The Silk Road Slots
Promising a precise 243 ways to win, The Silk Road is a 5-reel slot from Toptrend Gaming that combines ancient iconography with the more modern lure of online gambling. Spin the reels, match desirable symbols and pocket a lot of loot. At least that’s the plan. Whether you are successful in your objective depends largely on luck, more luck and also a dash of luck.
The Silk Road, also known as the Silk Route, was a network of trade routes that were integral to the Asian continent for centuries, bringing spices, wool, precious metals and much more from one side of the world to the other.
In more recent times, The Silk Road was also a deep web marketplace operated by Ross Ulbricht until the feds put paid to that. It lives on though through successor websites that have sprung up and proven extremely hard to quell. In The Silk Road (video slot), Toptrend Gaming have wisely elected to use the original route as the inspiration for their game.
Navigating the Silk Road
Sand and camels are the overarching themes of The Silk Road, which unfolds against a backdrop of shifting desert sands. Graphically, Toptrend Gaming haven’t exactly pulled out all the stops with this 5-reeler and it would be fair to say that it’s not the prettiest video slot you’ll ever clap eyes on.
Across the top of the screen, as is their wont, Toptrend Gaming provide quick tips on winning, with details of which symbols count as wild and scatter. For more information, click on the red PAYS button on the bottom left of the screen.
Easy Controls
All of the game controls can be found across the bottom of the screen, starting with the credit value which can range from 0.02 to 7.0. The number of active paylines, 25, remains constant, but the bet multiplier can be adjusted, ranging from 1-5. Select the Bet Max button and you’ll be able to wager a total of 125 per spin.
Below these controls is a box displaying your credit balance, while an auto spin button to the right of the main spin button allows this feature to be set between 10 and 100 spins, or until you hit the feature.
So Many Ways to Win
The Silk Road might promise 243 ways to win, but if you’re to win big bucks from this game, you’ll need to narrow your pursuit to the big symbols, the ones whose value has the power to multiply your balance exponentially.
Some uninspiring looking playing card symbols form the low level symbols in the game, with the money starting to pick up once you match 5 x camels or water jars, which are worth 5,000.
Next up is 5 x golden sceptres planted in the sand, worth 6,250, then 5 x Asian dwellings (they actually look like Chinese forts) which are worth 10,000, capped by 5 x desert merchants, worth 12,500.
The aforementioned golden sceptre, which resembles a winged insect, serves as scatter. 3 of these are worth 10 free games, 4 are worth 15 free games and 5 will fetch 20 free games. The other major symbol of note is the Silk Road map, which will appear on reels 2 or 4. It serves as a substitute for any of the other regular symbols, complete with a 3 or 5 x multiplier.
The Silk Road Summed Up
Thematically, The Silk Road is a great concept for a video slot, one whose history and association with valuable trading goods lends itself naturally to the nature of slot machine gaming.
It’s just a shame that the graphics look so lackluster. Toptrend Gaming are capable of designing beautiful, detailed slots – check The Journey West as an example – but The Silk Road just doesn’t quite cut it.
In terms of features, the game is ably equipped with wilds and scatters that appear in specific places on the reels at specific times, granting free spins and applying multipliers that crank up the value of any subsequent wins.
If the aesthetics were as competent as the game play, The Silk Road would feel more like an epic journey and less like an interminable slog.
