Odd name for a game, ‘Jelly Belly.’ It takes me back to the schoolyard days of yesteryear and calling the larger kids names like Jelly Belly. I have since learned that this is wrong. Of course, at the time, the teacher would tell me off, saying, “Men in their 30s shouldn’t be hanging around by a schoolyard”.
I digress, and with this slot review, I present to you the newest game release by multi-award-winning software developer NetEnt. In my Jelly Belly Megaways slot review, I share with you the gaming performance, software information, and bonus features. Plus, thanks to the tech geeks at Casinos.com, this review will come with a free-to-play demo of the official game.
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So, what is Jelly Belly Megaways about if it doesn’t involve obese kids? Well, it would seem that Jelly Belly is a race of jelly people, and judging by the design and the brief intro, they all live in the village that surrounds the jelly castle. It’s all very cutesy, with pastel colors and dreamy haze. The genre? Well, I guess it comes under fairytale.
The slot layout comes in a huge 6x7 grid with up to 117,649 embedded ways to win. Now is a good time to explain that this is the Megaways feature. Normally, a slot plays with paylines. Instead, Megaways gaming allows wins to be formed by just having the same symbol anywhere across adjacent reels. Within a single reel, up to six different symbols can appear. This accounts for why there are up to 117,649 different ways to win.
Normally, this fairytale-theme kind of slot would never appeal to me. But here we are, and it’s massively surprising to me.
When the game is loaded, I like to make sure that I adjust the default price to an amount that suits my budget. This game's demo and real money version defaults to $2 per spin. You can adjust this amount by pressing on the Bet button or the plus or minus signs. Prices start at $0.10 and rise to the maximum bet of $10.
Once the bet price is set, the big green spin button is pressed to begin the game. You will notice that when a winning combination is formed by three or more of the same symbols, they will vanish. Any symbols above then fall, with new symbols entering the game from the top of the slot. This is called cascade gaming, and it allows for consecutive wins to be formulated from one single spin.
You will see Avalanches and Multiplier icons above the reels and to the right. Each win will light up the Avalanches icon. When you land three consecutive wins in a row and fill the Avalanches, you will trigger the free spins bonus feature. If, during bonus play, you repeat landing three consecutive wins, you then trigger the multiplier.
The number of spins you get is relative to the number of consecutive wins you landed beyond lighting all three Avalanches icons. The bonus round also introduces a fantastic multiplier feature that can help you boost any wins that might form. If you light up three Avalanches and it continues in this fashion, you will then activate the multiplier feature. This can grow up to x50 if your consecutive wins keep going.
Now, if the game was crap, I would call it out, but I have to say, never have I landed so many bonus features in such a short space of time. Normally, this fairytale-theme kind of slot would never appeal to me. But here we are, and it’s massively surprising to me.
I played at $10 per spin and planned to only play ten spins. On my third spin, I landed eight free spins. When this activates, the game changes to take us inside the castle. I landed a ‘mega win’ netting $479 with the aid of a x50 multiplier. Once my spins were up, I bagged a total of $544.
Two spins later, I hit three free spins, which again put me up an additional $127. I love this game. I stopped at ten spins and ended hugely in the green with a stupid smirk.
The Jelly Belly Megaways slot by NetEnt comes with a 93.11% Return to Player rating. The slot machine is programmed with a high volatility setting, but it didn’t feel like this when playing. The maximum that you can potentially win is 20,000 times the amount you pay to spin. If you bet at $10 a play, you could see a return of $200,000.
This is a fantastic value-for-money game. You won’t find too many slots online that can payout $200,000 for $10 spins. Brilliant.
When I saw the Jelly Belly Megaways slot, I had reservations. I have stated many times that I’m not a huge fan of Megaways slots. There is nothing wrong with them; it’s more personal taste. Based on my brief experience with Jelly Belly Megaways, I will most definitely play this game again.
If the demo game gets you excited, then here are some other Megaways slots that you can enjoy right here on Casinos.com — The Dog House Megaways™ by Pragmatic Play, The Rodfather Megaways™ by Booming Games, and Break Da Bank Again Megaways™ by Microgaming.
Karolis Matulis is an SEO Content Editor at Casinos.com with more than 6 years of experience in the online gambling industry. Karolis has written and edited dozens of slot and casino reviews and has played and tested thousands of online slot games. So if there's a new slot title coming out soon, you better know it – Karolis has already tried it.
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