Money Jar 2

Money Jar 2: Slot Overview

When sequels come out, they can provoke a range of mixed thoughts and feelings. Will they be bigger? Will they be better? Have all the good ideas been used in the original? Is the maker trying to cash in, or are they sincere? However, when a sequel comes from games designer Slotmill, the attitude going in is generally positive because the studio has a strong track record of making a good game even better. This brings us to Money Jar 2, a sequel to Money Jar that, in the developer's own words, 'takes everything you loved about the original and amplifies it to new heights.'

One thing which has stayed the same is Slotmill has stuck with the 1930s Charlie Chance, 'Betty Boop' style that gave the previous game much of its charm. Money Jar 2 is just as cartoony, just as swinging as before, held in a world where inanimate objects have been brought to life by slapping a face on them. Money Jar 2 has an aquatic feel to it, rather than the land-based backroom members-only casino environment of the original, as if we're on board a ship. Trigger free spins, and this time players can choose from two bonus rounds rather than just one, each bonus held in a separate part of the boat. As before, Slotmill has done an excellent job of bringing Money Jar 2's game world to life, filling it with personable characters and high-energy tunes to partially blur the line between gambling machine and animated cartoon show.

Money Jar 2 never loses sight of the fact it is a gambling machine, though, as there are loads of features and several ways to play the game. The 'regular' method is by picking a stake of 20 p/c to $/€40 and hitting the spin button. This sets the 6-reel, 5-row gaming panel into motion, which provides 15,625 ways to win. In the regular mode, Money Jar 2 generates a return to player of 95.8%, a tad lower than the original, though values vary depending on the bonus buy. Mathematically highly volatile, wins are formed when matching symbols land on adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost reel.

Twelve paying symbols appear on the gaming grid. These are J-A card ranks, club, diamond, heart, and spade imprinted casino chips, then four character symbols at the higher end of the table. Hit a 6-of-a-kind winning combination, and the payout is 0.4-0.5x for the royals, 0.6-0.7x for the chips, and 1.5-3.5x for the character symbols. Wild symbols are used to substitute for any regular paying symbol. Wilds may also have numbers on them. These are referred to as Countdown Wilds. These numbers refer to how many wins the wild can be part of. Each Respin win involving a wild decreases its number by 1.

Money Jar 2: Slot Features

Money Jar 2 keeps the action flowing with a stack of features such as Win Respins, Power Up symbols, Extra Chance, two Money Jar Bonus Games – the Coin Bonus Game and the Countdown Wild Bonus Game, Fast Track feature buys, and Burst Mode.

Win Respin

All symbols part of a win will individually respin. During the respin, each reel lands either the same symbol, a wild symbol, a Power Up symbol, or a Money Jar. The Win Respin feature continues as long as new wins appear.

Power Up Symbols

During the base game, special Power Up symbols may land on the reels. These are:

• Wild Magnet – transforms into a Countdown Wild with a count based on the number of wilds on the reel.
• Wild Payer – adds +1 to all wilds before turning into a wild symbol.
• Mystery Symbol Dealer – adds mystery symbols and transforms into a wild symbol. All mystery symbols reveal the same symbol.

Extra Chance

After the respins have played out and there are no more wins, if there are 2 Money Jars in view, the Extra Chance triggers. Symbols adjacent to each Money Jar respin, and only coins or extra Money Jars land. Coins pay when they are collected by a Money Jar. Adjacent Money Jars also collect from each other. Landing a third Money Jar triggers the Money Jar Bonus Game picker.

Money Jar Bonus Games

Landing 3 Money Jar symbols awards the Money Jar Bonus Game picker, where players choose the Coin Bonus Game or the Countdown Wild Bonus Game.

