Chinese/Asian Slots

Chinese & Asian Slots Overview

Chinese and Asian-themed slots are one of the most deeply established and consistently played categories in UK online casino lobbies. The genre draws on the visual language of East Asian culture — imperial dragons, golden koi fish, jade ornaments, red lanterns, cherry blossoms, fortune coins, and zodiac symbols — and translates that rich iconography into reel mechanics spanning low-volatility fixed-payline classics through to extreme-variance Megaways and cluster-pays titles carrying five-figure max win ceilings. In 2026, the category remains among the most technically diverse in the UK market, with credible entries at every volatility tier from studios including Pragmatic Play, NetEnt, and Microgaming, making it equally accessible to cautious recreational players and dedicated high-variance bonus hunters.

Best Chinese & Asian Slots Ranked

Top Chinese & Asian Slots by RTP & Max Win

Dragon Tiger Luck

Dragon Tiger Luck from Pragmatic Play leads the Chinese category on its balance of RTP and prize architecture at 96.50%, applying a hold-and-spin mechanic where dragon and tiger coin symbols lock in position during a three-respin sequence that resets each time a new symbol lands. A jackpot overlay delivers Mini, Minor, Major, and Grand prizes through full or partial grid fills, while a dragon multiplier modifier scales all accumulated coin values when it lands alongside the respin sequence. At high volatility, the mathematical expectation concentrates almost entirely in the hold-and-spin round. UK players familiar with Pragmatic Play’s cash-collect format across other themed categories will find Dragon Tiger Luck one of the most mechanically refined Asian-themed applications of that established model.

Feng Shui Kitties

Feng Shui Kitties from Booming Games is the medium-volatility RTP leader in the Chinese ranked table at 96.74% — the highest standard return rate in the category. It runs a cluster-pays engine where groups of matching lucky cat symbols pay regardless of grid position, pairing naturally with a free spin round that introduces a multiplier trail climbing with each consecutive cluster win. The 1,500x ceiling is modest against the high-variance entries above it in the table, but the combination of the category’s highest RTP, above-average hit frequency, and consistent bonus delivery makes Feng Shui Kitties the most bankroll-efficient Chinese-themed slot for UK players who prioritise return rate and session consistency over prize ceiling scale.

Sakura Fortune

Sakura Fortune from Quickspin is a high-volatility Japanese-themed slot built around a samurai warrior wild mechanic where the character symbol expands to fill entire reels and triggers a series of re-spins each time it appears on the grid. At 96.60% RTP and a 3,375x ceiling, the expanding samurai wild is the game’s sole prize delivery mechanism during the re-spin feature — the frequency and positioning of wild expansions determining the session outcome entirely. The cherry blossom and feudal Japan visual setting is among the most visually refined in the Asian-themed slot category. UK players who enjoy expanding wilds slots with a character-driven narrative will find Sakura Fortune one of the most polished examples of that mechanic applied to an Asian theme.

Dragon Kingdom

Dragon Kingdom from Pragmatic Play is a high-volatility Chinese slot built on a fixed-payline engine with a free spin round where wild dragon symbols carry attached multiplier values between x2 and x5 that apply to all wins they contribute to during the feature. At 96.49% RTP and a 3,750x ceiling, the multiplied wild system during free spins drives the majority of the game’s total prize value, with multiple multiplier wilds landing simultaneously producing the session’s highest returns. The imperial dragon and jade palace symbol set is among the most recognisable in Pragmatic Play’s Asian-themed catalogue. UK players who want a character-driven multiplier wild structure within a well-supported high-volatility Chinese title will find Dragon Kingdom widely available across UKGC-licensed casino lobbies.

Prosperity Fortune Tree

Prosperity Fortune Tree from Pragmatic Play applies the studio’s hold-and-spin cash-collect model to a Chinese fortune tree theme, with golden coin symbols styled as traditional Chinese cash discs locking in position during a three-respin sequence. A four-tier jackpot overlay — Mini, Minor, Major, and Grand — awards prizes through full or partial grid fills, with a fortune tree modifier adding coin values to adjacent positions when it activates during the respin round. At 96.47% RTP and high volatility, the mathematical expectation concentrates almost entirely in the hold-and-spin sequence. UK players who want a direct companion to Dragon Tiger Luck within the same studio’s Asian catalogue will find Prosperity Fortune Tree a structurally consistent alternative with a botanical rather than dragon-and-tiger visual framework.

