Joker Jam

Joker Jam (Massive Studios) Review

Think about a classic slot machine with a boosted grid that instead of 3x3 covers an area of 5x5. It comes with reels filled with symbols like fruits, and BARs, and gems, and others, and all are designed in spectacular ways. This is Joker Jam, an online slot crafted by Massive Studios, a growing provider that increasingly surprises us with intriguing ideas.

Joker Jam was exclusively released at the beginning of March, while the wide release was scheduled for 2 weeks later. Massive Studios has decided to use an interesting layout and payout mechanic, which we have experienced in Bonsai Banzai - 5x5 with 50 paylines. These are the only slots in the studio’s repertoire with such design, as well as Licence to Squirrel also launched in March, but with just 15 paylines.

Joker Jam is packed with base game respins that trigger randomly, win multipliers, and a bonus minigame. The technical set includes Turbo Play, Super Turbo Play, and Autoplay features. The game is part of the Double Max series and has a special mechanic that activates through the Enhancer Modes and Bonus Buys. So far, so good, but let's check on the actual payouts!

Joker Jam Slot - Game Screen

Joker Jam is packed with 10 regular symbols, paying for 3, 4, or 5 of a kind on a payline. Lines start from the leftmost reel and continue to the right, as usual. Diamonds are the most precious with rewards of 0.50, 2x, and 5x. Next in line are Sevens and BARs - 0.30x, 1x, and 2.50x, and Lemons and Cherries, awarding between 0.20x and 2x the bet.

The low-valued gems are 5, appearing as card suits - Spades, Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds, and as Flowers. Each one pays 0.10x, 0.40x, and 1x the stake! The game features a wild symbol as well, which substitutes for all paying symbols and will help you collect more winnings. Wilds like scatters pay no direct winnings!

The Joker Jam RTP rate is 96.59%, which is impressive even with the very high levels of volatility. Keep in mind that the Hit Frequency rate is not very high, or at least it wasn't during my test. The betting range is standard for Massive Studios - €0.10 to €100 per spin, and the max win is 25,000x the bet. It goes up to a staggering 50,000x via Double Max, which is automatically activated in Bonus Buys and Enhancer Modes.

Joker Jam Features

Now, it is time to check out the goodies, and Joker Jam has plenty of them to offer. Double Max and the plenty of paylines are complemented by a couple of base game features and a powerful bonus round. Massive Studios is always inventive in this element and rarely repeats a feature in its online slots.

Re-Spin Feature

Lock & Respin is a popular feature, especially when it is part of the base game. Here, on any winning combination, the Re-spin Feature may kick in and lock all instances of the winning symbol and wilds, if any. In case more than one winning formation is at hand, only the highest-valued one will lock and trigger respins.

Respins will continue for as long as new instances of the winning symbol appear or new wins are added to the current one. The feature will end if:

• No further winning positions are added on a respin
• No additional matching symbols are added on a respin
• The grid is filled with winning symbols and wilds

During the Re-spin Feature, Joker Heads may land on the reels, and each one will add a multiplier step to the counter on the left. There are 30 multiplier steps in total, explained in the next paragraph. Scatters will be collected during the feature, and if at its end, there are 3 or more of them, the bonus minigame will begin.

Win Multiplier

Win Multiplier will be applied on all wins in the base game and free spins, and it starts at x1. Joker Heads add steps to the roller, starting with x2, x3, and reaching x1,000 at the 30th boost. When the multiplier is used on a win, it will reset back to x1 during the base game. Win Multiplier is persistent in the Free Games bonus.

Free Games

Free Spins is the main bonus of Joker Jam and starts when 3 to 8 scatters land in view at the same time, or at the end of the Re-spin Feature. Wheel of Fortune will determine whether you will get 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, or 30 free games and, depending on the scatter count, you’ll get 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, or 30 Win Multiplier stops.

The current Win Multiplier value at the Free Games entry will be upgraded with the number of steps won via the Wheel of Fortune. The bonus can be retriggered by landing 3+ scatters under the same terms as in the base game. As I mentioned earlier, Win Multiplier is progressive and persistent in the bonus.

Joker Jam Slot – Free Spins Win Screen

Buy Feature

Buy Feature is active in Joker Jam at least in the jurisdictions where these types of features are not restricted by regulators. Both the Enhancer Modes and Bonus Buys come with Double Max, which means that you can win up to 50,000x the bet. However, they also come at a price:

• Enhancer 1 - 2x the bet - 4x the chance to activate Free Games (96.62%)
• Enhancer 2 - 10x the bet - 4x the chance to activate Free Games at Maximum Entry (96.64%)
• Bonus Buy 1 - 100x the bet - get up to 30 free spins (96.59%)
• Bonus Buy 2 - 500x the bet - get up to 30 free spins at Maximum Entry (96.58%)

Theme & Graphics

Massive Studios knows how to craft a visually appealing slot game, and Joker Jam is one of the provider's best so far. The Classic theme with a modern twist is developed on a large grid framed with gold lines and multiple light bulbs. The blue-purple-pink nuances used for the backdrop are particularly nice as well.

Joker Jam comes with energetic audio effects and spectacular animation effects. The large multiplier spinner to the left adds to the overall spectacularity of the slot. The game is built on HTML5 and is compatible with various browsers and operating systems. I recommend it on the go via Chrome and in landscape mode.

Pros And Cons Of Joker Jam Slot

Our Verdict

Joker Jam is an excellent addition to the Massive Studios slot portfolio, and it already draws much attention. The provider is known for its affinity to building nice-looking games with popular bonuses and modifiers, but the Re-spin Feature is a bullseye, in my opinion. The scatter collection during the feature is also handy.

The only significant drawback that is transferred from other MS slots to this one in particular is the low hit frequency. Indeed, it gets better in certain moments, but you can't count on regular wins, especially on substantial ones. That is odd, given the usually high RTP rates, and I believe the very high levels of volatility are mixing the payouts.

When I think of frequent wins, I always remember Super 25 Stars and Super 30 Stars, where the rate reaches a massive 54%. Red Rake definitely leveled its portfolio with these titles, which, besides everything else, have incredible feature packs as well. In short, Joker Jam has plenty to offer, including spectacular vision, thrilling features, a high RTP, and a massive max win even without the Double Max!