Jewel Action Slot Review

Jewel Action takes the idea of a slot game, rearranges it and tosses it on its head almost. Whether that’s a good thing or not is something that you must decide, although we love it as far as games go. There’s nothing better than discovering something unique and innovative, and Jewel Action, while not providing a specifically unique layout or interface, does have its own quirky features to provide entertaining game play. There isn’t really any specific setting for the game to take place in, as it’s based around gemstones, so both thematically and soundtrack-wise, Novomatic can’t really go far wrong. There’s an indifferent jingle that plays every time you spin the reels, which provides an almost fairytale-like tone to it.

Ooooh, look! Something Shiny!

There are three reels and three rows included in this game, which provides a layout that isn’t dissimilar to the classic slot machines out there. Upon these reels are icons which primarily relate to jewels and gemstones. Of course, with a title like Jewel Action, it’s fairly obvious how they connect. So, you have just about the full spectrum of the rainbow colours included, with orange, purple, blue, red, yellow, green, pink and, of course, those all important diamonds. In addition to these, you’ll also find two character icons, which appear to be a king and a queen, judging by the crowns they’re wearing. And finally, several speciality symbols have also been added, which we’ll get to shortly.

As well as the reels and rows, the game has been fitted with 10 separate pay lines, all of which are fixed in place and run from not only horizontal positions, but vertically and diagonally as well. While the lines aren’t customisable, the stake you place per line is, and this begins from its minimum of $0.01 and when using the plus button to its right, can be increased to $50. On the whole, this allows for a maximum overall wager of $500 to be played per spin. An ‘Autospin’ button is also included to allow gamers the possibility of spinning up to 50 consecutive times at the same wager level.

Gems of Plenty

Unlike a lot of Novomatic products, Jewel Action features a plentiful selection of special features, which further add to the charm that it provides. This begins with the icon of the key. You’ll notice that to the right of the reels, there’s a small nine-grid layout, each of which has a key on it. Whenever a key icon appears on the main reels, it will light up in the corresponding location on the smaller layout. The symbol works as a scatter, so whenever three or more of these appear in any location, the ‘Gem Streak’ is activated. This is a progressive series of wins consisting of nine matching symbols, and will pay out between six and 500 times the total wager placed.

There’s also a treasure chest icon included in the game, which is also a scatter icon. Should you spin three or more of these into view on the reels, you’ll be awarded the treasure chest mystery bonus. The amount of this changes at the beginning of every spin, and you can see the current total for it to the right of the reels. Should a jester hat also appear during the spin and when the mystery bonus is awarded, it will increase the pay out significantly.

Finally, there is also a wild symbol in the game, which acts as any normal wild icon does, substituting for all other symbols in order to make a winning combination. The only exceptions to this rule are the two scatter icons and the jester hat.

A Vibrant Game

So, okay, this particular game isn’t swimming with overwhelming graphics or anything, but in the grand scale of things, it doesn’t really matter. There is enough intriguing game play, enhanced by the swell of extra special features, to make it entertaining enough without the perfect 3D imagery. Not only that, but because the developer hasn’t tried to involve a theme in it – something which they frequently tend to fail at – the product succeeds in an unexpected way.