Pearl Beauty: Hold and Win slot review

Playson presents Pearl Beauty: Hold and Win, a classic Chinese-themed slot with supporting characters that you’re most likely to find in an Asian pond. Confused? There’s no need to be. It’s time to wade deep into this slot.

The Name’s Pond

Kudos for Playson picking the most obscure setting for a slot ever - a Pond. While there probably is a niche for people that enjoy exclusively playing pond-themed slots, the pool of games available is going to be incredibly limited.

If soothing woodwind music and portentous East-Asian symbols are what gets you in the gaming mood, Peal Beauty: Hold and win is going to flick your switch, and then some.

Our two dynastic female leads are joined by a supporting cast of characters that include famous figures of Chinese symbolism. (Funnily enough, the Mandarin duck is not, as one might assume, a waterfowl dish cooked with citrus fruit but an actual species of perching duck native to the East Palearctic.)

Coo over the fancier-than-thou Mandarin duck, representing eternal fidelity and affection. Behold the lotus flower - the symbol of purity of heart and mind. Marvel at the mysticism of the yin-yang symbol representing Daoist dualism. Gleefully observe the golden koi, a supposed indication of prosperity and happiness. And finally, watch on as pearls, traditionally believed to be signs of change and potential land on the reels.

Beautifully designed, the symbols are looking on top, gracious form. The cobalt blue background lets the visuals down a tad - opting for a no-nonsense textured, swirl effect that you might find on the ceiling of your local curry house. Well, as Confucius once said: “Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without”.

Fishing for Features

Although championing the Hold and Win, All Pays mechanic, Peal Beauty: Hold and Win is not the life and soul of the slot party when it comes to features. There’s enough here to garner a passing interest, fleeting as it may be.

For five on any given payline, the symbols are valued as so:

• Lotus flower empress - £2.50
• Pointy-faced empress - £1.50
• Mandarin duck - £1.00
• Koi fish - £0.75
• Lotus flower - £0.50
• 9 to A - £0.15

The yin yang symbol here is cast as the wild and only appears on reels 2, 3 and 4.

Unlock the bonus round when you land 6 or more pearl symbols. During the bonus round, Free Spins reset back to 3 whenever there are 1+ pearls showing.

To keep things simple, each pearl has a value attached, clearly displayed. Holding firmly in place, the pearl bonus symbols totalise at the end of each round. Should you be graced with the golden pearl, this will in turn absorb all showing values on the grid, doubling your win in a single spin.

As a (literal) added bonus players also have the chance of taking down a jackpot prize, chosen completely at random. The in-game jackpot prize’s vital statistics are as follows:

• Mini - 20x
• Major - 50x
• Grand - 1,000x

Land one of the above symbols to take down the corresponding prize, all available in the base game

Pond Life Payouts

Medium volatility Pearl Beauty: Hold and Win has a 95.05% RTP and a maximum win potential of 1,192x, offering players a bountiful possible win of £119,200. The minimum bet is set at an affordable £0.2 and the maximum bet is £100.

A Small Fish in a Big Pond

Pearl Beauty: Hold and Win is a lacklustre effort. Sure, there’s some really pretty design here but more could have been done to create a slot with more atmosphere. Here the mood, unfortunately, falls flat as a fish.

Base game payouts aren’t enough to excite and the bonus round lacks any serious potential for engagement. With slot competition coming from multiple sides, especially from other Asian-themed slots, Pearl Beauty: Hold and Win fails in that it offers very little to players aside from some nifty illustrations and unfortunately has very little beneath the surface.