Lucky New Year

Lucky New Year from NetEnt is the medium-volatility Chinese slot in the ranked table from the genre’s most technically credible studio, built on a 5×3 fixed-payline engine with a free spin round featuring stacked wild lantern symbols that cover full reels when they land during the bonus. At 96.35% RTP and a 1,000x ceiling, the session profile is steady and accessible without demanding the bankroll depth of Pragmatic Play’s high-variance Chinese entries. The Chinese New Year celebration aesthetic — red envelopes, dancing lions, fireworks, and lantern imagery — is delivered with NetEnt’s characteristic visual polish. UK players who want a medium-volatility Chinese slot with a clean stacked wild structure and an above-average RTP from a major UKGC-trusted studio will find Lucky New Year a reliable session choice.

Jade Emperor

Jade Emperor from iSoftBet is a high-volatility Chinese mythology slot built around an expanding reel mechanic that adds extra rows to the grid during the free spin round — starting at 5×3 and expanding to 5×7 as scatter symbols accumulate during the feature, increasing the number of active paylines and the probability of simultaneous multi-row symbol combinations. At 96.10% RTP and an 8,000x ceiling — the highest in the ranked table — the expanding reel structure delivers progressively larger payouts as the feature develops. UK players who want the Chinese category’s highest max win ceiling within a structurally distinct mechanic that no competing Asian-themed title replicates will find Jade Emperor a uniquely positioned high-variance option.

88 Fortunes

88 Fortunes from SG Digital is the medium-volatility Chinese heritage title in the ranked table, built around the lucky number eight’s significance in Chinese culture — eight reels configured in a non-standard layout, eight jackpot prize tiers delivered through a hold-and-spin sequence, and eight as the game’s numerological design principle. At 95.50% RTP and a 2,000x ceiling, it sits at the lower end of the return rate table, but its cultural specificity and instantly recognisable Chinese good luck iconography — jade charms, golden fish, red envelopes, and the fu character — make it one of the most thematically immersive medium-variance Asian slots available at UKGC-licensed UK casinos. UK players drawn to cultural authenticity over mechanical complexity will find 88 Fortunes a distinctive session choice.

How Chinese & Asian Slots Work

Core Mechanic Explained

Chinese and Asian slots do not share a single mechanical structure. The East Asian cultural aesthetic — imperial motifs, fortune symbolism, dragon and phoenix iconography, and festival imagery — functions as a thematic layer applied to whichever reel engine a studio selects for a production. Two Chinese-themed titles placed side by side in the same casino lobby can deliver entirely different session experiences despite sharing nearly identical visual vocabularies.

The most common format in the category remains the fixed payline 5×3 grid with wins forming left to right across a defined number of lines, typically between 10 and 30. This structure underpins Lucky New Year, 88 Fortunes, and most of the legacy Chinese titles that built the genre’s UK presence during the 2000s and 2010s. It is mechanically transparent, produces clear spin-by-spin feedback, and suits low-to-medium volatility configurations where session consistency is the design priority.

From that base the category has expanded along several technically distinct branches. Hold-and-spin cash-collect mechanics entered the Asian genre through titles like 88 Fortunes and have since been refined by Pragmatic Play in Dragon Tiger Luck and Prosperity Fortune Tree, introducing jackpot overlays and modifier symbols that elevate the respin sequence beyond the standard three-respin coin-lock format. Expanding wild character mechanics in Sakura Fortune and Dragon Kingdom introduced wild symbols that either cover full reels or carry attached multiplier values during free spin rounds. Expanding reel mechanics in Jade Emperor dynamically increased the grid size during the free round, producing an escalating ways-to-win structure not found in fixed-grid Chinese titles. Cluster-pays engines in Feng Shui Kitties replaced payline logic with adjacency detection on a non-standard grid, pairing naturally with tumbling mechanics and multiplier trails. Each format carries a distinct volatility profile and prize character that determines the session experience more decisively than any cultural visual element does.

Signature Features & Bonus Rounds

The Chinese and Asian genre has developed a set of bonus mechanics that recur across studios and titles, drawing on the theme’s cultural symbolism of fortune, luck, and abundance to create feature structures that feel thematically purposeful.

