King’s Jester Slot Review

Jesters are known very much throughout the world for being court entertainers during the medieval ages. They were hired by the king to entertain not only himself, but visiting guests as well. It may come as quite the surprise to learn that jesters were popular in even earlier years throughout Ancient Egypt, entertaining the Pharaohs of the country, as well as being utilised throughout the Aztec empire in the 14th to 16th centuries. They only really came to much prominence when introduced to the English royal court though, with most of the royal family having professional fools in their employ. As such, entertainment came in the form of singing, music, juggling, clowning around, and of course, telling jokes and riddles. Such characters are what King’s Jester, the slot game from Novomatic, is based upon, and it provides a beautifully enhanced look into the theme.

Clowning Around on the Reels!

While the game itself doesn’t really feature any kind of overly unique layout – it’s five reels and three rows worth of an interface after all – it does have a wonderful backdrop to it, providing imagery of a vast kingdom and a magnificent castle. Upon its reels, King’s Jester has a few different symbols to go along with the standard A, J, Q, K, 9 and 10 icons. These include symbols of both the king and queen, as well as one of a smiling jester. There’s also a couple of instruments as well, including a set of pipes and a medieval guitar. Finally, the bell from the end of the jester’s hat acts as one of the extra symbols, as does a set of playing cards.

Novomatic have also added 10 separate paylines into the game alongside. These are not fixed in place, so can be customised in any way. However, players can very easily change the wager amount they place per round by using the plus and minus buttons at either side of the current value. This amount starts from its minimum of $0.40 and can be increased up to a maximum of $10 per line. Therefore, players can place a maximum overall wager of $100 per round. An ‘Autoplay’ button is also integrated into the game to allow for players to play several consecutive rounds at the same wager level.

Less Joking Around and More Specialities

This game has been imbued with several different special features to enhance game play. The first of these is the wild icon, which is represented by the symbol of the jester himself. In actuality, there are two slightly different wilds, one which has a ‘x2’ on his hat. Both will stand in for all other symbols on the reels, except scatters, in order to form a winning combination. Furthermore, if five of them show up on a winning pay line when you have the maximum bet active, you’ll be rewarded with one of the progressive jackpots shown above the reels.

The bell from the jester’s hat is the game’s scatter icon, and this provides a pay out wherever it appears on the reels. Five of these showing up across the screen will offer up a pay out $50,000 with the maximum wager placed. Furthermore, if three of them appear, the game’s freespins round will be activated. You’ll be provided with 15 freespins overall, and during this feature the symbol of the jester acts as a wild and multiplies the pay out by two. The middle reel will only contain jester and scatter symbols during the round and additional freespins can be won by spinning three or more scatters throughout.

There’s also a gamble feature added to the game, which is triggered at the end of every winning combination formed during the main game. This provides players with the opportunity to play a small side game and try to double up their winnings several times. Choosing to do so will present you with a step ladder of bars, and a flashing light can be seen on the bottom bar. You simply need to hit the gamble button and see if the light halts on the bar. If it does, your winnings increase. If not, you’ll lose them.

Order in the King’s Court!

It has to be said that this game is one of the finer products to be presented by this developer. The graphics are very nice, the game play is decent and the special features are an extra touch of flair to it. We could do without the generic Novomatic music, but on the whole, it’s entertaining and has a good theme to work with throughout.