Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin: Slot Overview
Just like choosing food, clothes, or TV shows, when it comes to playing slots, gamblers possess a wide variety of tastes. Fortunately, casino game makers are more than happy to spread the net wide in order to appeal to a host of different preferences. Software provider Pragmatic Play is one with a talent for making games of differing shapes and sizes, and as part of its quest to attract retro-minded gamblers, the studio has released a number of titles under its Joker's Jewels umbrella. The series kicked off in 2018 and has just grown one slot larger due to the release of Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin, a game which expands the range, as the name suggests, with the inclusion of a hold & win round. However, fear not, minimalist fans, the bonus round in question is a basic one.
Previous Joker's Jewels slots have been like stepping back in time, and Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin is no different. It's got a faux physical look to it, as if players are seated before an actual gaming machine, about to press buttons, and not a lot else. The decoration consists of a diamond-patterned wallpaper and stacks of crown-adorned coins on either side of the screen, referencing money symbols and the hold & win round. Whilst the visuals might make players feel like they're at a betting establishment, the music has a distinct big top vibe to it, splitting the atmosphere between casino and circus.
Sticking to the spirit of simplicity, Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin makes do with 5 paylines running along its 5x3 gaming area. To its credit, some of the symbol values are quite large, and all pay left to right from the leftmost reel. This particular joker is a highly volatile one, with an RTP of 96.52% on the highest setting, and a stake range of $/€0.05 to $/€240.
Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin's pay symbols are circles, octagons, diamonds, shoes, pins, lutes, and jokers. Hitting 5 matching symbols in a winning line pays 40 to 1,000 times the bet. There is no wild; in fact, the only other symbol in the game is the money symbol.
Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin: Slot Features
Essentially, the only feature is a hold & spin round. Gold crown symbols are money symbols. When they land, they come with values of 0.4x to 5,000x the bet. Should 3 or more money symbols hit, then the hold & spin feature triggers after any line wins have paid. Regular symbols vanish, and only the triggering money symbols remain.
3 spins are awarded. During the round, only blanks or new money symbols may land. All new money symbols stick in place, and the spin count resets back to the original 3 when at least one new money symbol lands. The round continues until all spins are finished or all positions are filled with money symbols. At the completion, the money symbol values in view are awarded. If the screen is filled, players win 10,000x the bet.
Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin: Slot Verdict
Theoretically speaking, if you could bend spacetime strongly enough, for example, around a black hole, a path could loop back onto its own past. Whilst not a very practical solution, this is apparently allowed by Einstein's equations. Or, for gamblers with a keen interest in the past, they could simply play a slot like Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin, which has a strong retro bent to it. Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin isn't as archaic as some of its siblings, though. Joker's Jewels Wild had a couple of prize-paying scatter symbols and expanding wilds as its features, while the first Joker's Jewels had nothing extra whatsoever. Retro minimalism is the series' signature move, and Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin cleaves to this ethos with a kung fu grip, despite the inclusion of a dedicated bonus round.
Much like its predecessors, this is a slot that embraces the bare essentials and serves them up for players who prefer this angle. There are no distracting modifiers, and little to no barrage of complexity. What you see is what you get: a single feature, some chunky line win values, and a presentation that feels like a relic from an earlier era. Basically, more of the same, which should please gamblers who follow the Joker's Jewels range. The hold & win hardly encroaches on the series' simplicity since all it does is land money symbols and award their values at the round's conclusion. It does mean winning potential is quite high for a Joker's Jewels slot, capped at 10,000x the bet, but outside of filling the screen with money symbols, that figure feels like a tough nut to crack.
As in other instalments, Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin's greatest asset, its barebones stripped back nature, is also its biggest drawback - depending on what gamblers want out of the slots they play. If they crave anything remotely innovative, then forget it. Yes, retro purists get their high-volatility chase and occasional big-line pop, but beyond that? It's a dull, generic outing dressed up in a jester grin, offering little to anyone outside its tiny niche.
Joker's Jewels Hold & Spin keeps things painfully old-school, serving a flat, predictable loop that might charm nostalgia diehards but is unlikely to impress anyone else.