Hold-and-spin jackpot rounds are the genre’s most prevalent signature feature in the modern UK market, reflecting the deep cultural association between Chinese imagery and monetary fortune symbolism. Gold coin, cash disc, or ingot symbols trigger a three-respin sequence where previously landed symbols hold position and value while remaining reels spin again. Jackpot overlays — typically four-tier structures delivering Mini, Minor, Major, and Grand or Mega prizes — reward full or partial grid fills. Modifier symbols including dragon wilds, fortune tree activations, and multiplier discs interact with the accumulating coin values to produce prize outcomes beyond what the standard coin-lock format can deliver.

Expanding wild character mechanics appear across the Asian genre’s medium-to-high volatility tier, with dragon, samurai, phoenix, and jade emperor characters expanding to fill entire reels or applying multiplier values to adjacent wins during free spin rounds. Sakura Fortune’s samurai expanding wild respin chain is the clearest example — the character fills a reel, triggers three respins, and each additional wild landing resets the count, producing a chain of wild-covered reels that drives the session’s highest prizes.

Free spin rounds with multiplied wilds operate in Dragon Kingdom and similar Pragmatic Play titles, where wild symbols carry attached multiplier values between x2 and x5 that scale all wins they contribute to during the feature. Multiple multiplier wilds landing on the same spin multiply their values together rather than adding them, creating prize events that scale multiplicatively under optimal wild configuration.

Expanding reel mechanics in Jade Emperor dynamically grow the grid height during the free round as scatter symbols accumulate, starting at 5×3 and expanding to 5×7. Each grid expansion increases the active payline count and the probability of simultaneous multi-row symbol combinations, producing a bonus round that increases in mechanical value as it progresses rather than operating at a fixed grid size throughout.

Cluster-pays with fortune multiplier trails in Feng Shui Kitties introduce a side meter that fills as cluster wins accumulate during the free round, triggering increasingly valuable multiplier stages as the meter progresses. This creates a bonus structure where extended run length within a single feature trigger delivers escalating expected value per spin.

Common Features Across Chinese & Asian Slots

Several visual and functional features appear consistently across Chinese and Asian titles regardless of the underlying engine. Wild symbols styled as imperial dragons, jade emperors, golden phoenixes, or lucky cat characters substitute for all non-scatter paying symbols and commonly expand, stack, or carry multiplier values during bonus rounds. Scatter symbols typically take the form of gold ingots, red lanterns, jade tokens, or yin-yang symbols and trigger the primary bonus round when three or more land simultaneously. Lucky number eight — culturally significant in Chinese numerology as a symbol of prosperity — appears as a structural element in several Chinese-themed titles, influencing reel configurations, jackpot tier counts, and free spin allocations. Red and gold colour palettes are near-universal in the category, reflecting the cultural associations of those colours with luck and fortune in East Asian tradition.

Chinese & Asian Slot Mechanic Types at a Glance

Chinese & Asian Slots by Volatility

Low Volatility

Genuinely low-volatility entries are the smallest tier in the Chinese and Asian genre in 2026. The category has developed a structural bias toward medium and high variance, reflecting a market where the most widely distributed Chinese titles — Dragon Tiger Luck, Prosperity Fortune Tree, and Jade Emperor — all operate at high volatility. Players who want a low-risk Asian slot experience should look at older fixed-payline titles from studios outside the main provider groups or at medium-volatility entries operated at conservative stake levels.

The most accessible low-risk entry in the Chinese category’s current UK market is the original 88 Fortunes format, which runs its hold-and-spin jackpot mechanic at medium rather than high volatility and delivers regular small prize returns from the base game alongside the occasional jackpot-tier respin event. Players exploring a new casino lobby for the first time using a £1 minimum deposit will find that the medium-volatility Chinese titles in this guide provide the widest session coverage per pound and the most informative read on how a casino’s lobby performs before committing a larger bankroll.

Medium Volatility

Medium-volatility Chinese and Asian slots balance hit frequency against meaningful prize potential without demanding the patience or bankroll reserves required by the high-variance segment. This tier is smaller in the Asian genre than in most other themed categories, but it contains some of the most technically sound titles for UK players who want the genre’s cultural aesthetic in an accessible session package.