Coin Bonus Game

This bonus starts with 6 lives, and each spin reduces the meter by 1 life. The feature ends when there are no more lives left, but landing an Extra Life symbol adds one life to the meter. After a spin stops, the Money Jars on the screen will collect all adjacent coins, Money Jars, Magnets, Portal Pills, or Payers. After each spin, the Money Jars jump to an adjacent position. Special symbols which may land are:

• Doubler – doubles the value of all visible symbols.
• Payer – adds its value to all other visible symbols.
• Magnet – collects all visible coins and values from other Magnets present once. Stays on the reels until it is collected.
• Coin Dealer – adds coins with random values to the grid, then transforms into a coin.
• Portal Pill – stays on the reels until a Money Jar collects it. When collected, a Portal opens to another Money Jar, allowing it to take that Money Jar's value.
• Persistent Payer – adds its value to all other visible symbols on every spin.
• Persistent Magnet – collects all visible coins and values from other Magnets at the start of each spin. It can be collected by a Money Jar more than once.

Countdown Wild Bonus Game

This feature begins with 8 spins. Landing the Extra Life symbol adds +1 spin to the counter. Any unused wilds or Countdown Wilds stay on the reels until used in a win or until the feature ends. When a wild has been used, it is added to the Wild Collect meter. 2 used wilds increase the Multiplier Meter by +1. Power Up symbols may land during this round, too.

Super Mode

Super Mode is randomly activated after picking a Bonus Game. In Super Mode, a feature symbol is guaranteed to land on each spin.

Fast Track and Burst Mode

The Fast Track grants direct access to features for a cost. The options are:

• 2+ Countdown Wilds – guarantees a game round triggering 2+ Countdown wilds for 8x the bet. (Highly volatile with an RTP of 96.02%).
• 3+ Countdown Wilds – guarantees a game round triggering 3+ Countdown wilds for 20x the bet. (Highly volatile with an RTP of 96.04%).
• 2 Jars – guarantees a game round triggering 2 Money Jars for 25x the bet. (Very highly volatile with an RTP of 96.10%).
• Bonus – a game round that triggers the bonus for 100x the bet. (Very highly volatile with an RTP of 96.13%).
• Super Mode – a game round that triggers the Super Mode Bonus for 500x the bet. (Highly volatile with an RTP of 96.22%)

Burst Mode allows players to pick a bet, a number of spins and have them play out at a greater speed where the total win per game round is displayed. It can be stopped at any time.

Money Jar 2: Slot Verdict

Well, Money Jar 2 does pretty much all you could ask for from a sequel. It's got a lot of the cool stuff which made the first one an enjoyable slot to play while delivering a bunch of new bits. Adjustments have been made to the rules that should appeal to fans of the first as well. One is when triggering the Coin Bonus Game, where you get 6 spins at the start instead of 3. Since this isn't the sort of hold 'n win round that resets the spin count when new spins land, 3 could be over rather fast. They had the potential to be 3 intense spins, and heart symbols could reset the count, but there was no guarantee. 6 feels like it arguably provides a bit more room to breathe and let the round unfold. Having a number of new special symbols is an added benefit, making Money Jar 2 even more of a Money Train competitor with happy jars bouncing around the place rather than trains and an arsenal of deadly weapons.

New too is the Countdown Wild Bonus Game, which is a fine addition, despite not having the same level of unique desirability as the Coin Bonus Game. Personal preference, of course. Some players may prefer the Countdown Wild Bonus Game. The good thing is you can choose your favourite bonus here rather than being stuck triggering one or the other. Super Mode is another extra to sweeten the deal. It might be interesting to know how often Super Mode triggers compared to a regular bonus round, as buying Super Mode from the Fast Track is considerably more expensive than the comparatively cost-effective Bonus option. It has the higher RTP, though. What else is higher is Money Jar 2's max win, now reaching 25,000x the bet compared to Money Jar's 20,000x.

Whether player input was involved in the creation of Money Jar 2 or not is not clear at the point, but it definitely feels like the 'enhanced gaming experience' Slotmill has billed it as. Respins have been expanded by the inclusion of special Power Up symbols, the Coin Bonus Game has had an overhaul, and there's a whole new bonus round to explore. As such, fans of the first owe it themselves to give Money Jar 2 a try, and it may appeal to any player looking for an excellently presented slot rammed with features and personality.