Scatter-pay games are one of the hottest things in slots right now, and Pragmatic Play was one of the first developers to strike it big in the genre with their Starlight Princess franchise a couple of years ago. Since then, they’ve continued to be at the forefront of development in this exciting new category of online slot, so I was excited to discover what advances they had made in Joker Blast Bonanza – a new scatter-pay slot with a 96.40% RTP and a maximum jackpot prize of 10,000x the player’s stake.
So, how have they done? The game feels very familiar if I’m honest – wins are paid for eight or more matching symbols anywhere on a 30-position playfield, and there’s also a tumbling feature that allows you to win several times per spin. The multiplier collection feature isn’t exactly new either, although it’s certainly been expanded from what was present in Starlight Princess. Above the reels, you’ll see a meter with multiplier values that can be unlocked by exploding winning symbols – there are three multipliers available during the base game or six during the free spins. The value of each multiplier is random within specified limits, with a maximum of 15x available in the base game and a gigantic 500x offered for the most insane runs of good luck during the bonus round! If you’d rather have the 500x multiplier available at all times, you’ll need to use the bonus buy facility, which costs 100x the normal price per spin.
Even if you’re not usually a fan of fruit-themed slots, I’d still recommend giving our free demo slot of Joker Blast Bonanza a few spins – the theme isn’t particularly interesting, but I can promise you that it’s a lot more fun than it looks!
| Provider | Pragmatic Play |
| Reels | 6 |
| Rows | 5 |
| Paylines | Scatter Pays |
| Bonus Rounds | 1 |
| Bet Range | 0.20 - 100 |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 10,000x |
| Bonus Buy | Yes |
| RTP | 96.40% |
| Our Rating | 6.2 |
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Joker Blast Bonanza Demo Slot
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Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
The very first slot machines used playing cards for their symbols; the switch to fruits came later, as the companies manufacturing the machines looked to simplify their designs as part of their quest to come up with an automated payout mechanism. Not long after the first fruit-based slots appeared, jokers were added back into many games as wild symbols, eventually leading to the creation of the joker-slot genre we have today. It’s really quite surprising just how many of these games there are – Fire Joker, Dueling Jokers, and Joker Lanterns Hit’n’Roll are just three such examples, but you’ll find dozens more in our review library. As far as I’m aware though, this is the first Joker-themed game to feature a scatter-pay mechanic, meaning it plays quite differently from the other games mentioned above.
The Diamond is the highest-paying symbol on the paytable, offering a top payout of 20x the total bet when 12 or more symbols land anywhere on the reels. The Lucky Seven is next, awarding 10x for all 12 symbols, whilst the Bell and Orange offer 7.5x and 5x the total bet, respectively. As for the low pays, those are represented by the more traditional or generic fruits that you’ll no doubt have seen featured in dozens if not hundreds of other slots – you’ll receive 3x your bet for a maximum group of Cherries, 2.5x for the Grapes, 2x for a Strawberry, 1.5x for a Plum, or just 1x for the lowly Lemons. Oh, and one more thing – the Joker acts as the scatter symbol in this game and will pay you a respectable 100x the total bet should you manage to land all six simultaneously.
Pragmatic Play still allows players a relatively large amount of freedom to choose how much they wish to bet when spinning their slots. There are minimum/maximum limits of €0.20 and €100.00 per spin, respectively, along with dozens of other choices in between the two limits. Thumbs up for that one, Pragmatic Play!
Base Game & Modifiers
The design of the playfield is identical to that of Starlight Princess, with six reels of five rows each. The requirement of hitting at least eight matching symbols anywhere on the screen to receive a win also matches Pragmatic’s previous scatter-pay smash hit, but that’s roughly where the similarities end.
Multiplier Collection
Above the reels, you’ll see a meter with three locked multiplier values. The first multiplier can be 2x, 3x, or 4x and will unlock after 20 symbols have exploded. The second multiplier will be either 5x, 6x, 7x, or 8x, requiring 50 symbols to unlock. Finally, the third multiplier can be anywhere from 9x up to 15x but will only become available after you have exploded 100 symbols.
Bomb Symbols
If the requirement to explode up to one hundred symbols to receive the maximum multiplier sounded a little unrealistic to you, then you can relax – help is at hand! The bomb symbol is present on all six reels and will remain on the screen until all winning combinations have finished exploding and tumbling down. At that time, the bombs will explode, eliminating symbols in either a horizontal, vertical, or cross-shaped pattern, and those symbols will be added to your accumulated totals.
Joker Blast Bonanza Slot Bonus Features
The large playfield used in Joker Blast Bonanza is great in that it allows you to win many times from the initial symbol drop, but there is also a downside: the minimum number of scatters required to activate the bonus round has been increased to four, rather than the usual three. The number of triggering scatters does not affect how many free spins you will receive, but there is a cash bonus of up to 100x the total bet for a six-scatter trigger.
Free Spins
In this mode, the multiplier meter is expanded with six positions rather than the three available during the base game. The values available for the first three multipliers remain the same – up to 4x, 8x, or 15x, respectively, although they now require fewer symbols to activate.
The additional multipliers have maximum limits of 32x, 100x, and 500x but require 60, 100, or 225 exploded symbols before they can be unlocked. The feature cannot be re-triggered, unfortunately, so you’ll need to get lucky quickly if you are to make it to that hallowed sixth multiplier and a shot at the game’1s 10,000x maximum prize!
Bonus Buy
Having trouble activating the free spins naturally? Those living in permitted jurisdictions are in luck, as a bonus buy facility is available at 100x the normal price per spin. Unfortunately, anybody living in the UK, such as myself, will be unable to take advantage of this facility.
Pros
- The multiplier meter allows for decent wins in the base game… and huge ones in the bonus round!
- Scatter symbols have a cash payout, which is becoming rare nowadays.
- Bomb symbols add a much-needed extra layer of suspense to the action.
Cons
- Unlocking the higher multipliers can still be difficult, even with the bomb symbols.
- The 10,000x jackpot is adequate, but considering that there’s a 500x multiplier available in the bonus round, I can imagine there will be quite a few frustrated players running into this limit eventually!
Joker Blast Bonanza Slot Review Final Thoughts
I wasn’t expecting much from Joker Blast Bonanza, if I’m honest – many Joker-based games are simple three-reel slots or basic fruit slots with little in the way of special features. As it turned out, I couldn’t have been more wrong- this is, I guess, an average release for Pragmatic Play, and the developer has even upped the jackpot to 10,000x instead of the 5,000x cap present in many of their other recent releases.
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