The Chinese New Year begins today on January 29th and marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It also marks the end of the Year of the Dragon and the start of the Year of the Snake, the sixth of the twelve animals that make up the Chinese zodiac calendar.

So with a new Zodiac Year upon us, can we expect to see a deluge of slots dedicated to this theme? It’s no secret that Chinese-themed slots are massive in the industry and you’ve probably seen dozens of dragon slots in the past year, even perhaps without realising it was the Year of the Dragon.

However, dragons are much more marketable than snakes. The giant, mythical creatures have a certain allure to them that makes them enchanting, no matter where they are. Whether they’re in a popular online slot game or a painting, they’re a crowd pleasure… But snakes?

Snakes might need a better PR team, because they’re not a particularly popular animal in the West. They’re seen as deceitful and some people are even scared of them. Would it be fair, then, to miss out on new snake-themed slots to celebrate the New Year?

Will we see plenty of snake-themed slots in 2025?

Although we’re not seeing as many Chinese New Year-themed slots as we did last year, we’re still seeing a few of them being released in time for the celebrations! So don’t expect to see the library of your favourite US online casino to be flooded with these legless creatures, but you’ll be able to find one or two.

What snake-themed slots have been released already?

Some of the biggest slot providers in the US have already released snake slots to celebrate the Chinese New Year today. Let’s take a look at the hottest snake-themed slots available in the US.

Floating Dragon Year of the Snake

The Floating Dragon Year of the Snake slot is made by Reel Kingdom, the slot provider behind the Big Bass franchise. This studio previously released Floating Dragon in 2021, but has created the seasonal sequel for this year’s lunar festivities.

Floating Dragon Year of the Snake is a 5x3 slot game that’s fairly simple in its gameplay mechanics. There are 10 paylines and you’ll need to land three to five matching symbols from left to right to win. The base game offers up to 200x the stake for wins, while the bonus game has Wilds which can return up to 5,000x the stake.

If you land three scatters, then you’ll enter the mini-game feature. This offers you free spins as a standard, but the snake will also pick an additional modifier, which will one of the following: Coins will increase the odds of the money symbol appearing; the Lady will increase the odds of the Wilds symbol appearing; Dynamite, Snakes and Firecrackers increases the odds of random modifiers; Level Up will start you in the minigame on level two; and Free Spins will give you an extra two free spins.

Wild Cobra Riches

The Wild Cobra Riches slot by Spinomenal is another simple slot game created to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The reels are on a 5x4 reel, although these can expand if you land enough Wilds symbols (calling it Wild Cobra Riches was no coincidence, it seems!).

This slot game has 20 paylines and RTP ranging between 89.53% and 95.78%, depending on what gameplay features are live on the reels. As well as the Expanding Wilds, you can also win up to 50 free spins and re-spins.

Sakura Riches 60

The Sakura Riches 60 comes from BGaming and offers a soft and demure take on the Chinese New Year slot trend. The popular US online slot is painted in muted watercolor hues and the symbols are beautifully presented.

The Scatter symbol here is the Snake, which is a subtle way to include the Year of the Snake celebrations in the game without being too overt with it. The other symbols include Lotus Flowers and Lanterns.

The reel is a 5x4 grid with 60 paylines and unlike many of the other snake-themed slots, Sakura Riches 60 is a low-volatility title. This means it’s going to offer more wins, but often at much lower stakes.

Conclusion 

There aren't nearly as many snake-themed slots as previous Chinese New Year animals, so it seems like the snake isn't exactly set for a popular year in slots in 2025. There's no knowing whether there might be some more released later in the year, and if there are, you now know why!