Jelly Express

Jelly Express Review

Pragmatic Play is back with a slot that bakes many of the features we love from the Sweet Bonanza (SB) series, with a few taken from the 5 Lions (5L) series, into one delicious treat. As we’ll see (and as you can probably tell on first look, if you’re familiar), Jelly Express is more an SB game, both by look and feel, than a 5L game. 

My Jelly Express review will look at the game basics before getting into the special features, graphics, and user experience, so grab your ticket and let’s get on board!

Jelly Express’ symbols and payouts

We always begin our slot reviews with the basics, so my Jelly Express review first looks at the game’s main symbols, paylines, payouts, maximum win amount, RTP, and volatility.

Game symbols

Jelly Express has 9 main symbols: a green candy, an orange candy, a purple candy, a blue candy, a red gummy bear, a gingerbread couple, a gingerbread woman, a gingerbread man, and a pink conductor gummy bear. We’ll cover the game’s scatter and wild symbols in the special features section of our Jelly Express review below.

Number of paylines

Consistent with the SB series, Pragmatic Play has made Jelly Express a scatter pays slot, where the game pays when at least 8 matching symbols appear anywhere on the 6×5 board at the same time. There are no paylines. Those familiar with the SB series will be familiar with this mechanic.

Payouts

From lowest to highest value, Jelly Express symbols payout as follows: the green candy pays the least, followed by the orange candy, purple candy, blue candy, and red gummy bear. The gingerbread couple pays out the fourth-highest, followed by the gingerbread woman, the gingerbread man, and, finally, the pink conductor gummy bear pays out the most.

Min/max bet

The minimum bet in Jelly Express is $0.20, and the maximum bet is $240. It’s a decent range, even if I’d like the minimum to be lower. High rollers will be satisfied with the maximum, though.

Maximum Win 

Jelly Express has a theoretical maximum payout of 5,000x the bet. With the max bet of $240, players can win a maximum of $1,200,000 playing Jelly Express, which is typical for the SB series. 

RTP and volatility

Jelly Express has a Return to Player of 96.50%. Pragmatic Play has kept it with the rest of the series in the high-RTP slots category. Similarly, Jelly Express is made with a high volatility, so like the game’s predecessors, patient players should earn the most rewards.

Jelly Express’ slot special features

Besides some new symbols, everything we’ve seen at this point in my Jelly Express review we’ve seen already in the SB series. Here, I’ll look at more things Jelly Express shares with the SB series and those it shares with the 5L series, allowing this game to distinguish itself from those other Pragmatic Play titles: the slot’s special features. 

Tumble feature

Those familiar with the SB series will know the tumble mechanism Jelly Express employs.

When payouts occur, seeing 8 or more symbols match, those matching symbols explode, emptying those grid positions and causing the symbols above to tumble down the reel, filling the empty positions. 

The symbols that tumble down can then create new matches, and these new matches result in further tumbles and potential matches, continuing until no new matches are made. The payout consists of the total of all tumbles.

Wild symbol

The wild symbol is something the SB series has not used until now, and it is the first influence we’ve seen from the 5 Lions series. 

Not only can the wild stand for any other symbol (other than the scatter symbol) to complete matches, but, just as in 5 Lions, whenever the wild is used to complete matches, it adds a random multiplier (1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 8x, 10x, 15x, 20x, 25x, 50x, or 100x) to any subsequent tumbles that use a wild symbol.

We welcome the influence.

Scatter symbol

The scatter symbol is a train token. Unlike the SB games, the scatter symbol does not pay out. It does activate the Jelly Express free spins round if 3 or more hit anywhere on the board, though, which is true for the SB and 5L series as well. In this case, our tokens get us on the Jelly Express itself.

Free spins round

Here, we see more influence from 5L: when Jelly Express’ free spins round is activated, players are given a choice of free spins rounds to activate:

Super free spins

Unique to Jelly Express is the super free spins round. The feature is triggered randomly if a scatter lands during the free spins round. It adds 5 free spins and holds multipliers for the remainder of the round, rather than resetting them after each spin. It’s a pretty, er, sweet addition.

