Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways Slot Review
A grinning joker fills the middle of a five-reel board that, at first glance, looks almost too plain to bother with. That’s the trick. Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways gets more out of ten paylines than most modern slots manage with twenty, because every one of those lines pays twice and the wilds sit exactly where the traffic flows. Strip away the grin and it’s a machine built on one piece of arithmetic, done well. It comes from Gold Coin Studios.
It runs at 96.06% RTP on medium volatility, with a 37.40% hit rate, ten fixed paylines and stakes from 0.10 to 300.00 per spin. You can see the family resemblance in Amelia’s Mugs and Jugs and Cairo Connectify Pays. Ten lines sounds thin until you remember every one of them counts twice.
Base Game & Features
This is a 5×3 reel setup with ten fixed paylines. You don’t choose how many to play; every spin covers all ten. A payline is a pattern of adjacent symbol positions running in a line across the reels, and a win needs matching symbols landing next to each other on one of those lines. Payline win payouts are based on the initial bet placed.
The bet structure is worth a moment, because it explains what the paytable is doing. Each spin costs a total bet built from the paylines played:
- Total bet = initial bet multiplied by the cost of the ten paylines played
- Initial bet = the current total bet divided by the payline cost of 10
- Initial bet = number of coins multiplied by the coin size
- Payline win payouts are based on the initial bet placed
Wins Pay Both Ways
The twist is direction. Payline wins pay from the first reel leftwards and from the last reel backwards, so a combination that stops short on one side can still complete from the other. A three-symbol run starting on reel five pays exactly as a three-symbol run starting on reel one does.
Each direction pays out on its own count. If several winning combinations land on the same payline in the same direction, only the highest one pays, and the same rule applies separately to the opposite direction on that line. Nothing stacks within one direction.
The total payout for a spin is every payline win added together, plus any Free Spins symbol wins from the same spin. Both directions are scored independently, which is what turns a modest ten-line grid into something with a little more reach than the line count suggests.
Expanding Wilds
The wild appears on reels two, three and four only, and every wild that lands expands to fill its entire reel as a Wild Reel. The wild itself doesn’t pay anything. In outline:
- Appears on reels 2, 3 and 4 only
- Every wild that lands expands to form a Wild Reel
- Substitutes for all symbols, including the Free Spins symbol
- Can therefore trigger Free Spins as well as complete payline wins
- Carries no payout of its own
- Appears in both the base game and Free Spins
That substitution rule matters more than it looks. With wilds sitting on the three middle reels, both-ways paylines effectively gain extra entry points from either end, and a stacked wild reel can serve left-facing and right-facing wins on the same spin. Two wilds together bridge four of the five reels at once.
Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways Free Spins
The bonus round hangs off the Free Spins symbol, which pays in any position on its reel rather than needing to sit on a payline. Its wins are multiplied by the total bet, not the initial bet the paylines use. It appears in both the base game and the bonus itself, so the round can feed itself once it’s running.
- Three, four or five consecutive Free Spins symbols trigger the round, starting from reel one or reel five, in either win direction
- Only the highest Free Spins symbol combination counts for each direction
- The number of spins awarded depends on how many reels the triggering combination covers
- The round can award up to 40 free spins
- Free Spins are played on a different reel set from the base game
- Free Spins can be retriggered
- All bets played are the same as the triggering spin
- All lines played are the same as the triggering spin
- Wins awarded during the feature are added to base game wins
Because the trigger needs consecutive symbols from one end or the other, expanding wilds on the middle reels can bridge a gap in the chain. A wild next to two Free Spins symbols reads as three, which is a quietly generous touch in a game built on ten lines. And since only the highest combination counts per direction, a five-symbol run from one end is never diluted by a three-symbol run from the other: both simply pay their own way.
Inside the round, everything carries over. The wild still expands on every appearance and still substitutes for the Free Spins symbol, which is what makes retriggers a live possibility rather than a footnote. The dedicated reel set means the bonus isn’t just the base game with a counter attached, and the bets and lines stay locked to the triggering spin, so there’s nothing to reconfigure mid-feature.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.1/10
This is a quick, undemanding spin with the joker grinning away in the middle of it, and the reason to pick it over the next five-reeler is simplicity itself: it pays both ways on every line, so the grid never feels as empty as ten paylines suggests. Sessions here move fast and pay often, just not in dramatic lump sums.
What it does best is the wild. Landing on the three middle reels, expanding every time and standing in for the Free Spins symbol too, it’s one symbol doing the work of a whole feature list, and it does that work in both directions at once. What it does least well is ambition: there’s one bonus round and no cap-stacking, ladder-climbing spectacle around it, so the ceiling on any given session is low even when the free spins run long.
The honest fit is anyone after a clean, fast reel game who doesn’t need a feature every thirty seconds to stay interested. Chasers of big-variance drama will find the grin wears thin quickly. For a calm hour with frequent small wins, though, the joker deals a fair hand.
Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways FAQs
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What is the RTP of Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways?
The RTP is 96.06%, sitting just above the typical 96% benchmark for online slots. -
Is Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways high volatility?
No. It’s a medium volatility slot, so wins tend to arrive at a steadier rhythm than in high-variance games, with a 37.40% hit frequency backing that up. -
What is the hit frequency of Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways?
The hit frequency is 37.40%, meaning roughly one in three spins produces a win of some kind. -
How many paylines does Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways have?
It has ten fixed paylines, and wins pay in both directions: left to right and right to left. If multiple winning combinations land on a single payline and direction, only the highest is awarded. -
What is the grid size of Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways?
It’s a 5×3 slot: five reels and three rows. -
How do you trigger free spins in Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways?
Land three, four or five consecutive Free Spins symbols starting from reel one or reel five, in either win direction. Wilds can substitute for the Free Spins symbol, so an expanding wild reel can help complete the combination. The round can also retrigger. -
What is the minimum and maximum bet on Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways?
Stakes run from 0.10 to 300.00 per spin, and all ten paylines are played on every spin. -
Can free spins be retriggered in Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways?
Yes. The Free Spins symbol appears during the bonus as well as the base game, and further consecutive combinations from either reel end award more spins. Free Spins play on a different reel set, with bets and lines matching the triggering spin. -
What do the wilds do in Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways?
Every wild that lands on reels two, three or four expands into a full Wild Reel. The wild substitutes for all symbols, including the Free Spins symbol, but carries no payout of its own. It appears in both the base game and Free Spins. -
Who makes Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways?
Gold Coin Studios. Joker’s Wacky Wilds Pays Both Ways’ release date is 11 December 2023.
