J-POP

J-POP

7 / 10
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Pack your bags for a new journey that is fully powered by ELK Studios. You’ll be heading to Jellon and will get to meet the locals as you get used to their groovy rituals in the J-POP pokie powered by ELK Studios. This is a medium volatility casino game that offers players top wins of 25,000x the stake so the first stats are fairly impressive. Another stat we need to point out though is the RTP rate which is set at a comfortable 94%. Be sure to look out for Grid Flip symbols as these are the ones that can flip the reels horizontally. Then there is also a Big Drop symbol that crushes all 1×1 payout symbols. Something to get ready for is the thrilling Free Drop Bonus that sees that retriggers are possible. Curious to find out whether we like this pokie or not? Make sure to read on as we’re about to present our in-depth and independent J-POP review. This review is mainly for New Zealanders.

J-POP Review

In this new free online pokie game by ELK Studios, you’re about to come across some joyful monsters who are based in Jellon. In Jellon, the outer space inhabitants are about to go to earth and whilst they make their way they can bring along some great prizes. In terms of features, J-POP (we reckon this stands for Jellon Pop) has also a lot to offer, including colossal symbols, walking wilds, expanding rows, symbol upgrades, and free drops. As in many recent games by ELK, players can make use of the X-iter bonus option whilst top wins go up to an excellent 25,000x the stake. If you want to know more about the exact role of the aliens in this pokie we suggest you read our full J-POP pokie review.

Nice to know

Launched 3 October 2023
RTP 94.0%
Volatility Medium-High
Software ELK Studios
Features Additional Free Spins, Avalanche / Cascading wins, Bonus Bet, Buy Feature, Free Spins, Scatter symbols, Symbol Swap, Walking Symbols, Moving Wilds, Wild, Wilds with multipliers
Theme Colours, Music
Paylines 4096 Ways To Win
Grid Layout 6x4 up to 6x8
Min. bet/line $ 0.20
Max win x25,000
Jackpot NA

Positive points

  • ✅ Win Up to 25,000x The Stake
  • ✅ One RTP Only
  • ✅ Heaps of Features
  • ✅ 5 Features
  • ✅ X-iter Feature
  • ✅ 4096 Ways To Win

Negative points

  • ❌ Low 94% RTP
  • ❌ High Volatility

Review J-POP

If you’re wondering what you are getting yourself into, let’s start with telling you that J-POP comes with a rather strange story. For ages, the denizens of Jellon used porta-loos to make their way to earth, where all sorts of items are used to complete rituals. This makes the game a rather unique one as we don’t come across this story everyday, but the good thing is that this also means that there are heaps of features that will help both you and the aliens. Below you’ll discover more about the features waiting for your spins. We are also more than happy to help you find online casinos in NZ offering the J-POP pokie game.

How to Play

Some of the best online casinos in NZ have already added this game by ELK Studios. We don’t expect you to have any difficulties finding this title in licenced online casinos that are available in NZ. If it’s the first time you’re going to play it, here is how to play J-POP:

  • Playing J-POP should work smoothly as it’s not too difficult to understand. You can either make use of the free demo or set a real money bet between $0.20 and $100.
  • Gameplay is available on a grid with 6 columns and 4 rows. These can expand towards a max of 6×8. The number of paylines can also grow from 4096 to 262,144.
  • Spinning the reels is done manually by clicking on the spin button or automatically with Autoplay.
  • Combos of 3+ identical reels matched adjacently as seen from the leftmost column will lead to a winning combination.
  • For more details go to the J-POP pokie game options. This includes the overall settings, paytable, and the rules of the games.

Symbol Wins

The main reason for game enthusiasts to play the J-POP pokie is the J-POP music. This will also depend on preferences of course, but the music is actually quite good quality wise as this game is not a cheap spin-off. The symbols on the game are divided into standard, low value symbols and premium symbols. The low value symbols include the J, Q, K, and A with 6 of them paying 0.2x the stake. Medium valued symbols are the ones that are made up of candies in different shapes and colours. Winning combos of 6 with one of these pays 0.25x-0.5x the stake. The high value symbols are shown by the inhabitants of Jellon. Six-of-a-kind with these pays 1x-5x the stake, with the red fella being the most lucrative symbol of them all. Below, we’ll tell you more about the different symbols in the pokie:

