Long Pao Slot Review

Long Pao by NetEnt – Slot Review

Long Pao is an Asian themed video slot from NetEnt that takes me straight to the Imperial Palace and the last imperial family of the Qing dynasty. The game runs on a 5 reel, 3 row layout with 25 fixed paylines and comic styled visuals. Traditional music and sound effects sit in the background and, while the presentation looks quite simple at first, the slot hides a fair bit of potential.

I have played Long Pao on both desktop and mobile and the experience is practically the same. The interface is clear, spins are quick, and the sticky features keep the base game moving. It feels like a classic NetEnt release aimed at the Asian market, using that comic book style to keep the theme light while the maths model does the heavy lifting in terms of excitement.

Slot Metrics for Long Pao

From a numbers point of view, Long Pao comes with a 96.96% RTP and what I would call medium variance, though some descriptions lean towards low dispersion. There are 25 fixed lines, wins pay from left to right, and you can stake from 0.25 up to 250 per spin. The maximum win reaches 3000x your total bet, so the game can deliver decent swings and a rich gaming experience when the features line up.

Paytable & Paylines in Long Pao

The paytable in Long Pao mixes classic card symbols with characters from the imperial court. On the low side you have J, Q, K and A royals, all given an Asian twist that fits the Qing dynasty setting. Higher up sit the sword, princess, empress, prince and emperor. There are 25 fixed paylines in play at all times and winning combinations form from left to right only.

The emperor is the most valuable regular symbol on the reels. Lining up five emperors on a payline pays 40 times your total stake, and that becomes really interesting once sticky wins and free spins multipliers come into play. The rest of the character symbols fill the middle ground nicely, so a screen packed with court figures can already push the balance up without even touching the top end of the paytable.

Symbols and Paytable

Symbol	Quantity	Payout
	Wild
	5	x40
	4	x6
	3	x2
	5	x12
	4	x4
	3	x2
	5	x10
	4	x2
	3	x1
	5	x8
	4	x2
	3	x0.6
	5	x5
	4	x1.2
	3	x0.6
	5	x4
	4	x1
	3	x0.4
	5	x3
	4	x0.6
	3	x0.2
	5	x2
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	5	x1.6
	4	x0.4
	3	x0.2
	Scatter

Special Symbols in Long Pao Slot

Long Pao uses a couple of key special symbols that drive the gameplay. The wild is a Chinese hieroglyph symbol for Long Pao, related to the dragon robe. It appears on reels two to five and replaces any regular icon to help complete winning lines. The scatter is a dragon marked Free Spin, and this one is central to both the sticky win respin mechanic and the main free spins feature.

Bonus Features in Long Pao

The core feature in Long Pao is the Sticky Win, which I see as the heart of the slot. When you land a winning combination with three or more matching symbols on a payline, or hit the right scatter setup, those symbols lock in place and the remaining reels respin. If new matching symbols land, they stick as well and another respin is awarded, creating a chain of growing wins.

This Sticky Win mechanic continues until no new matching symbols land or the entire grid is filled with the winning symbol. It might sound straightforward, but during play it adds a lot of tension, especially when emperors or high pay symbols are involved. Even basic line wins suddenly feel more meaningful because a small hit can grow into something far better over a short sequence of respins.

Free spins in Long Pao are tied to the scatter and Sticky Win system. When you land at least three scatters, the sticky sequence starts, and collecting five or more scatters triggers the free spins round. Depending on how many you lock, you can get from 5 up to 30 free spins, and every win in the bonus is tripled. A full screen of emperors during this phase is the route to that 3000x payout.

Gameplay and Experience on Long Pao

In regular play, Long Pao feels like a mix of classic spinning and more modern sticky mechanics. I usually start with a moderate stake and let the base game run, since even without the bonus round the sticky wins can string together some decent returns. Wins are not constant, but the feature frequency is high enough that I rarely feel like I am just spinning dead for long stretches.

The betting range makes Long Pao suitable for most bankrolls, from cautious players to those happy to push higher stakes. I like that you do not need complex decisions once the features trigger; the game handles the respins automatically, so you just watch the screen fill up. When free spins land after a long session of sticky wins, the combination of tripled payouts and familiar mechanics gives a strong sense of momentum.

Final verdict on Long Pao

From my perspective as someone who plays a lot of NetEnt slots, Long Pao sits in that sweet spot between simplicity and excitement. The visuals are comic styled rather than flashy, but the symbol artwork and imperial backdrop fit the story of the last imperial family very well. What keeps me coming back is not the graphics though, but the way sticky wins and free spins interact with the medium volatility maths.

The 96.96% RTP, balanced payouts and 3000x max win make Long Pao easy to recommend to players who enjoy Asian themes and structured feature play. It is not a highly experimental slot, yet the sticky sequences can still produce very strong runs. For me, Long Pao remains a solid pick when I want a reliable Asian themed game with a clear paytable, straightforward rules and enough punch in the features to stay engaging.

Screenshots