Joyful Joker Megaways Slot Game with Bonus Buy Feature by All41 Studios

Joyful Joker Megaways – if you are beginning to get bored with the endless line of Extra Chili clones, yet enjoy the Megaways concept, then this is a game you are definitely going to want to take a look at.

All41 Studios – a company I’ve never come across until now – has created a Megaways slot completely unlike any other.

Joyful Joker Megaways Slot Details

For a start, Joyful Joker Megaways is a three-reel slot – do you recall ever seeing a three-reel Megaways slot before? Each reel can divide into up to eight symbols per spin, giving a total of just 512 Megaways – a huge drop from the 117,649 offered by Extra Chili and its clones.

The fact I know that number off by heart says a lot to me, however – there are far too many generic Megaways slots, and I’m frankly ecstatic to see a new Megaways game that has been built from the ground up to be thoroughly different in every way.

First Impressions – Spinning the Reels for the First Time

I was so excited to see a new Megaways with a thoroughly different setup, I didn’t bother looking at the pay table or any of the other information pages before spinning the reels. The game is designed to look like a fruit machine, a type of game known as an AWP, that is still extremely popular in the UK.

I also noticed that I seemed to be winning quite often – was this just beginner’s luck? It turns out that it was not. Joyful Joker Megaways has a “hit frequency” of 23.07%, meaning that you should win something – even if it is less than your original stake – every four spins or so. The VFD shows scrolling messages, encouraging you to keep playing – just like a fruit machine.

After 100 autoplay spins, I was around 26% up on my starting balance – nice! Let’s have a look at the pay table and find out how Joyful Joker Megaways really works!

Joyful Joker Megaways Pay table

The pay table does not update depending on the size of your wager, which I always find frustrating when trying to work out how much each combination is worth. Is it shown in coins? Or is it shown as a multiple of your stake? I set the bet size to the minimum of 0.10 units, and on my first winning spin I had three plums and three bundles of blackberries – the total win was 0.13, and I was immediately offered the chance to gamble my winnings to increase my win to 0.26.

Gamble Feature

Once again, the VFD got very excited – messages encouraging me to gamble began scrolling across the top of the screen, accompanies by many flashing lights and a gamble meter showing a coin bouncing between a club symbol, and a heart.

You simply pick a suit or hit collect to take your winnings. I decided to click on clubs, and the VFD informed me that I won the gamble. It would be nice if you could see a better representation of how the gamble feature works – the method used is likely to cause some players to shout, “what a scam!!” if they lose. For the record, I chose hearts next time and finished with 0.52 units.

I returned to the pay table, which shows a 3 for plums and an eight for blackberries. This means that the pay table has been designed around the minimum bet, and you’ll need to multiply the figures shown in accordance with your bet size. For example, if you bet £1/€/$ per spin, you’ll have to multiply the numbers by ten.

The top symbol is the star, which is worth 50 coins. There is a big drop to the next symbol – just 20 coins for five bells. After that, you’ve got 10 for melons, 8 for blackberries, 5 for plums, 3 each for the cherries and the lemons, and then a joker symbol which is also worth just 3 coins – but becomes wild during free spins. The pay table then explains that “wins are multiplied by your Line Bet (Coin Value) before being paid”. Why not just update the pay table automatically? It makes things so much easier for the player.

Special Features

We already discussed the Megaways and Gamble features, but what else does Joyful Joker Megaways have to offer in terms of special features? Most three-reel slots are designed to invoke nostalgia, which means the base game will often have no real features at all.

Joyful Joker Megaways Free Spins

At least there is one feature, players can look forward to- when three jokers land on the reels. You’ll receive the bog-standard payout of 3 coins for landing three scatters – this is a bit disappointing, but many other games work in the same way. `

The joker symbol is wild during free spins, and the feature can be retriggered by landing another three jokers during the bonus round. The math model of this game is heavily focused on the bonus round, making this an excellent choice of title to use the “Buy Feature” option.

Feature Buy

If you wish to skip the (admittedly dull) base game and head straight to the bonus, you can use the feature buy option, provided you don’t live in a country that prohibits such options. Frustratingly, this does include the UK – the gambling commission has been clamping down hard recently, forcing developers to remove features from their games, limiting the number of autoplay spins, and all sorts of other weird restrictions. How about doing something which actually helps players, UKGC?

Joyful Joker Megaways – Our Verdict:

So, it turns out that Megaways can work with entirely different reel designs… does that mean we are about to see a number of unique Megaways games? I really hope so. All41 studios have demonstrated that the Megaways system can work in many situations – to be honest, I’m a bit surprised that they even needed a license for this game, as it is so different to the usual Megaways experience. Perhaps they did it just to get the “Megaways” addition to the game’s title?

Joker Megaways will definitely appeal to those who enjoy these sorts of games … three reel games are very popular in Las Vegas, and the fruit machine style will attract another group of player too. It’s not for me – but you might well enjoy it.

Game Details