Updated
Lisa Michaels
Prepare for something different before you play the Cool Jewels slot by WMS. This game might look like a regular square grid, cluster pays slot at first, but it’s a creative winning mechanic, and intense bonus features make it one-of-a-kind. The more symbols you remove, the higher the prize per symbol and unique gems with modifier powers create potent effects on the reels. This icy slot experience delivers exciting gameplay and prizes worth up to $250k.
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While the gameplay of this slot is unusual, the controls are nothing out of the ordinary. If you want to spin the reels, set Autoplay, or change your bet, all the controls are in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. From here, you can also view the paytable and game rules.
Unlike most other slots, the symbols in the Cool Jewels slot do not have any payout values. Instead, they all share the same value that increases with every Cascading Reels win. The symbols are shiny gems, with some having special abilities. You will see red, green, teal, pink, yellow, blue, orange, and purple gems of various shapes. A special diamond symbol will pay out 10x the current symbol value when it is part of a winning cluster.
When you land clusters of 4 or more matching symbols in a horizontal or vertical cluster, the game will reward you with a win. The Cascading Reels mechanic will remove winning symbol combinations and leave gaps for new symbols to appear. This gives you the chance to score multiple wins from a single spin. Ony the wild symbols are not instantly removed by the Cascading Reels.
All the symbols, except the multiplier, will pay out the same value. This value is displayed on the 12-segment Pay per Symbol Meter to the left of the reels and ranges from 0.2x to 1x your bet. The symbol value increases with every cascading win you get, but it will reset to its lowest value between spins.
The top prize for this slot is 2500x your bet. Because the potential symbol values max out at 1x your bet, the wilds will play an essential part in you reaching this maximum amount.
This slot has four different wild symbols, which are Unstable Wilds, Shattering Wilds, Shocking Wilds and Persisting Wilds. These have different effects, and some can combine to create special modifiers.
If the trophy lands during the base game, it can award you 8-12 free spins or up to 1000 coins. During free spins, the trophy can award you 2-4 extra free spins, up to 1000 coins, or a reel entire of wild symbols.
The Shocking Wild destroys symbols in an X-shaped pattern, the Shattering Wild destroys symbols in a cross-shaped pattern, and the Unstable Wild destroys symbols in a surrounding area.
If an unstable wild and shattering wild symbol land next to each other, all spaces affected by the unstable wild will be highlighted in pink. Any symbols that land in these highlighted positions on the following cascade will be instantly destroyed.
When the unstable wild and shocking wild combine, the spaces the shocking wild affects are highlighted in green, and any symbols that land on these spaces in the following cascade turn into wilds.
Land the shattering and shocking wild next to each other, and all positions affected by the shattering wild will be highlighted in blue. All the spaces affected by these wilds will add a 10x multiplier to any symbols that land on them during the following cascade.
If you land two matching wilds next to each other, they will turn into a pair of Persisting Wilds. These symbols will move down 1 row of the reels with each cascade, destroying surrounding symbols in the unstable wild destruction pattern until they hit the bottom and disappear.
You will trigger the free spins round if 4 or more scatters are destroyed during a cascading win. Destroying 4, 5, 6, or 7 scatters will give you 8, 10, 15, or 20 free spins. Any extra scatters you land will reward you with five more free spins each.
During free spins, destroying four or more scatters will retrigger the feature.
Cool Jewels is a medium volatility slot, so the winning and losing spins should balance out on average. The RTP of 96.1% shows the theoretical return on your bets.
Cool Jewels slot has a frozen theme, with an ice-covered background and purple reels. By today’s standards, the symbol designs look plain, but they hold up pretty well for a 2016 slot. The soundtrack is ambient electronic music you might hear in a nightclub’s chill room.
Free slot demos are available for many games across most online casinos. The best part about demos is that you can use free credits to explore the game and its features in full without any risk to your casino balance.
The Cascading Reels is the main mechanic that makes Cool Jewels such an enjoyable slot. The chains of wins you can get from a single spin can create unforgettable moments, but this is not the only game to feature this innovation.
Rise of Olympus has an awe-inspiring Greek mythology-inspired theme and great features, some of which are triggered when you fill a meter by landing cascading wins. Finn and the Swirly Spin is also a better-looking game than Cool Jewels, and its version of the cascading mechanic plays out on unique spiral reels, with features including exploding wilds. Golden Ticket has a nostalgic carnival theme where a cascading reels win will create a special wild symbol each time.
Cools Jewels is themed just like so many slots before it, bejewelled in riches but this time with an icy backdrop that, in all honesty, plays more like a Candy Crush rendition than like a video slot across a 6x6 platform with cascading reels with winning combinations. I set my bet amount to 4 credits per spin and then started to spin the reels. I familiarised myself with the game and checked if there might be an extra feature to improve my chances for high winnings. It didn’t take long until the reels started to cascade and got a few small wins. After that, I decided to increase my bet amount to 5 credits, where I won a big combination with many 10x multipliers, awarding me a big win of 85 credits. At this stage, I was sitting in profit and pushed on. Winning a few small wins on the way, but I was eating into my bankroll, finishing off the challenge just below my starting amount.
Results:This is the game to try if you're seeking something different and off the usual beaten track. It offers Cascading Reels, Exploding Wilds, and Free Spins, an excellent triple threat to keep you on your toes. The variety of ways to form winning combinations adds to the excitement. Cool Jewels have gained a strong following over the years, and there is still plenty of room for people new to slots to enjoy themselves.
Cool Jewels reminded me that there are still surprises to be discovered in the world of online slots. I enjoyed discovering the different wilds and how their unique modifiers gave me exciting winning chances. While the theme feels like it could use an update, it is one of WMS’s more modern-looking games and the magic is in the gameplay which feels like a thrill ride when it hits its peak during free spins.
Lisa started off as a croupier at her local casino. However she found her niche in writing and has subsequently used her real-world gambling experiences to help produce and review the many online slots that are released monthly. Lisa also contributes to keeping you up to date with Canadian newsworthy stories.
