Magic Jokers

We’ve heard of magicians, we’ve heard of jokers, but jokers that possess magic? In the world of carnivals and funfairs, a magic joker has got to be about the pinnacle of entertainment. If this is true, then curious players might be in for a treat in this online slot from Games Global partner Slingshot Studios. Magic Jokers is a slot that brings together a bunch of features fairly common amongst the Games Global group of studios, some kind of newer stuff, and one of the stalwarts of the slot scene, jokers.

Jokers, or as they are sometimes known, harlequins, are one of the things players often stumble across in the iGaming scene, yet it’s a little hard to pin down exactly why they are so popular. Maybe it’s their association with playing cards, carnivals, the jester figure at court, or clowns at the circus? Perhaps, it’s the Joker or Fool in a Tarot deck apparently representing chaos and unpredictability that fits in with the idea of an online slot. Hard to definitively say, but we’ve got one in Magic Jokers, and not trying to be a killjoy or anything, he doesn’t seem to possess much magic. There’s a swirly blue smoke around the joker symbols at times, which seems to be about the extent of his powers. The rest of the game is pretty glitzy, though, a trait commonly associated with the joker genre.

Resting in front of a rotating wheel is Magic Jokers’ gaming grid which has been built with 5 reels, each reel holding 4 rows and crossed by 40 paylines. A medium volatile slot, Magic Jokers is available in four RTP models, from a high of 96.24% to a low of 86.90%, depending on the market. At the highest RTP level, players can expect a theoretical hit rate of 33.28% and may load up bets of 20 p/c to £/€50 per paid game round.

Winning combinations in Magic Jokers start from the first reel onwards and must include at least three matching symbols. Starting the pay table off are dice, casino chips, Bars, and bells, then any combinations of 7s, a single 7, a double 7, and a triple 7 symbol. Hitting a 5-symbol winning line pays 1 to 15 times the bet. Wilds land on all reels in the game, too. Wilds substitute for any pay symbols and when making wins of themselves, are worth up to 60 times the bet for a 5 OAK hit.

Magic Jokers: Slot Features

Features time, and this is presumably where some of the magic creeps in. Magic Jokers’ list of extras includes the trademarked Bump Up, free spins with a Free Spins Randomizer, Upsizer, and bonus buy feature.

Bump Up

Landing 3 bonus symbols triggers the Bump Up feature. The triggering bonus symbols are cleared along with all other symbols, and 4 free respins play out on reels 2, 3, and 4. Only bonus symbols, Special bonus symbols or blank symbols may land. Any bonus symbols or Special bonus symbols which land are collected. Collecting symbols progresses players through tiers with increasing prize values. Collect just 1 Special bonus symbol to reach the next tier. Increasing the ladder position resets the respin count to 4. The feature ends when the top prize has been achieved, or no respins remain. Prizes range from 5x to 5,000x the bet depending on the tier reached.

Free Spins

Getting 3 scatter symbols in view triggers the free spins round. First, the Free Spins Randomizer spins to award 8-15 free spins, a multiplier of x2 to x5, and bonus symbol density levels of 1, 2, 3, or 4. Next, players have the chance of boosting what they have won from the Upsizer feature, like extra free spins, for example, or boost the multiplier (up to certain limits), for a cost which is displayed on the screen before proceeding. In free spins, all line wins are multiplied by the active multiplier, and free spins can be retriggered. When retrigged, the initial win from the Free Spins Randomizer is awarded. Lastly, players may buy entry to the free spins feature for the cost of 50 times the bet.

Magic Jokers: Slot Verdict

With Magic Jokers, Slingshot Studios keeps a mix of features going that sort of started with Jade Shuriken, solidified with Spin Spin Sugar, and keeps on ticking with Magic Jokers. Jade Shuriken was the more original of the three games, with a classy animated kung fu comic presentation, whereas Spin Spin Sugar used a classic candy theme, and Magic Jokers deepens the commonality with a joker/harlequin appearance. Perhaps Jade Shuriken was a little too niche to reach the sort of wider audience Slingshot Studios is flinging a candy or joker game at. Perhaps its low volatility/low potential was at odds with its high-energy battle warriors?

What to say? Magic Jokers is one of those games that was neither awful nor outstanding. Like the game it’s built off, it offers a more complex way of winning prizes from a prize ladder than a straight 9 Masks of Fire copy while also giving players a chance to chop or change the free spins round through the Upsizer feature as their whims or wallet see fit. Winning potential at the upper tiers is decent, the game functions as it should, and there isn’t really much else to say.

Add it up, and Magic Jokers slots itself into the mix fairly well, or about as well as Spin Spin Sugar did, which was pretty averagely so. It’s not one of those joker games that try to overpower players with masses of fireworks, but nor is it as basic as many of the games in Play’n GO’s Joker range of slots, by comparison. It is what it is, essentially a redo of a previous slot with a joker outer coating, one we had to dig a little deep to unearth some excitement for.