JinglePop: Slot Overview
For a delightful twist this holiday season, AvatarUX’s JinglePop is your go-to game. This team, enthusiasts of the PopWins mechanic, has infused the Christmas spirit into their latest slot game, featuring a snowy backdrop complete with Santa Claus and festive cheer.
JinglePop offers a cozy gaming experience, set in an indoor scene where its expandable grid lies next to a window with slightly drawn curtains, offering peeks of the wintry landscape. AvatarUX has opted for a subdued approach for this game, avoiding an overload of festive decorations like tinsel and mistletoe, resulting in an elegantly understated visual appeal. The game’s music complements this theme, exuding a tranquil vibe akin to a beginner pianist practicing softly or playing on a digital piano app.
The game starts on a 5×3 grid providing 486 ways to win, but this can expand up to 8 rows high during free spins, unlocking up to 65,536 win ways. It features a high-volatility math model with a 96.14% RTP and an alternative lower model. Bets range from 20 cents to $/€100 per spin, with options for an ante bet or three different feature purchases.
JinglePop’s high win potential comes from its unique mechanic where matching symbols on at least three adjacent reels, either from the leftmost or rightmost side, create wins. This means it pays both ways, though 5-of-a-kind (5 OAK) wins pay from one direction only. The paytable begins with 10 to A card ranks, offering 1 to 1.5 times the bet for a 5-symbol hit. Higher value symbols include a green decoration, a ball decoration, a candy cane, a gift box, a stocking, and Santa, which offer 2 to 6 times the bet for 5 OAK. Wilds, appearing only in free spins, aid in forming winning combinations by replacing any regular pay symbol.
JinglePop Slot Game: Highlighting Its Special Features
Dive into the festive spirit with JinglePop’s array of engaging features. These include PopWins, free spins, Rewards Reels, the ante bet option, and the possibility to purchase features.
PopWins Mechanism Every winning symbol in JinglePop explodes, replaced by two new symbols. This not only increases the height of each reel but also keeps the game dynamic. As long as wins keep forming, the process continues. In the base game, reels can grow up to 6 rows, and in free spins, they can extend to 8. Reaching maximum height in the base game rewards players with an additional two free spins.
Free Spins Mode Activating the free spins mode requires landing 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols. The mode varies based on the number of scatters:
- 3 scatters start you off with 2,048 ways to win.
- 4 scatters increase this to 6,250 ways.
- 5 scatters open up a whopping 15,552 ways to win. Initially, players receive at least five free spins. The reels don’t reset fully between spins; they only shrink to the shortest height achieved in the round. Maximizing all reels grants an additional two free spins and a two-point increase in the win multiplier, which starts at x1 and grows with each win, remaining elevated until the end of the round.
Rewards Reels Feature A spin on the Rewards Reels precedes the free spins, presenting chances to win extra free spins, starting multipliers, multiplier growth, Mega (2×2) and Giga (3×3) symbols, random wilds, and enhanced high symbol multipliers.
Ante Bet and Feature Purchases Players can opt for the ante bet to double their likelihood of triggering free spins, at the cost of increasing their stake by 25%. Alternatively, direct access to the free spins mode is available for purchase, with different starting ways (2,048; 6,250; 15,552) costing 125x, 250x, or 500x the bet. The higher-tier bonus buy promises a better chance for more rewards.
JinglePop: Slot Verdict
With a plethora of PopWins slots on the market, it’s somewhat unexpected that JinglePop is the first to embrace the Christmas theme. This addition to the PopWins family stands out for its surprisingly mellow ambiance. Typically, PopWins games are known for their vibrant, high-contrast visuals, like the vivid display seen in HippoPop. However, JinglePop takes a different approach, offering a more relaxed, almost serene gaming experience.
JinglePop, in line with its PopWins siblings, delivers its own excitement, particularly in the free spins round where the Rewards Reels bring a variety of extras. The appearance of large symbols is a rare treat in PopWins slots, providing a unique element for enthusiasts, although the game also includes familiar features like increasing win multipliers, expanding reels, and various ways to win. While it’s not as frenetic as DonKey & the GOATS, JinglePop still packs plenty of action for a PopWins game, with the Rewards Reels often being a pivotal aspect. A note of caution: the bonus buy screen lacks a confirmation prompt, so selecting a bonus immediately triggers a purchase.
Hitting a bonus might prove lucky, especially if it approaches JinglePop’s impressive 20,000x bet win cap, adding an extra thrill to this well-crafted slot. While JinglePop introduces some fresh elements and tweaks, the PopWins series is now so extensive that a significant innovation is needed for a game to truly distinguish itself from the rest.
