Joker's Jewels slot

By Pragmatic Play. Retro carnival. A white joker mask under a red, blue and yellow jester hat with bells, bunting and a purple diamond-pattern backdrop.

RTP: 96.50%
Volatility: Medium
Max win: 1,040x
Reels: 5x3, 5 paylines
Released: 15 March 2018

Joker's Jewels is one of the oldest games in the Pragmatic Play library and still one of the most played, because it does not ask you to learn anything. Five reels, three rows, five paylines that run straight across and in two V shapes. A win is three, four or five of the same symbol from the left on one of those lines. At R2 a spin that is R0.40 a line, and the paytable is the entire strategy.

The joker face is the top symbol: five across a line pays 1,000 times the stake, which is R2,000 on a R2 spin and nearly the whole 1,040x cap on its own. Below it sit the guitar, the juggling pins and the jester shoes, then three coloured jewels as the low pays. With only five lines, three-of-a-kind hits come steadily but are small, and the medium volatility rating reflects exactly that: regular little returns, with the jackpot line a rare event.

The crown is the only symbol that behaves differently. It is a bonus symbol that pays anywhere on the grid, no line required. Three crowns return 10x the stake, four and five pay more, up to 250x for a full set. That is the one way a spin can pay without a left-to-right line, and it is what lifts the maximum beyond 1,000x. There are no wilds to help a line along and no scatters that open a feature.

Because there is no free spins round there is no bonus buy and no ante bet. The spin cost is the spin cost. The 96.5% RTP is the standard Pragmatic figure, and with no feature to chase the game is honest about its rhythm: a R100 budget at R2 a spin buys 50 fast spins that mostly return small change, and the only thing that changes the picture is a joker line or a handful of crowns.

What the features do

Five fixed paylines: a line win needs three or more matching symbols from the left reel, and the joker face pays up to 1,000x the stake for five
Crown bonus symbol: pays anywhere on the board, 3 to 5 crowns return 10x to 250x the stake without needing a line
No wilds and no free spins: every spin is settled on what lands, nothing to wait for
Fast play: the layout is simple enough to run well over a hundred spins a minute on autoplay

Before you spin

There is nothing to trigger, so a losing streak is not building towards anything. Decide the number of spins before starting and stop there.
Watch the crowns. Three anywhere pays 10x, which on a R2 spin is R20, and it is the only win that ignores the lines.
The game runs very fast on autoplay. Set a loss limit in the autoplay settings rather than trusting a glance at the balance.
Five lines means a stake of R2 is R0.40 a line. A three-symbol jewel hit on one line can return less than the spin cost, which is normal here, not a fault.

Joker's Jewels questions

What is the RTP of Joker's Jewels?

96.5%, Pragmatic Play's standard setting. It is a long-run average and says nothing about what a single session will return.

Does Joker's Jewels have free spins?

No. There are no free spins, no wilds and no feature round. The only special symbol is the crown, which pays anywhere on the board rather than on a line.

What is the maximum win on Joker's Jewels?

1,040 times the stake, which is R2,080 at R2 a spin. Five jokers on a line pay 1,000x and crowns landing on the same spin can take the total slightly higher.

Why are there only five paylines?

It is built as a retro slot, closer to an old cabinet game than a modern video slot. Five lines keep each spin cheap per line and keep the paytable simple, at the cost of fewer ways to hit.

Can I play Joker's Jewels in South Africa?

Yes. Scorebet carries the Pragmatic Play catalogue, including this one, under its Northern Cape Gambling Board licence. You need to be 18 or older and registered.