Joker Splash slot review

The developer Gamzix came out swinging with Joker Splash. But is the game a splash or did it just sink to the bottom?

It is not common that we get to enjoy new games from a new developer. Gamzix was established in 2019 and during the summer of 2020, they released their first wave of slots, which included Joker Splash.

This slot is a modern five-reeled take on the classic fruit machine. It doesn’t really bring anything new or innovative to the table but has some interesting tweaks. Joker Splash is a great starter game; a safe option for the developer to pad their catalogue with.

The biggest thing about Joker Splash is not what the game is, but what the developer has done. If this is what they start with, then they have a bright future ahead of them. This slot shows potential and a genuine love for games. The only thing I wish is that Gamzix starts to push the envelope.

Graphics and sound

Gamzix didn’t want to take too many risks with their first games and went with a classic look. Joker Splash has a colourful, but not too overly bright style. The strong colours match and it is easy to tell the traditional fruit machine symbols apart.

The same can be said about the music. It’s nice, but nothing that you would remember. I do like how the symbols make different sounds when you win, so you could play this game without looking if you wanted to.

One interesting feature of the user-interface is the wager system. You set your coin value normally, but have five spin buttons with different bets on them. I’m not sure if this is an improvement, but it sure made me change my bet more often.

Symbols and wins

Joker Splash is a traditional slot, so we get another batch of traditional symbols. Lemons, cherries, watermelons and so on, we all know the drill. The symbols are okay, but I would have wanted to see a new developer do something different.

The game has eight regular symbols and two specials, a scatter and a wild. The scatter doesn’t have any special features attached to it, but it gives surprisingly good wins. The wild on the other hand is the symbol you want to see as often as possible. It will change all the symbols that surround it into wilds, and it is possible to fill the entire playfield with them.

Joker Splash has medium volatility and well-balanced wins. There aren’t many combinations that give you less than your wager back and it feels like every win is worth something. I did get a couple of annoying dry spells, but nothing major.

One thing you should note, is that the auto spin feature works a bit differently here. You don’t have any control over it and you can’t set any kind of limitations. When you press the auto button, the game will start spinning for as long as you have coins left. You have to manually stop it when you feel like you are done.

Features

• Explosive Wilds: These jokers blow up in all directions

These jokers are wild and they hate to be alone. If a single wild shows up on the reels, it will bring all its friends along for the ride. A wild symbol will transform every other symbol around it to a wild.

Wilds appear on every reel and can even end up covering the entire board. All you need is two well-placed jokers and you will win 100x your wager on every single payline.

• Four jackpots: Four progressive jackpots await you

Joker Splash comes with four progressive jackpots, Mini, Minor, Major and Mega. These are unique to each casino, so you can shop around and see where is the best place to play at any given time.

To win one of the four jackpots, you need to activate the Jackpot Game. The only limitation here is that you need to play within the preset bet range, which can differ from one casino to the next. Always check the range from the game info. Then just pick three of the same symbol from the twelve cards and you win that jackpot.

Winning a jackpot does not depend on your wager at all. You have an equal chance to win just as long as you play within the bet range. The jackpots seed at £250; £1,250; £12,500 and £125,000 respectively.

• Gamble: Take a chance to double up

Every time you win, you may choose to gamble your wins. Just guess if the card will have a red or a white diamond. If you are correct, you just doubled your win and have got a chance to go again.

You can always check how many times you can gamble your win, as it is shown below the card. You usually get five attempts, but it may change depending on how big your original win was.

My experiences

Joker Splash is a nice game, but that’s about it. It is a great starting point to Gamzix as a developer, but they need to be more innovative. It’s interesting as a player to try out a developer’s first game right when it comes out and just imagine where they will end up.

I like the little oddities of the game, like separate spin buttons for different bets. Things like these are what sets a game and a developer apart. I sincerely hope that Gamzix will take these ideas and run with them. Because if they don’t, some other company will.

So the question remains, should you play this game? I’d say absolutely. It will be an interesting benchmark for you to compare Gamzix’s later games to. If you know where they came from, you can appreciate their hard work or see if they are slacking off.