Theme of the Game
Magic Jester brings a 5×3 layout with a combination of typical fruity slot machine symbols and the insignia of medieval kingdom. The only one having fun will be the Fool here, as there is really nothing special to see or do in this slot.
The soundtrack somewhat resembles the old tunes played in courts and castles, but the only symbols that really makes sense is precisely the Jester. Game play wise, there are ten paylines and only one special feature, which does activate with every spin but that does not make it profitable.
Honestly, we were surprised to see such a commonplace theme from Novomatic. Still, let’s not jump to conclusions before we look at the details.
Developer
One reason why we were surprised by this slot is that Novomatic are veterans in the industry with over 30 years of experience. They are well-known for their innovative approach, and features such as Gamble options. Magic Jester definitely does not portrait them as slot developers in the best light.
The Novomatic Group, based in Austria, has existed since 1980 and they are one of the biggest providers of services and solutions for online casinos, mobile and social gaming, lottery, sports betting and more.
How to Play It
There is nothing special to tell about the game play in Magic Jester. It comes with 5 reels and 10 playable paylines. Perhaps one uncommon thing is that the controls menu is located on the side instead of the bottom of the screen, but it features all the standard options.
You can choose how many out of 10 paylines you will play and the size of your bet per line. At the bottom of the screen you will see displayed your current balance, the win and bet size.
It is as basic as it gets and so are the symbols. We suppose that Novomatic was intending to recreate a classic fruity slot as the symbols include all the typical icons such as lucky number seven (with a red fool’s cap), a bell, a watermelon and cherries.
As you might suppose these are the high paying symbols while the low paying values are reserved for playing cards which might just make sense in this slot having in mind that the Joker is the main protagonist. The card letters are also decorated with colourful fool’s hat.
The highest paying symbols are number seven and the bell. The jester or the joker jumps in instead of any symbol if needed to form a winning combination. Nothing new here either.
There is one novelty, though. The matching symbols go from 3 to even 15 of a kind, which increases your possibility of winning. Thus the highest paying symbols will pay 80x your stake.
The main symbol to look for is definitely the Lucky box which holds a bunch of bonus treats.
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Special Features
Well, unfortunately there is not much to say about this aspect of the game. It all comes down to the Magic Reels feature that is activated with every spin. What this feature does is slightly out-of-the ordinary. When Magic Reels are activated one of the reels turns sparkling purple and instead of one symbol on a tile you will see two or three.
This means that you could get up to 15 of a kind and up to 80x your bet. Not a bad idea at all, but actually it does not offer anything more than that.
Though the idea to build up to 15 matching symbols opens up a whole new space of combinations, the reels are as random as in any normal spin. Also there are only 10 paylines, so don’t expect to hit 15 of any kind very often.
As most of Novomatic slots Magic Jester also has the Gamble feature, which gives you a chance to double your current win.
Maximum Payout
As we said the maximum payout is 80x your stake, which means that you stand to win 800,000 coins.
The maximum amount you can stake here is $60, whereas you cannot bet less than $0.20. Having in mind that the maximum bet is not high and the theoretical return to player, which is 95.07%, we don’t see this game bringing hefty payouts.
Summary
What can we say about this new release from Novomatic and stay on the positive note? At first sight you are greeted with disappointing mediocre theme with quality graphic feel but complete lack of creativity.
If you are not bored by the look and sound of the theme itself you can go on to explore the special features, which will lead you to another disappointment. The one and only special feature in the game offers a theoretical possibility of hitting 15 matching symbols, but it will take countless dry spins until you see this one.
Perhaps players who enjoy old-fashioned slots and basic functionality won’t mind the theme, but even in payouts department this game does not give you reasons to stick with it.