Wild Wild Joker: Slot Overview
Jokers, those bendy-hatted, mischievous characters, are one of the more recognisable faces in the slot game, and developer Pragmatic Play has played a large role in keeping the trend alive. Joker Jewels Hot, Joker Jewels Cash, and Joker's Jewels Wild are but three previous examples, and the studio has busted the joke book out once again to design Wild Wild Joker. As well as bringing out a familiar theme, the team has brought out familiar features in the form of a Money symbol collection feature and a bonus round where retriggers award collection multipliers à la Big Bass Bonanza.
A shiny wild joker scene greets players as they enter Wild Wild Joker. The location has been constructed as if participants have to make their way to their seats in a theatre, unsure whether to bare crotch or butt to those who have already sat down. Curtains have been pulled closed on the stage, behind a harlequin character and a diamond-shaped gaming grid. It's all very sparkly and fruity; it's a joker slot, so we probably shouldn't expect something freakishly unique from the visuals.
One eye-catching object on the screen is Wild Wild Joker's 3-4-5-4-3 matrix. A ways to win pay system built in means the matrix provides 720 ways to create winning combinations. Winning combinations can be formed from left to right and from right to left. 96.49% is the default RTP value when betting 20 c to $/€240 per base game spin, rising to 96.5% when using the ante bet. Using the ante bet increases the chance of triggering free spins while also increasing the stake by 50%. Players should be aware of Wild Wild Joker's highly volatile math model before entering the show.
Big top fonted 10-A card ranks are the low pays, granting 0.4 to 1 times the bet for a 5 OAK winning line. Oranges, grapes, apples and cherries make up the premium pay symbols, awarding 1.5 to 10 times the bet for a 5-of-a-kind winning line. Critical to the game, wild symbols hit on all reels except the middle reel, substituting for any symbol except the free spins scatter.
Wild Wild Joker: Slot Features
Wild Wild Joker's features are a Money symbol collection event, free spins, super free spins, and bonus buys.
Money Symbol Collection
Money symbols may appear on any reel showing a value of 0.5x to 100x the bet. Whenever wild symbols hit on reels 1 and 2 or on reels 4 and 5, alongside adjacent Money symbols on reels 3, 4, and 5, or 3, 2, and 1, respectively, forming win ways in both directions, the values of all connected Money symbols to the wilds are collected. Think Wild Wild Riches Megaways, but both ways.
Randomly, when wild symbols hit on the leftmost or rightmost reel, 1 wild symbol in view may transform into a Boost Wild or a Respin Wild. Boost Wilds increase the value of all Money symbols to the next higher possible value, except for Money symbols that already have the highest value. Respins Wilds respin all reels without wilds on them once.
Free Spins
Scatter symbols appear on the middle reel only. Hitting wild symbols on reels 1 and 2 or 4 and 5, as well as a scatter on the middle reel, triggers 8 free spins. If wilds hit on reels 1, 2, 4, and 5, and the super scatter is on the middle reel, then 10 super free spins are awarded.
During the feature, when combinations of wilds land on reels 1 and 2 or reels 4 and 5 for 3, 6, 9, or 12 times, then +4 free spins or +5 super free spins are awarded, depending on the round. After the 4th retrigger, the feature cannot be retriggered again. At each retrigger during super free spins, a multiplier of x2, x3, x5, and x10 is progressively awarded, applying to Money symbol collections.
Buy Free Spins
Players may buy the free spins round for 100 times their bet or the super free spins feature for 250 times their bet.
Wild Wild Joker: Slot Verdict
There are definite Big Bass connotations taking place in Wild Wild Joker, though the gameplay is a teensy bit different. For instance, Pragmatic Play has employed the way wild symbols must land on specific reels in order to collect specific Money symbols the way it did in Wild Wild Riches and Wild Wild Pearls. It's not a simple case of hitting a wild symbol anywhere in view then collecting all of the cash values present. One compensating factor which comes with this method is that Money symbols can be collected in all phases of play, compared to Big Bass, where free spins are the only place this may occur.
Shelf filler with a twist-ish was the impression Wild Wild Joker gave off. Parts of it were so familiar that Wild Wild Joker could have easily been released with a bass theme, though for some, chesty joker lady optics will be preferable to staring at fish while reeling cash prizes in. Cash prize wins might be the main goal for chasing down the 5,000x cap, but in between them, having a win ways system on a diamond-shaped grid, paying both ways, might be preferable to hitting matching pay symbols over a limited number of paylines.
Maybe, maybe not, but either way, when it comes to choice, it's not like Pragmatic Play & CO didn't already have a huge galaxy of Money symbol collection slots primed and ready for gambler consumption. Ah well, casino game makers love slinging new slots out the door, Pragmatic Play more than many, which at least partially explains why games like Wild Wild Joker, an okay, though not wildly original nor wildly exciting slot, make it to the market.
Wild Wild Joker adds a small twist to Pragmatic Play's Money collection formula, but its familiar mechanics and lack of originality keep it from standing out.
