Joker’s Jewels Slot Review

We took a break from looking at Pragmatic Play slots for a few weeks, but given that they are one of the most prolific providers in the interactive gaming sphere, we decided to revisit them. In our quest to review their highest quality products, Joker’s Jewels came up as Pragmatic’s current fifth most-played title. Released in March of 2018, Joker’s Jewels was not a smash hit right out of the gate. Its rankings were all over the place for the first two years of its existence. Even almost touched the 2000 spot at one point. It was not until February of 2020 that this game entered the top 100. However, it quickly exited this elite company, plummeting again in the rankings before making its triumphant debut in the top 30 in March of 2020.

Theme & Design

Court jesters or fools were entertainers of the medieval and Renaissance eras employed by noblemen to amuse their guests. They were also itinerant performers who captivated common folk at markets and fairs. Their acts consisted of singing and telling stories, while some also did magic tricks and acrobatics. They did all this while dressed in eccentric clothing that featured bright colors. The term joker became associated with these entertainers through the playing card found in modern French-suited card decks. It was an American invention that came about during the Civil War, created as a trump card for Euchre, a trick-taking game.

The joker in this slot falls in line with its standard card representation, one with a fool’s hat and a ruffle. The visuals here are vibrant, bright and they seem to emulate a physical slot machine. The display imitates a tabletop device, with a flashing pay-table at the top and rotating reels that stop starting from the leftmost one. The game mixes 2D and 3D elements and features annoying carnival-like music and arcade-like sound effects. In all honesty, all this is in line with older physical machines. So, Joker’s Jewels remains truthful to its theme.

The button configuration is the standard Pragmatic one that this provider has been using for the last few years. The spin and auto-spin buttons are on the right side of your screen, along with the bet-adjuster. The info, mute, and settings options are on the left, and the credit/bet/win information is in the middle of the semi-transparent panel at the bottom of your screen.

Specs & Gameplay

Joker’s Jewels is a five-reel, three-row slot with only five available paylines. The bet sizes here range from five cents up to $25. It is a medium variance reel-spinner with a slightly above average RTP of 96.5%. The max exposure is a disappointing x1,040 your stake. The game awards win when you hit three to five matching symbols on a payline from left to right.

The low-paying symbols here are a circle-shaped gem, a blue octagon, a diamond, and two jester shoes. Landing five-of-a-kind from any of these will win a reward of x40 your stake. The high-paying tokens are three juggling sticks, a lute, and the joker himself. If five matching lutes or juggling sticks appear on the grid on a single spin, you will win a prize that is worth x200 your stake. The joker is five times more valuable than these two, as he pays x1,000 for five-of-a-kind.

A crown is the Bonus symbol here, and it does not get you entry into any extra mode. It only provides a reward of x250 for five of its instances on the grid. It also comes with the caveat that it pays regardless of where it lands.

Bonus Features

Well, here is a shocker. There are no bonus features in Joker’s Jewels. Pragmatic Play has decided to keep things super simple, only incorporating elementary slot gameplay.

So that you do not feel cheated out of this section of the review, we will provide you with a bit of trivia. The first slot machine with a bonus game was 3 Bags Full by Aristocrat Leisure Industries. However, the first one on US gaming floors was Reel ‘Em by WMS in 1996. Before 1994, all reel-spinners featured simple mechanics and few paylines such as this one.

GOSU Verdict

If you are an absolute newbie, this game is a decent place to start. It will teach you the basics of slot gameplay. Its goal is to reproduce the experience you would get by playing a machine on a casino floor. It does that job just fine. Going by our analysis, we believe that the surge of interest in Joker’s Jewels stems from it getting featured on platforms that target female players. As women mostly prefer sticking to simpler spinners. We cannot find another explanation as to why this simplistic title recently shot up the rankings. We do not have anything overly dismissive to say about this slot. It does what it sets out to accomplish and is something different from the usual Pragmatic Play offer. If you are a veteran, you should stay away from this one.

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