Feng Shui Kitties leads the medium-volatility tier on RTP at 96.74% — a figure that places it among the highest-returning medium-volatility titles across any themed category at UK casinos. Its cluster-pays engine and fortune multiplier trail deliver active sessions with above-average hit frequency alongside a free round that provides genuine upside without extreme cold phase risk. Lucky New Year from NetEnt sits at 96.35% RTP with a clean stacked wild structure that is immediately legible and requires no prior knowledge of complex modifier systems. 88 Fortunes occupies the lower end of the medium-variance tier, providing cultural depth and thematic authenticity alongside a hold-and-spin jackpot structure that delivers milestone prize events at intervals compatible with medium-volatility bankroll management. Players who enjoy the free spins slots format across multiple themed categories will find the medium-volatility Chinese titles in this tier trigger their free rounds frequently enough to make free spin bonus allocations genuinely useful for session evaluation.

High & Extreme Volatility

The high-volatility segment is where the Chinese and Asian genre’s most technically ambitious and widely distributed titles operate. Pragmatic Play’s hold-and-spin entries — Dragon Tiger Luck and Prosperity Fortune Tree — concentrate prize delivery almost entirely in the respin jackpot round, making base-game patience the primary practical requirement. Dragon Kingdom and Sakura Fortune deliver high-variance free spin rounds where the density of multiplier wild and expanding wild landings during the feature determines the session outcome, with base-game hit frequency in the 19–21% range producing extended cold phases between meaningful bonus events.

Jade Emperor is the genre’s ceiling-chaser, combining high volatility with the expanding reel mechanic to produce a 8,000x max win ceiling that no other mainstream Chinese-themed title in the ranked table matches. The expanding grid during the free round creates conditions for wins that a fixed-grid Chinese title cannot replicate, and the escalating ways-to-win structure as the grid grows means the bonus round increases in expected value as it develops. UK players who regularly engage with the high-volatility Asian category at elevated stakes should explore VIP bonuses at their chosen casino — the dedicated cashback rates and enhanced reload terms available through VIP programmes are particularly valuable for absorbing the extended cold phases that characterise high-variance Chinese hold-and-spin and expanding reel play.

Chinese & Asian Slots by Volatility & RTP

Chinese & Asian Slots by Provider

Pragmatic Play dominates the high-volatility Chinese segment more decisively than any competing studio, with Dragon Tiger Luck, Dragon Kingdom, and Prosperity Fortune Tree covering the category’s hold-and-spin jackpot and multiplier wild tiers from a single provider portfolio. NetEnt holds the medium-volatility Chinese space with Lucky New Year’s clean stacked wild structure. Quickspin’s Sakura Fortune is the strongest independently positioned high-variance entry from outside the major studio groups. Booming Games occupies the medium-volatility cluster-pays niche with Feng Shui Kitties’ RTP-leading return rate. iSoftBet’s Jade Emperor provides the category’s highest max win ceiling through its expanding reel mechanic. SG Digital’s 88 Fortunes remains the most culturally specific and thematically authentic medium-variance Chinese title in wide UK circulation.

Provider Breakdown

New Chinese & Asian Slots in 2026

The Chinese and Asian slots pipeline in 2026 reflects a category where Pragmatic Play’s hold-and-spin jackpot format and NetEnt’s stacked wild free spin model have become the two dominant template types, and where most new releases sit clearly within one of those two mechanical traditions rather than departing from them. The volume of new Chinese-themed releases is high — the category’s cultural breadth and commercial appeal across both Western and Asian player markets makes it attractive for studios to produce at scale — but genuine mechanical innovation is concentrated in a small subset of those releases.

What is genuinely new in 2026 is the emergence of zodiac-cycle progression mechanics in Chinese-themed titles that introduce a twelve-symbol Chinese zodiac wheel as a persistent session modifier. Several 2026 releases from Pragmatic Play and independent studios use the zodiac wheel to award session-arc modifiers — a different enhancement for each zodiac symbol activated during a session — creating a form of rotating buff system where the active zodiac animal determines which modifier type applies to the current base-game spins. This is structurally distinct from standard free spin and hold-and-spin formats because the modifier type changes across a session rather than remaining fixed, producing a different playing character each time a new zodiac symbol activates. Some 2026 Chinese releases also introduce shared dragon jackpot networks connecting multiple Asian-themed titles from the same studio to a pooled prize structure that accumulates faster than isolated single-game jackpots.

