Moon Festival (Aristocrat) – Review & Demo Play

Moon Festival - Game Overview

Moon Festival by Aristocrat runs on a 5x4 layout with 50 paylines and a retro theme that nods to the Chinese celebrations. The base package is simple and clear, with Free Spins, Scatter symbols, Sticky Wilds and a Gamble option building most of the action. I found it plays like a classic pokie, steady in base game and leaning on the feature for the better hits. The RTP sits below average, so pacing matters when you set stakes and session length.

Symbols & Paytable in Moon Festival

On the reels in Moon Festival you get a mix that fits the theme. Top pays include the lucky rabbit, pink lotus flower, moon cakes and a banjo, with line prizes that can reach up to 75x per line. Low pays are A, K, Q, J, 10 and 9. The Chinese lady with flowers in her hair appears stacked, and when she lands across lines the returns can punch hard, up to 100x your line bet for the best setups.

Moon Festival uses the moon as the Wild, appearing on reels 2, 3, 4 and 5. It substitutes for all regular symbols and helps to finish lines. The Scatter is the Chinese lantern and shows on reels 1, 2 and 3. Landing three lanterns in view is the classic route into the feature. This mix keeps the base game readable, so you know exactly what you are hunting for when the reels stop and where the feature triggers usually sit.

Bonus Features in Moon Festival

Free Games in Moon Festival trigger when three lantern Scatters land, awarding 10 free spins. During the bonus, any Wild moon that helps a win turns sticky and stays for the rest of the round, which can stitch together tidy lines as more drops arrive. There is a chance to add five extra spins during the feature by landing a Scatter under a Wild moon once. In some sessions I also saw re-triggers for five more turns, keeping the round alive.

Moon Festival adds a couple of extras that can swing returns. In the base game, a Wild moon in a winning line can apply a 2x multiplier, so four and five of a kinds with a Wild pay far better. After any payout, the Gamble feature lets you guess a card colour to double, or the suit to multiply by four. A wrong pick ends the side game and returns you to the reels, so I use it sparingly after mid wins.

Bets, RTP & Variance in Moon Festival

Bets in Moon Festival ride across 50 lines, with wagers starting at 12.50 coins per spin and climbing to 500 coins. That maps to 0.12 to 10 credits per line, which I found workable for low and medium budgets, while still offering room to push. The published RTP is 94.76% and the variance sits in the med-high bracket. On the top end, the game advertises up to 500,000 credits, though the road there clearly leans on Free Games with sticky Wilds.

How to Play & Auto-Play in Moon Festival

How to play Moon Festival is straight, even in the demo. Open the paytable through the question mark to view symbol values and feature rules, then set your stake with the plus and minus buttons or hit max bet. Auto Spin can run up to 25 spins and uses the stake you set, so I always tweak first. When Free Spins trigger, the bet that activated the round carries through all 10 turns, which helps when you are timing stake changes.

Our View on Moon Festival

Our View on Moon Festival starts with the feel. The sounds in this pokie came across as annoying and repetitive to me, and I muted them early. Wins in the base felt thin and I watched my balance drain without much pullback for long spells. That tallies with the 94.76% figure, and it puts the focus squarely on the feature. When the sticky Wilds do their thing, the screen can stack up lines, but getting there took patience.

I did hit the extra five spins once by landing a lantern under a Wild, and that was the only time the round extended for me. The 2x Wild in base helped on the odd four and five of a kind, though it never offset streaky runs. The Gamble option doubles or quadruples cleanly on a good guess, but a bust wipes the side win, so I limit it to medium outcomes. Used carefully, it adds a bit of edge.

Overall, Moon Festival brings a retro design and joyful gameplay loop anchored by Free Spins and Sticky Wilds, with a headline chance to reach over 500,000 credits and smooth mobile play. The maths leans med-high, the RTP is modest, and that makes session control matter. If you like a classic 50 line build that rewards a patient grind into the feature, this pokie ticks that box. I keep stakes conservative and chase the bonus rather than forcing things in base.