JuicyPop

JuicyPop: Slot Overview

Software provider AvatarUX is a studio both wedded to pop-style action and coming up with various innovations to prevent their beloved popping from getting stale. One such innovation was MultiPop, which first appeared in the end of the world, everyone returns as undead walking corpses slot Zombie aPOPalypse. That title did not feature pure PopWins functionality, where one winning symbol is replaced by two, growing the game board, and neither does JuicyPop. Instead, MultiPop adds combinable multiplier values to individual cells, with some game board growth held over for the free spins phase of play.

JuicyPop is about as far away from a zombie apocalypse as it gets. Imagine going to a disco club dressed as an item of fruit to cut a rug, and you've practically captured JuicyPop's vibe. This is classic fruit slot gambling - on the front end, at least, where floating pieces of fruit litter the background, and a loungey dance tune makes up the audio. Not a bad track either with all sorts going on in there.

In the base game, each spin sees symbols fill a 5-reel, 4-row gaming area offering 1,024 ways to win. However, the game pays for landing winning combinations that start from the leftmost as well as the rightmost reel. The Xpress menu provides several different ways of approaching JuicyPop, such as bonus buys, etcetera, while the stake range is 10 c to $/€100 per spin. Max RTP is 96.018%, and volatility sits on medium.

A few of the classics make their way onto JuicyPop's paytable, which has Q-A as the lows, Bars, double Bars, and triple Bars as the mediums, then grapes, watermelons, oranges, cherries, and lemons as the highs. Winning combinations of 5 OAK pay 0.4x for the lows, 0.5x for the mediums, and 1-1.5x for the highs. Wilds stand in for all symbols except the scatter.

JuicyPop: Slot Features

JuicyPop functions with AvatarUX's MultiPop mechanic, as debuted in Zombie aPOPalypse. How it works is that each new spin adds an x2 multiplier to random cells on the grid. When a symbol is part of a win, it is replaced by another symbol, and the new symbol position has a +x1 multiplier applied to it. Consecutive increases occur each time a winning combination forms in a cell with a multiplier attached to it. If the multiplier is Golden, it increases by +x5. Any position can be upgraded to Golden. Awarded multipliers are locked to the grid cells, not to the symbol itself, and multipliers are additive.

Unlock Mode

When all cells on the grid have an x2 multiplier or higher, Unlock Mode is activated. Once unlocked, a random number of wilds land on the reels. In addition, when the grid is in Unlock Mode, the multiplier increment is +x2, or +x8 for Golden Multipliers.

Free Spins

In the base game, hitting 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols awards 9, 12, or 15 free spins, respectively. In free spins, cell multipliers do not reset between spins. Golden status stays the same between free spins, as well. When the grid enters Unlock Mode +2 free spins are awarded, and a random number of wilds land on the reels. Free spins are played on larger gaming grids, up to 6 rows high, with 7,776 ways to win.

Starred Cell

Randomly, any cell on the grid can have a Star on it. Starred Cells do not reset between free spins until a win has occurred. If there is a win with this cell, the Star is consumed, and +1 free spin is granted.

Gamble Wheel

Before playing free spins, players have the chance to increase the number on a gambler wheel. Winning the gamble increases the number of free spins, while losing the gamble loses all of them. It is possible to win up to 15 free spins or up to 17 free spins via a special Golden field.

Xpress

At the Xpress feature buy section of JuicyPop, players have access to these: Juicy Multis - 30x the bet to start with a multiplier on all cells and 2 free spins, Gamble Wheel - 60x the bet to gamble for up to 17 free spins, Bonus - 9 free spins for 60x the bet, Bonus Max - 15 free spins for 250x the bet, and Ante Bet - 1.5x the bet per spin for 3 times the chance of entering free spins.

JuicyPop: Slot Verdict

It's been about 2 years since AvatarUX debuted its first MultiPop slot, and the studio hasn't gone as wild and crazy with the mechanic as it has with its PopWins device. In saying that, the studio hasn't totally slept on MultiPop - Kitty POPpins, for example, stepped in and had a crack. Worms of Valor touched on it, too. The studio has certainly been busy in those 2 years, teaming up with Mr Wu on occasion for slots such as FloridaMan and Beastly Burglars, as well as dropping a bundle of PopWins slots, and basically keeping the production line running white hot. Perhaps time constraint is one reason why JuicyPop has none of the thematic depth Zombie aPOPalypse had, and an innocuous fruit slot is hardly a major tax on the creative juices. But we all know how popular fruit is when it comes to slots, making it a safe choice.

JuicyPop does push things along from a feature perspective. Now, players get the chance to land Golden Multipliers on cells, which are far more potent than the non-Golden variety. Cell maximums appear greater in JuicyPop, as the Golden Multiplier at least got over x10 during free spins, where x10 was the capped value in the zombie slot. Unlock Mode is a nice touch, too, so all in all, the new bits feel like they've positively evolved the MultiPop experience.

One slight bummer is that JuicyPop packs half the win cap of Zombie aPOPalypse (and Kitty POPpins), giving it a top prize of 10,000x the bet. Factor in this figure, the lowered volatility and the classic slot imagery, and JuicyPop feels like a 'safer' mainstream alternative to the original zombie game. Fair enough, some gamblers probably prefer looking at healthy snacks while experiencing the entertainment of MultiPop rather than imagining flesh dripping off the frames of the shambling dead.