JunglePop

JunglePop: Slot Overview

This might be a bit of a morbid way to start a review, but in the far distant future, when people look back at software provider AvatarUX, one line on its epitaph might well read, 'Here be the PopWins guys'. Unless the team is still upright and kicking, of course. Anyway, the studio has released a lot of PopWins slots over the years, and it shows no signs of abating. Weaved amongst the PW portfolio are the goods and the not-so-goods, but one memorable release was LooneyPop, partly on account of the reward bestowing ZapReel. So good was the game, it seems, that AvatarUX has stretched a new skin over much of LooneyPop's guts to design JunglePop.

JunglePop is set in, you guessed it, a jungle, and one populated with Amazon warrior types. Famed for their physical prowess, the Amazons of Greek mythology were an all-woman society that kept daughters and sent sons back to their fathers, whom they briefly met up with for reasons of procreation. Judging by what's on screen, they live in a dimly lit part of the jungle, or maybe it's just nighttime. Not sure, but JunglePop doesn't have the same intense, uber-lit vibrancy of HippoPop or TikiPop for a couple of jungly comparisons. Fine enough to look at, though, plus the gameplay is smoothly conducted.

As PopWins games do, JunglePop's gaming grid expands up and down like a furious accordion player manhandling their instrument. Its base game dimensions are 5 reels holding 3 symbols each, and at this size, there are 486 ways to win. This is because the game pays both ways. When pushed to the limit in free spins, 118,098 ways to win are available. Gamblers may stake 10 c to $/€40, setting in motion a highly volatile math model putting out 96% RTP.

JunglePop lands 13 different pay symbols on its gaming area, split into low, medium, and high groupings. The lows are 9-A royals worth 0.6x the stake for 5 OAK, the mediums are three animal symbols worth 1x the stake for 5 OAK, and the highs are four warrior symbols paying 1.5x the bet for 5 OAK.

JunglePop: Slot Features

First in this section is the PopWins mechanic, which removes and replaces each winning symbol with 2 symbols, increasing the row height. This process repeats as long as there are more wins. The reels can expand to 6 high in the base game or 9 high in free spins. In the base game, the reels reset to the default size for the next spin.

Zap Reel

On top of the main grid is a 3-cell reel known as the ZapReel. On each spin, the ZapReel displays special Feature Rewards that are applied to reels directly below them. The ZapReel shows a new set of rewards on each spin. The base game rewards are x2 or x3 multipliers, split symbols resulting in up to 5 of the same symbol in a cell, expand winning symbols which cover the entire reel if the symbol below is part of a win, and synched reels which synchronise 2 of the adjacent reels, landing identical symbols.

Free Spins

Increasing the reels to 6 rows high in the base game triggers 6 free spins. The reels start at 6 high, and instead of all resetting to the default size, they reset to the shortest achieved reel height. Before the round starts, players can spin the Gamble Wheel to try and win extra free spins. It is possible to win up to 18 free spins or lose the lot on the wheel.

The ZapReel always displays 3 rewards on the ZapReel in free spins. The possible rewards are x2, x3, x5, or x10 multipliers, split symbols resulting in up to 10 of the same symbol in a cell, expand winning symbols which cover the entire reel if the symbol below is part of a win, and synched reels which synchronise up to 3 of the adjacent reels, landing identical symbols.

Bonus Buys

JunglePop provides the opportunity to buy 6 free spins for 125x the bet or 12 free spins for 500x the bet. Or you can pay 125x for a spin of the Gamble Wheel.

JunglePop: Slot Verdict

It's no secret that AvatarUX has dropped and continues to drop a lot of PopWins slots onto the gambling market. So it's a bit of a head-scratcher as to why the studio felt the need to reskin one of its older games and shunt yet another one out the door when so many good ones are already available. Numbers supposedly. To be fair, the team chose an entertaining game to redo, and in many ways, JunglePop is about as fun to play as LooneyPop was. However, being a repeat performance means the wow factor has taken a knock, and the thrill of witnessing something totally brand new is absent. Still, the Amazon warrior angle is quite neat, and the visuals are pleasant to behold. However, as mentioned, JunglePop isn't as dazzling to look at as other vaguely thematically linked slots in the studio's back catalogue.

Winning potential is enormous at 50,000x the stake, and the features unfold as well as before. AvatarUX might be banking on JunglePop to pull in punters who aren't too bothered with providers churning out clones or players with an overpowering Amazonian warrior fetish, or maybe those with compulsive PopWins completist tendencies. Other than those select groupings, there isn't really much new here to get overly excited about.