Jammin’ Jars 2

Jammin’ Jars 2 from Push Gaming is back in action! Get on the dancefloor and find your wins with new fruits and new features. This time they’ve brought a resident DJ to fruit it up with some surprises of his own.

Read on for the full review.

Features

Wins are achieved with 5 or more matching vertical and/or horizontal Clusters. Winning symbols are removed, and replacement symbols collapse to fill the gaps.

WILD JAR

• The WILD JAR substitutes for all symbols.
• When a WILD JAR contributes to a win, it moves to a vacant position adjacent to it and remains in place.
• Each time a WILD JAR contributes to a win during a symbol Collapse, its multiplier is increased by 1.

INSTANT PRIZE FEATURE

• When an INSTANT PRIZE symbol lands in a cluster of 5 or more, a win equal to the sum of all values in the INSTANT PRIZE symbols is awarded.

FRUIT BLAST FEATURE

• The Fruit Blast Feature is triggered randomly after any Collapse. One or more Giant Fruit Symbols or Giant Instant Prize symbols of the same type are added to the grid. The Giant symbol converts any position beneath it to regular symbols of the same type.

FREE GAMES FEATURE

• Win 6 Free Games when 3 or more WILD JAR symbols land.

GIGA JAR FEATURE

• In the Base Game, a GOLD VINYL symbols are collected in the Giga Jar. When the Giga Jar reaches its maximum level, and a GOLD VINYL lands, there is a chance to trigger the Giga Jar Feature.
• When the Giga Jar Feature is won, all symbols fall off the grid, and 3 or 4 WILD JAR symbols are added. A 2×2, 3×3 or 4×4 GIGA JAR symbol enters and becomes an INSTANT PRIZE symbol block.
• 8 Free Games are awarded with only INSTANT PRIZE symbols

Paytable Review

Jammin’ Jars 2 has undergone a significant trim of close to the entire paytable to add extra pays at the top. There is an added layer of prizes for 32+ combinations increasing the top award from 100x to 1,000x. New prize groups have been added as well to separate the larger groups of the original game.

Playability

Instead of being a new game, Jammin’ Jars 2 resembles chapter 2 of the Jammin’ Jars book. Everything about the original remains, while new stuff has been added to keep it fresh and exciting. The Wild (and its behaviour) and the Free Games feature are identical to Jammin’ Jars. Even the Fruit Blast feature is a reskinned version of the Rainbow feature from original.

What has been added are the Instant Prize symbols and the Giga Jar feature with an interesting increasing RTP mechanism. The Giga Jar feature reads well, and it’s certainly worth investigating, as this is where the returns are held.

The 8 Free Giga Jar Games are played with only INSTANT PRIZE symbols and three WILDs plus increasing RTP through the collection phase. Nice. But, to reach the maximum Giga Level, first you need to qualify by collecting 110 GOLD VINYL symbols, progressing through four levels. Then, the trigger isn’t guaranteed; you have a chance to trigger with every GOLD VINYL symbol that lands, meaning you may not trigger when GOLD VINYL symbols land.

While your RTP increases 0.1% each level, GOLD VINYL symbols are quite rare. As an estimate I’d say 1 in 25 spins (in one instance I counted 60 spins between GOLD VINYL appearances). So, an estimated 2,750 spins to qualify for a trigger. The feature better be worth it, and it is IF you have the patience and bankroll to trigger it. Please gamble responsibly.

Overall, the game is fun to play. Push has maintained enough DNA of the original to keep the flow of the Jammin’ Jars family alive while attempting to ‘push’ the envelope to new heights. In doing so, the volatility has shifted from the Free Games to the Instant Wins and Giga Jar feature. BUT if you’re a fan of Jammin’ Jars, you probably won’t like the sequel. The drop in the frequent low-end prizes is heavily noticeable and, while the additions are nice, they’re far too rare to justify the cost.

Its winning potential isn’t apparent to begin with as it’s tucked far away within a seemingly unachievable Giga Jar feature. Once you trigger it though, it becomes very clear very quickly what it can do.

Player Profile

Jammin’ Jars 2 is a head turner for any fan of Jammin’ Jars. Players of grid layout games will also gravitate towards it. The fruity grid genre is typically intended for casual players and Jammin’ Jars 2 is no different. There is enough meat in the math model to transcend the casual player and grab the attention of more avid and serious slot players.

The Glory Spin

The feature additions in Jammin’ Jars 2 have resulted in an increased potential win from a respectable 20,000x to a whopping 50,000x! Not that 20,000x was anything to frown upon. Hitting a bunch of INSTANT PRIZE symbols together with WILD JAR multipliers in the Giga Jar feature is what you’re looking for.

Delights and Surprises

• The Instant Prize feature gives tasty Base Game surprises,
• The behaviour of the WILD JARs remain unchanged from the original.

Shortcomings

• The massively culled paytable won’t be popular among players,
• The Giga Feature trigger depends on qualification PLUS hitting further triggering symbols,
• The Fruit Blast feature has frequent teasers. That is, triggers that almost award a feature.

Conclusion

Sequels are a tough thing to accomplish well. Developers need to maintain the integrity of the game family while injecting something new, innovative and, most importantly, appealing to keep the interest of existing players alive and pique the curiosity of new players. By this, Push Gaming has done a wonderful job with Jammin’ Jars 2. Not only do you get the same features of the original but some added ‘wow’ to captivate interest.

It’s new and innovative, but will it be appealing? The greatest issue with Jammin’ Jars 2 is its core focus feature being so difficult to trigger and… being so volatile that you may walk away with a less-than-stellar result. After finally reaching the max level, you’d still need to collect those damned Gold Vinyl symbols to actually land the triggering one, only to win close to 100x.

Only time will tell if the volatility balance is too far skewed toward the Giga Jar feature or if there is still enough incentive remaining in its regular pays for players to enjoy their session.

Jammin’ Jars 2 gets 69 Spins out of 100 based on the following ratings: