Jungle Stripes

Overview Jungle Stripes

In June 2021 BetSoft is planning one of their biggest game releases of the summer, which they say is one of their best slots yet. They have already sent out a demo to a few reviewers and published its dry run version on their site. There is a lot of buzz about this slot from reviewers and players alike. However, is the hype to be believed or is this just another slot in the BetSoft cannon to be forgotten in a few months? We will endeavour to find out the answer here.

When it comes to features, this game certainly sounds exciting. Included in the bonus content for this game are expanding wilds, re-spins and a free spins bonus round. However, it is the expanding wild re-spins that will pay dividends here. This is because the wilds that land expand to fill entire reels, giving players a far more likely chance of triggering some big wins. You can also get two payouts, one when triggering the feature and another when you achieve a win courtesy of the re-spin.

Theme and Symbols

For this game, BetSoft has invited us to a humid and colourful cartoon rainforest where life is abundant and varied. This being a game where a tiger is the main character, this rainforest is likely to be in northern India, where the Bengali tiger is most likely to be found. Having said that, BetSoft is probably not that concerned with geographical accuracy, considering that the tiger looks like Tony from the Frosties adverts.

The background for this slot game is a deep and dark rainforest where huge trees dominate the skyline and dense foliage fills the rest of the forest hierarchy. To the left of the reels is a charming monkey, hanging nonchalantly from a lime green vine. Beyond him, a great clearing opens up where milky sunshine filters in through the forest canopy. To the right of the reels is some sort of long-beaked bird, whose bright eyes and relaxed manner endear you towards them as your forest guide.

The playing board looks like a stock design with 5 reels and 3 rows. There are a few details that the designers have included to bring the board into the theme a little more. These details mostly revolve around covering the board in various layers of forest vine and plants, making it look like it has grown into the environment around it.

Symbols for Jungle Stripes, as is the typical format for free online slots machines, are split between low-value card symbols and higher value thematically relevant pictures. The low-value card symbols comprise A, J, Q, K, and are styled to look like they have been scratched by the vicious and curiously yellow tiger in this game. Joining these on the reels are the picture symbols. These are the leaf with a ladybird on it, the glowing lotus flower, the sharp canines of the tiger, and the mushroom protruding from a cluster of crystals. The specials for this game are the tiger which represents the wild and expanding wild and the moon hovering over the forest canopy, which represents the free spins scatter.

Game Play

Jungle Stripes is played on a 5-reel, 3-row playing window with 10 both-way pay lines. To create winners in this game, players must match a minimum of 3 symbols across a pay line starting on reel 1. The betting range for Jungle Stripes is 10p to £100 per spin. To change your betting level per spin, adjust the number of coins wagered using the adjuster located in the middle of the menu bar at the bottom of the screen.

Further information regarding the slot, including a display of the paytable, can be accessed by clicking on the settings menu. The spin button is located on the right-hand side of the screen. You can set up auto spins in the game’s menu.
The volatility for Jungle Stripes is rated in the medium range. The return to player percentage for Jungle Stripes is a very encouraging 97.03%. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 500x your stake.

Features

The first feature, the re-spins with expanded wilds, concerns the wild symbol, which as you’ll remember for this game is the grumpy looking tiger. He can only land on the middle 3 reels. Every time that one of these symbols lands, it expanded to fill the reel it is on. It will then become locked to that reel for 1 re-spin. This as explained in the introduction means a double payout – one when you land the wild and another on the re-spin.

The other feature in this game is the free spins bonus. You can trigger this bonus by landing 3 of the ‘moonglow’ scatters on the middle reels. Doing so will award the player with 10 free spins. The free spins round is much the same as the base game, however, players are plunged into darkness with anew nighttime setting, hence the moon-related scatters. Just as in the base game, the tiger wilds can still land and expand to help score more frequent wins.

Sadly, you cannot retrigger the feature from within the free spins round. The free spins round on average comes around every 85 spins or so, which is not a bad trigger rate.

Conclusion

BetSoft are masters when it comes to the visual appeal of free slots online and their latest game is no different. Is it worth the hype surrounding it? On the one hand, the RTP is very impressive, the game’s quality is excellent, and the tiger character is very likeable. On the other hand, the max payout is poor, the features aren’t that inventive, and the theme isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. On balance you’d say that it is a good slot but nothing worth talking up to your friends.