Buy feature

It’s a regular feature for Pragmatic Play slots to be included with bonus buy slots: it was the case for the SB and 5L series, and it remains the case with Jelly Express.  As is usual, the studio has loaded Jelly Express with plenty of bonus buy options and ante bets:

• Ante Bet: For 5x the bet, spins will come with 8x the chance of hitting a free spins round and every winning wild guarantees a multiplier.
• Super Spin 1: For 20x the bet, a wild is guaranteed with every spin.
• Super Spin 2: For 250x the bet, a minimum 10x multiplier on every spin, and multipliers add up until the end of every tumble.
• Free Spins Round: For 100x the bet, players can purchase the standard free spins round.
• Super Free Spins Round: For 500x the bet, players can purchase a free spins round with multipliers that add up.
  

Jelly Express’ graphics and sound

As I alluded to above, Jelly Express looks very much like it belongs in the SB family. A cotton candy, lollipop, and chocolate landscape floats by as players ride the express train. Pragmatic Play has done a phenomenal job here, as the player’s POV is on the front of a train, with tracks moving underneath, and the landscape rolling by. Notice how the designers have animated this with only the lower half of the image actually changing. It’s very subtle; superbly executed.

The soundtrack is also from the SB family: upbeat, catchy, bouncy, and fun. When symbols hit, funny boinking sounds are made. The sound is constant and enjoyable.

Jelly Express’s mobile experience

Pragmatic Play always delivers games that are considered for our list of the best mobile slots in Canada, and my Jelly Express review finds a game that meets our mobile expectations in that regard.

Jelly Express translates wonderfully to mobile devices, the game’s vibrancy only shining through more. The controls are easy to find and operate. The experience is smooth.

Jelly Express pros and cons

It’s very much like its predecessors, so most of Jelly Express’ pros come from the past, and that fact alludes to the game’s biggest con:

Solutions if you have issues with Jelly Express

My Jelly Express review uncovered the following solutions to the most common issues faced by players during the game:

1. Game interruption: Jelly Express will resume at its last point of play when the game restarts. 
2. Unfinished rounds of Jelly Express are paused until the round is completed or the round is made void after one day of inactivity. Wagers are returned to the player’s account when rounds are voided.
3. Malfunction voids all pays and plays.
4. For further issues, contact Pragmatic Play’s customer support team.
   

Adding extra sprinkles

It’s difficult not to like Jelly Express. Like every game in the Sweet Bonanza series, it’s colourful and loaded with fun.

For a game that just adds a few sprinkles to something seen before, though, Jelly Express is hard to praise.

No one will complain about adding a wild symbol to the board, but we’re hardly going to throw a legendary party for doing so either. 

Yes, adopting the ‘choice of free spins rounds’ from games like 5 Lions Megaways is cool, but again, it’s just a sprinkle; a nice addition, but hardly revolutionary.

Like I said, though, it’s difficult to complain about Jelly Express as well. Its biggest failure is its lack of originality. 

In the end, executing a vibrant game loaded with sweetness is Pragmatic Play’s forte, and I can’t help but be left with a sweet taste, concluding my Jelly Express review with an 86 out of 100 final score.

Other slots to play if you like the Jelly Express slot

Obviously, if you like Jelly Express but have never tried any of the other Sweet Bonanza games, then those would be the first place to turn for something similar. Along with a couple of those, these are some other candy-themed slots worth giving a shot:

• Sweet Bonanza 1000
• Sweet Rush Bonanza
• Candy Bonanza
• Candy Rush
• Candy Monsta

Author

Nick Purdy Casino Content Writer

Covering igaming in Canada and Ontario for 2 years, he specializes in both the review process (having written over 100 casino reviews at CanadaCasino.ca and OntarioCasinos.com) and responsible gambling guidelines. He is meticulous with his reviews and is known amongst the team for being strict with his high standards. A thorough fact-checker, he is also well-versed in anti-money laundering regulations, having completed multiple AML training courses in recent years.

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