifiers are applied to the round at random.
- Green coin, the PROSPERITY chest: can trigger the feature with a modifier that upgrades the value of up to three coins on screen by a random amount
- Red coin, the DOUBLE chest: can trigger the feature played across two grids of 5×3 symbols
- Purple coin, the LONGEVITY chest: can trigger the feature with one extra respin, up to a maximum of four, resetting every time a new money symbol lands
The colours are the game’s real decision. A round that fires with all three running is a different animal from a solo trigger. Since the triggering coin’s colour only shapes the odds of which modifiers join in, every drop into a chest carries a little suspense of its own.
The Chest Respin Feature
When the round starts, the normal symbols fade away and only blanks and money symbols remain on the strips. Any bonus coins on screen when the feature triggered are transformed into money symbols carrying the same values they had in the base game. You start with three respins, or four if the purple modifier is along.
Every money symbol that lands sticks until the end of the round. Each time at least one hits, the respin count resets to three, or to four under the purple modifier.
The round ends when the respins run out or every position on screen is filled. At the end, all money values are added together and paid. The money symbols take their values from a fixed set:
- Cash values from 0.6x up to 30x the total bet
- MINI at 10x the total bet
- MINOR at 20x the total bet
- MAJOR at 150x the total bet
- GRAND at 5,000x the total bet, awarded only when every position is filled
The modifiers change what a round can reach. Green upgrades up to three on-screen coins after respins, so a sparse board can climb. Red doubles the board itself, running two grids side by side, each starting with the transformed coins from the trigger.
Purple simply buys more attempts at the reset. That’s the difference between a round that dies on the third blank and one that keeps breathing.
Buying the Bonus
Two buys are on offer, and they differ in more than price. The cheaper one gambles on the modifiers; the expensive one doesn’t.
- Buy Chest Feature at 50x the total bet: triggers the Chest Respin round with one, two or three modifiers hitting at random on the triggering spin, running at 96.46% RTP
- Buy Triple Chest Feature at 100x the total bet: triggers the round with all three modifiers guaranteed, running at 96.48% RTP
The RTP difference between the two buys is a rounding error, so the choice comes down to whether you want the certainty of the full modifier set. For a game whose best rounds depend on modifier stacking, paying double to remove the lottery is a defensible call.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
Playing this is mostly watching three chests on a riverbank take on cargo, one coin at a time, and liking it. That slow banking is the whole reason to be here: even a losing spin moves something on the roof, and any collected coin might be the one that opens the round.
At its best the modifiers genuinely change a round rather than decorating it, and a full board with the GRAND stacked on top is a serious outcome for a 5×3 grid. The cost is everything between rounds. Line wins rarely cover the waiting, and with high volatility on top, the valley goes quiet for long stretches at a time.
It’s for builders, not chasers – players who enjoy the creeping sense that the next coin matters will settle in happily on this river. Anyone who measures a session in frequent hits will find the water runs slow here, and no line win will make up for it. When the counter finally climbs back to four, though, the whole pagoda is worth the wait.
Chests of Cai Shen FAQs
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How does the Chest Respin feature trigger?
Bonus coin symbols in green, red or purple are collected into their matching chests at the end of each spin. Any collected coin can randomly trigger the Chest Respin feature, with one, two or three modifiers applied at random to the round. -
What does each bonus coin colour do?
The green coin’s PROSPERITY modifier can upgrade the value of up to three money symbols on screen. The red coin’s DOUBLE modifier plays the round on two grids of 5×3 symbols. The purple coin’s LONGEVITY modifier starts the round with four respins instead of three, resetting to four whenever a new money symbol lands. -
Can the Chest Respin round retrigger?
Not in the usual sense. The round continues as long as respins remain, and every money symbol that lands resets the counter back to three, or to four with the purple modifier. Filling every position with money symbols is the only other way the round can end, and it awards the GRAND. -
What is the GRAND prize and how do you win it?
The GRAND pays 5,000x the total bet and is awarded only when every position on the screen is filled with money symbols during the Chest Respin feature. It’s added on top of the summed values of all the money symbols. -
Can you buy the bonus on Chests of Cai Shen?
Yes. The Buy Chest Feature costs 50x the total bet and triggers the round with one, two or three modifiers at random, running at 96.46% RTP. The Buy Triple Chest Feature costs 100x the total bet and guarantees all three modifiers, running at 96.48% RTP. -
What is the RTP of Chests of Cai Shen?
The RTP is 96.47%. The bonus buys run at almost identical figures: 96.46% for the standard buy and 96.48% for the triple buy. -
Is Chests of Cai Shen high volatility?
Yes, it’s a high volatility game, meaning payouts land less often on average but the chance of a big win in a short session is higher. -
What is the maximum win on Chests of Cai Shen?
The maximum win is capped at 10,000x the bet. If a Chest Respin round reaches that total, the round ends immediately, the win is paid and all remaining respins are forfeited.
