Released on May 21, 2020 by games developer Betsoft Gaming, Quest to the West is a video slot adaptation of Wu Cheng’en’s 1592 fantasy novel “Journey to the West”. Themes: Far East, fantasy, shape shifting, Buddhism, pilgrimage, immortality, and Chinese mythology.

The protagonist is a rebellious and disgraced ex-prisoner called Monkey King (originally Sun Wukong) who teams up with a Buddhist monk in their sojourn to India (it was to the west of Ming Dynasty-era China) to get a sacred scripture. Contextually, the meter-filling Monkey King is on a west-bound expedition across the reels.

Quest to the West is one of the developer’s five Quest-branded video slots; the others are Max Quest—Dragon Stone (October 2020), Max Quest—Rise of the Mummy (October 2020), Max Quest Mission Amazon (October 2020), and Max Quest (October 2020).

Quest to the West’s rival games include Quest West (August 2020) from Rarestone Gaming, The Journey West (October 2016) from Toptrend Gaming, and West Journey Treasure Hunt (February 2019) from High 5 Games. Eleven symbols (moon goddess Chang’e, ex-general Sha Wujing, Monk Pig Zhu Bajie, dragon King, white dragon horse, lotus flower cave, A, K, Q, J, and 10) require three, four, or five winning combinations.

Quest to the West Game Characteristics
Set in a heavenly mountainous kingdom, Quest to the West’s partitioned 5X3 grid is embedded on a parchment yellow scroll with golden rods. There are 25 left-to-right fixed paylines, twelve symbols, 20 bet sizes, collectible and nudged wilds, free re-spins, no side game, and regularly pays from $0.01 to $3000.00.

Quest to the West has one special symbol alongside its eleven symbols. Special symbols: the substituting wild is a stick-carrying golden Monkey King draped in a red and green. Ordinary symbols: moon goddess Chang’e in an orange-and-yellow attire; sword-carrying and bearded disciple-cum-former general Sha Wujing; smiling Monk Pig Zhu Bajie; golden dragon king on turquoise gems; white dragon horse fitted with red harness; pink lotus cave; green-and-orange A; blue-and-orange K; red-and-orange Q; orange J; and pink-and-orange 10.

Quest to the West bet sizes: $0.02 (minimum bet), $0.06, $0.12, $0.20, $0.50, $0.80, $1.30, $1.60, $2.50, $3.00, $4.00, $6.00, $7.00, $9.00, $13.00, $16.00, $24.00, $28.00, $50.00, and $80.00 (maximum bet).

The $80.00 bet attracts these Quest to the West payouts for three, four, and five winning combinations. Moon goddess Chang’e pays $200.00, $800.00, and $3000.00. Ex-general Sha Wujing, or Monk Pig Zhu Bajie pays $120.00, $480.00, and $1600.00. Dragon king pays $80.00, $240.00, and $640.00.

White dragon horse pays $80.00, $200.00, and $480.00. Lotus flower cave pays $80.00, $160.00, and $400.00. A pays $40.00, $80.00, and $240.00. K, or Q pays $40.00, $80.00, and $200.00. And J, or 10 pays $40.00, $80.00, and $160.00.

3+ Monkey Kings unlock the “Quest to the West” re-spin, wherein the monkey dashes across the reels. In these re-triggerable re-spins, the monkey is nudged once westward. Subsequent re-spins bring the monkey closer to the cylindrical red-and-golden meter on the left. The monkeys repeatedly move leftward to the adjacent reel until, after the first reel, they turn into golden fillers; 15 monkeys are required to fill the meter, thus offering X1000—this (1000X80) is $80000.00. Quest to the West’s non-progressive jackpot is X1260.5, which (1260.05X80) is $100840.00.

The good Quest to the West software has a hamburger menu, with: a quick spin; and 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 100 autospins, with a preset “stop on win” and “maximum loss”. There are magical sounds. The animated 3D graphics include radiating sunbeam, dolly zoom, glistening, luminosity, and glitter effect.

Luck in Quest to the West
A game of chance, Quest to the West’s RTP rate is 97.53% and the house edge is 2.47%.