Joker Stacks

Games with formats that step outside of the norm can be a lot of fun, and that's what you'll get with the Joker Stacks slot, available at iSoftBet online casinos. Instead of just having a game with an unusual format for the sake of it, it's actually a key part of the gameplay in terms of how the features work. The graphics are bright and vibrant as well with a throwback to classic fruit machines, but it definitely looks and plays like a video slot. The volatility is also reasonable at the medium level for this title, which is important for players who don't like huge swings.

Game Layout

You'll notice right away when you sit down to play this game that there's an uneven distribution of symbols across the reels. There are five reels, and all of them have at least three symbols on them. With that having been said, the second and fourth ones both have four symbols instead, and there are 15 total paylines spread out across these reels. It's important to point out that having relatively few paylines across a relatively large layout means less overlap for wild symbols covering multiple lines.

You're always betting 15 coins on every single spin, and that's because there's always one coin on each payline, and you'll always have all 15 paylines activated. However, you can pick from coin size values that go from $0.01 to $1 apiece with seven total options to give you total bet sizes that start at $0.15 per turn and that go up to $15. This isn't the hugest range out there, but it's plenty for the overwhelming majority of players.

Bonus Star Symbols

The bonus symbol is a star with a lot of lights on it. It shows up on the first, third and fifth reels (all of the shorter reels) only, and you'll need all three to appear to trigger a bonus feature.

This feature is a set of free spins, and you'll always get 15 of them to start. During this bonus round, you'll get a chance to turn entire reels into stacks of wilds. The way this works is that you'll start collecting wild symbols when they appear on the reels as soon as the bonus round starts. If you get to six total, then the first reel turns completely wild and stays that way for the rest of the feature as a sticky, stacked wild.

However, if you collect 10 more on the last four reels, then the third reel will turn wild in the same way. Another 10 gets you the fifth reel turned wild. Getting the first and second wild reels will add two free spins each, and getting the third adds one more free spin, so you can get up to 20 with this feature.

Wild Symbols

The joker is the wild in this game and appears on all reels, but it doesn't get its own payouts. On any given regular spin at random, you can get the first, third or fifth reel turned completely wild and full of jokers for one spin. This is like what happens in the free spins if you collect enough wilds, but it happens at random during the regular game.

Key Payouts and Combinations

There are two lucky sevens in this game. The red one pays 150x for five of a kind, and you can get slightly less with 125x for five of the blue one on a payline. Five of a kind of the bell symbol is worth a 100x payout when they're all on the same payline, and it's 80x for five of the horseshoe for the same. There are three fruit symbols as well with the watermelon, lemon and cherries, and each of them have five-of-a-kind combos worth 40x. This pay table is balanced and suited for a reasonable volatility and a high hit-rate.

Our Thoughts

We think there are a few key things to consider with iSoftBet's Joker Stacks slot. The first is that the graphics are better than most titles in this sub-genre. The second is that the features are more exciting and more valuable than most throwback-style games like this. Finally, we think that the pay table is suited primarily for players who don't like big swings. The downside to this is that it's hard to win really big payouts without relying on several payouts on the same spin from the free spins mode the times you get multiple wild reels.