What is a reskin: any 2026 Chinese slot running a standard 5×3 grid with 20 fixed paylines, a scatter-triggered free spin round with stacked dragon wilds, and a static x3 multiplier during the bonus is mechanically identical to Chinese-themed releases from 2012 onward. The enhanced imperial palace backdrop and updated dragon animation do not alter the underlying prize structure. UK players should check the mechanic description, RTP, and max win figure in the specific game’s paytable before committing a session budget to any newly released Chinese title — if those figures are indistinguishable from titles already available, the playing experience will be too. Players who want to trial a new Chinese release before committing real money should look at whether their chosen casino offers it within a Pragmatic Play slotsfree spin promotion or a broader new-game trial offer.

Classic Chinese & Asian Slots Worth Playing

Dragon Tiger Luck

Pragmatic Play’s hold-and-spin Chinese title is the genre benchmark for UK players seeking a high-volatility Asian cash-collect entry with a dragon and tiger cultural framework. Its 96.50% RTP leads the mainstream high-variance Chinese catalogue, the dragon multiplier modifier system delivers prize interactions beyond what a standard three-respin coin-lock can produce, and its wide availability across UKGC-licensed casino lobbies makes it accessible regardless of operator choice. For UK players new to the Asian hold-and-spin format, Dragon Tiger Luck is the most technically complete and widely available entry point in the genre.

Sakura Fortune

Quickspin’s expanding samurai wild title is the high-volatility classic for UK players who want an East Asian aesthetic outside the Pragmatic Play catalogue’s dragon-and-fortune-coin visual conventions. Its 96.60% RTP is the highest of any character-expanding-wild Asian title in the ranked table, the samurai re-spin chain delivers clear and visually engaging bonus sequences, and its Japanese feudal aesthetic is among the most cinematically refined in the entire Asian-themed slot category available at UK casinos in 2026.

Feng Shui Kitties

Booming Games’ cluster-pays lucky cat title is the medium-volatility classic for UK players who want the Chinese genre’s visual identity and RTP leadership without engaging with the extended cold phases of high-variance hold-and-spin or expanding reel alternatives. At 96.74% RTP — the highest figure in the entire Chinese ranked table — and with a cluster-pays engine that keeps hit frequency elevated throughout the base game, Feng Shui Kitties provides the most mathematically efficient session profile in the category for players whose primary goal is sustained play time at maximum return rate. Just as Irish slots have their own medium-volatility cluster-pays benchmark in Golden Shamrock, the Chinese genre has its equivalent in Feng Shui Kitties.

What to Check Before You Play

RTP Versions — Why the Same Game Pays Differently

UK casinos are not required to host a single universal RTP version of any Chinese or Asian slot. Studios including Pragmatic Play and iSoftBet routinely produce multiple RTP configurations of the same mechanical game — identical engine, identical features, identical symbol set — offered to operators at different commercial rate points. A casino hosting a 94% version of Dragon Tiger Luck while a competing operator runs the 96.50% standard version is not violating UKGC regulations, but the player outcome over an extended session differs materially between the two configurations.

This matters most in high-volatility Chinese hold-and-spin and expanding reel titles where mathematical expectation concentrates almost entirely in the respin jackpot round or expanding reel free feature. A 2% RTP reduction in Dragon Tiger Luck or Jade Emperor has a disproportionate impact on the hold-and-spin round and free spin feature value relative to its effect on base-game spins — because those feature sequences deliver the vast majority of each game’s total expected return. The specific version’s RTP must be displayed in the game’s paytable or help file at any UKGC-licensed casino. Check it before beginning a session rather than relying on any external source.

Bankroll Planning by Volatility Tier

Volatility tier should determine the ratio of session bankroll to stake size before the first spin is placed. The Chinese genre’s concentration of high-volatility titles in its most widely distributed positions means that bankroll planning errors carry greater financial consequences here than in categories with a more even volatility distribution.

As a practical framework: medium-volatility Chinese titles like Feng Shui Kitties, Lucky New Year, and 88 Fortunes require a minimum of 100–200x your stake as a session bankroll. High-volatility entries — Dragon Tiger Luck, Dragon Kingdom, Sakura Fortune, and Prosperity Fortune Tree — should not be approached with less than 200–300x your base stake. Jade Emperor as the genre’s highest-ceiling high-variance title warrants 300–500x as a session fund to allow the expanding reel free spin round to cycle through its development stages meaningfully. At £0.20 per spin on Jade Emperor, a session bankroll of £60–£100 is the minimum providing a realistic probability of accessing the free round more than once and allowing the expanding reel mechanic to reach its higher grid configurations within a single session.