Symbol Payout for 3x Payout for 4x Payout for 5x Payout for 6x
J 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.3x the stake
Q 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.3x the stake
K 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.3x the stake
A 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.3x the stake
Blue Candy 0.15 0.25 0.4 0.8x the stake
Purple Candy 0.15 0.25 0.4 0.8x the stake
Yellow Candy 0.2 0.3 0.5 1x the stake
Red Candy 0.2 0.3 0.5 1x the stake
Blue Monster 0.5 0.75 1 1.25x the stake
Purple Monster 0.75 1 1.25 1.5x the stake
Yellow Monster 1 1.25 1.5 2x the stake
Red Monster 1.5 2 2.5 3x the stake
Wild Substitutes for all symbols
Wild Box Places a random number of Wilds on the reels
Walking Wild Randomly walks 1 step, increasing the multiplier by 1x
Bonus 3+ Free Drops Bonus Game
Big Drop Activates a drop of big symbols
Grid Flip Flips the reels horizontally

Bonus Features

Players will find a total of 5 bonus features in the J-POP pokie game. These include grid flips and big drop symbols to unlimited free drops and different buy bonus options giving you multiple options to purchase direct access to the bonus feature. Let’s dive into the different bonus features that are waiting for you in the J-POP casino game.

Big Symbols

The standard symbols and wilds can come with Super 2×2, Mega 3×3 or Epic 4×4 in size in any symbols drop. All of these big symbols are counted as consisting of the number of 1×1 symbol instances it covers. When this happens, a Mega 3×3 is counted as 9 standard 1×2 symbols. The empty spaces that land below the large symbols are filled with 1×1 symbols of the same symbol type as the large symbol to reach a stable horizontal resting state. There is an exception here which is the Walking Wild. The other symbols in the game can extend beyond the current achieved amount of rows and award a refill up to the highest row which is reached by the means of row expansion. This goes up to a max of 8 rows.

Grid Flip symbols

The Grid Flip does what it says. If a Grid Flip symbol lands on the reels, it flips the entire grid horizontally and becomes a Wild symbol. This means that reels 1 and 6, 2 and 5, and 3 and 4 will switch positions. The Grid Flip symbol comes to an end when no winning combos are made.

Big Drop Symbols

When a Big Drop symbol lands, it will activate a drop of big symbols that crushes away 1×1 paying symbols and then becomes a wild symbol. Like the Grid Flip symbol, this symbol also executes when no additional winning combinations appear. If the Grid Flip and Big Drop symbols land in view together, the Grip Flip symbol will execute first.

Free Drops Bonus Game

Make sure to land 3+ bonus symbols in the base game to activate this bonus feature. Here is how many FS you will get depending on how many bonus symbols land. It is also worth noting here that the Walking Wilds of the game are persistent when entering the bonus feature and between free drops. You will start the bonus feature with the safety level set to 4 rows. Each winning free drop will increase the safety level by 1 row. A Walking Wild may advance the safety level by several rows, with the top level being 8 rows, unlocking a total of 262,144 ways to win. The Free Drops Bonus Game gets retriggered with no upper limit. We’re happy with this as many Free Spins features that don’t offer chances of retriggering.

X-tier Bonus Buy

The X-tier is what the bonus buy feature is called and it’s actually so much more than just a mere bonus feature as most modern games by ELK Studios come with this particular feature. The idea is the same as in other bonus buy features which means that you can buy yourself direct access to the different features. Here are your options:

  • Bonus Hunt: 3x the bet
    • Gives you an increased chance to land 3+ scatters.
  • Big Drop: 10x the bet:
    • Gives you a guaranteed Big Drop symbol will occur.
  • Walking Wild: 25x the bet: one Walking Wild symbol will drop on the next round.
  • Bonus: 100x the bet.
    • Buy the Free Drops minigame.
  • Super Bonus: 500x the bet.
    • Buy Free Drops with a guaranteed Walking Wild.

Payout Metrics

The J-POP RTP is set at 94% which is low, but not unsurprising if you’re familiar with the games of ELK Studios. Other recent games by ELK Studios have a RTP level of 94% which is lower than wanted, so you’ll need to be aware of this. Also, this is the only return to play available so don’t get your hopes up as you’re stuck to this RTP. At the same time, we do have to point out that there are enough reasons to try out this game. Also, this casino game has a medium variance which is sort of comforting to know. Last payout metric we’ll come across: the top win in J-POP is set at 25,000x the stake which is very favourable. This compensates for the lower than average RTP of 94%.

Summary

If you’re already one of the many fans of the extensive list of popular games ELK Studios, you will be in for a treat with funny looking monsters awarding very convenient prizes. This new online pokie by ELK offers great top wins going up to 25,000x the stake. Apart from the lively colours, this game offers a very lively soundtrack. Whilst it remains a mystery what the inhabitants of Jellon do during their rituals, there is a lot to enjoy in this pokie game by ELK. The pokie is highly entertaining and stacked with a nice range of 5 different features. If you’re a fan of the overall game theme and the music you will enjoy this one. In case you are not well familiar with the game play do not hesitate to try our free J-POP pokie demo and decide for yourself whether this new online casino game is worth your real money wagers. Overall, this pokie gets a positive evaluation from us, a 7 out of 10 rating.