Genie Jackpots
- Genie Jackpots Slot
- Overall Score: 4.2 /5
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- Engagement:
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The thing about slots is that, since most are so very similar to each other, it’s very easy to categorize them. We’ve got the licensed slots, which are obviously going to be a whole lot more popular than the non-licensed slots, because come on, who DOESN’T want to play a slot with The Avengers around, or with “South Park” characters gracing the reels, or with the “Game of Thrones” theme playing ad nauseam in the background, am I right? That popularity helps divide slots into two more categories – those that really try to take advantage of the extra exposure in order to deliver something really, really cool (such as South Park), and those that put as little effort as humanly possible hoping that the popularity of the license is all they need (read: Game of Thrones). When it comes to non-licensed slots, there’s also two categories – those who know nobody but the most clueless of gamblers will play them (pretty much anything made by IGT), and those who, despite everything, try really, really hard to deliver a good experience. Well, I’m happy to say that Genie Jackpots belongs firmly in the latter category!
Basic Features
I mean, don’t get me wrong – if you’ve played dozens upon dozens of slots, there’s really nothing new that you’ll find in Genie Jackpots – you’ve got your standard symbols, letters and all, as well as several bonus games and a progressive jackpot, as the name would suggest. But honestly? That’s more than enough. After playing so many slots that were completely devoid of features, such as Wolf Run and Twin Spin, seeing one that does literally everything I would ever want a slot to do, and doing it well, was like getting a slice of fruitcake at the end of a particularly tasteless dinner.
| Genie Jackpots Slot | ||||||
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Software: | Ash Gaming | Double option: | No | ||
| RTP: | 94.00% | Mobile version: | No | |||
| Progressive: | Yes | Coin value: | £0.20 | |||
| Autoplay: | Yes | Bet value: | £0.20 – £1,000 | |||
| Quick spin: | No | Max. bet: | £80.00 | |||
| Reels: | 5 | Free spins: | No | |||
| Paylines: | 20 | Bonus round: | Yes | |||
Now, don’t get me wrong – even though I said that Genie Jackpots is a lot like other slots, that really shouldn’t be taken as a bad thing. I like to think of this slot as an oversized portion of good Chinese food – I know exactly what I’m getting, but it’s going to fill me up and it’s gonna be delicious. While it doesn’t look particularly well (I’m rather confident that I would be able to produce better CG graphics on my own), the slot works well and plays well, and if you’re lucky the jackpot isn’t bad either! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Paytable
Just like with most non-jackpot slots, the individual wins aren’t exactly gigantic, which is par for the course. Generally with these kinds of slots, the ones that feature a progressive jackpot and a lot of bonus games, most wins are kept relatively low because the developers expect you to get your winnings from those and not from matching symbols. As such, the most you can get from an individual win is 500 times your wager, which is about 10 times lower than what you can win from other slots, such as The Avengers. For a 20 payline slot, that’s not really all that impressive, and even considering the presence of a jackpot and bonuses, it’s probably Genie Jackpots‘ worst feature.
The other major symbols all bring you rewards in the “around 500” range – 400, 300, 250, etc. More often than not, though, you’ll be earning sums that barely cover your bet, such as 40 or 100 times your wager. My advice to you would be to bet smaller sums, but more frequently. Since the jackpot and bonuses are all activated randomly, you have a much better chance of triggering them if you bet more often rather than by making bigger bets. Of course, the bigger your bet, the more likely it is to trigger the bonus game, so you shouldn’t bet too low, either – depending on your budget, I’d say that about £2 per spin should be more or less perfect.
Bonus Rounds/Free Spins
There are three different bonus/scatter symbols in the game which activate different bonus games, as well as a random bonus feature which gives you the opportunity to win the progressive jackpot, if you’re lucky. The Mystery Win Bonus, triggered by getting two regular Bonus symbols and a chest, will allow you to open the Genie’s chest and claim whatever prize is inside, up to 100 times your bet. Not a great bonus, but it works. The bonus feature works similarly – whenever it triggers (which, again, can happen randomly at any point regardless of the symbols) you get to pick a wish from several clouds. It can be a big win, a reel turning into a Wild, one of the bonus games or, yes, the big jackpot. Choose carefully!
Definitely my favorite feature, though, is the Magic Carpet bonus, which consists of two rounds. At first, you need to guide a monkey jumping up the clouds by selecting the magic lamps scattered about. Each lamp will allow it to go up a certain number of spaces, like in a board game, while others will let it teleport way ahead, because that’s totally something that monkeys can do. Each subsequent step gives you a bonus multiplier to your initial bet, up to 40x. If you do manage to climb the cloud staircase and claim the 40x, though, you get to the second stage, which allows you to pick a flying carpet to land on and increase the multiplier up to 1000x your bet. Pretty neat, huh?
Experience of Playing the Slot and Other Recommended Games
Genie Jackpots is pretty darn great. While it doesn’t break any new ground, it perfects the existing one so well that it almost makes you wonder why you’d ever want to play anything else. While the individual wins you get from simply matching symbols are below average, that’s not really what this slot is there for. The spotlight shines on the titular jackpot, and also on the various bonus games and features which can net you a ton of money, even if they’re not particularly fun to play. If you’re looking for a slot with exciting bonus games, then I would definitely recommend Aliens, which shows us just how you can make a game exhilarating without even offering any interactivity, as well as Spider-Man, which has some of the most creative bonus games I’ve ever seen in my life! Still, for what it is, Genie Jackpots is definitely worth your time!