Hit Frequency & Bonus Trigger Rates

Hit frequency and bonus trigger rate together describe the actual texture of a Chinese or Asian slot session more accurately than the RTP figure alone. Hit frequency is the proportion of spins returning any payout at all, including returns below stake. Bonus trigger rate is how often the primary hold-and-spin round, expanding wild respin chain, or expanding reel free spin activates under standard base-game conditions.

In Chinese slots, medium-volatility titles in the 26–28% hit-frequency range produce sessions that feel consistently active even during net-losing stretches. High-volatility entries running at 18–21% produce extended non-paying or sub-stake spin sequences that are structurally expected. Bonus trigger rates across the Chinese genre run from approximately 1 in 80 spins for simpler stacked wild free spin formats through to 1 in 250 or more for expanding reel and hold-and-spin jackpot entries. At 100 spins per hour, a 1-in-200 trigger rate means the primary feature may not appear for two hours of base-game play. Understanding this before you begin prevents a standard cold phase from being misread as grounds for stake escalation — the most reliably counterproductive response to variance in any high-volatility Asian slot session.

Playing Chinese & Asian Slots Responsibly

UKGC Licensing & GamStop

All Chinese and Asian slots referenced in this guide are available through UK Gambling Commission-licensed operators. The UKGC licence mandates player fund segregation, mandatory age verification before real-money play is permitted, accurate RTP disclosure for every game hosted, and frictionless access to responsible gambling tools embedded in the account interface. Playing at an unlicensed casino removes every one of these protections and leaves no regulated route to dispute resolution if the operator mishandles withdrawals, restricts accounts without justification, or ceases operation without notice.

UKGC licensing requires operators to register with the national self-exclusion service. Any player who registers with GamStop is excluded from all UKGC-licensed operators simultaneously without needing to contact individual casinos, for a chosen period of six months, one year, five years, or permanently. Players who want to deposit via crypto should note that some operators accepting Bitcoin hold valid UKGC licences and others do not. Licence status must be verified independently before depositing regardless of what payment methods an operator accepts, as the presence of a crypto option provides no evidence of regulatory compliance.

Session Limits & Deposit Tools

Every UKGC-licensed casino is required to provide deposit limits, loss limits, session time limits, and cooling-off periods as standard account features — not optional additions. Setting a deposit limit before beginning any Chinese or Asian slot session is the most direct structural tool for capping financial exposure during that period. Deposit limits reduce immediately when lowered and require a mandatory waiting period before any increase is processed, which creates deliberate friction against impulsive limit removal during a losing session.

Session time alerts are particularly relevant for high-volatility Chinese play. The extended cold phases between hold-and-spin triggers in Dragon Tiger Luck and Prosperity Fortune Tree, and between expanding reel free round activations in Jade Emperor, can distort time perception significantly — making an hour of base-game grinding feel considerably shorter and increasing the risk of unplanned session extension beyond original budget parameters. Setting a 30-minute alert reintroduces a regular awareness checkpoint without forcing an immediate stop. All UKGC casinos are required to surface these tools during account setup — if yours does not present them during onboarding, they are accessible through the responsible gambling section of the account menu at any point.

Support Resources

If gambling is creating financial pressure, affecting personal relationships, or causing psychological distress, the following organisations provide free confidential support with no referral required.

GamCare operates the National Gambling Helpline at 0808 8020 133, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service provides structured phone and online chat counselling, peer-moderated support forums, and referral pathways into formal treatment programmes for problem gambling. GamCare’s website also hosts a self-assessment tool that helps identify whether a gambling pattern has moved from recreational to harmful without requiring a phone call to begin the process. The service is entirely free and no referral is needed.

GamStop is the fastest route to removing access to UKGC-licensed gambling sites across the entire regulated UK market. Registration takes under five minutes and the exclusion applies to all registered operators simultaneously without individual casino contact. The service is free and the exclusion period can be set for a defined term or permanently depending on individual circumstances.