Our rating:
Developer: ELK Studios
Release date: 24th Oct 2023
J-POP Slot - Screenshot
RTP: 94.00%
Max Payout: 25,000x stake
Volatility: Medium
Min Bet: 0.20
Max Bet: 100.00
Reels: 6
Paylines: 4,096
Themes: Music, WTF
Jackpot: No

J-POP

Paul Clare
Reviewed by Paul Clare Last updated:

I don’t know what ELK Studios were on when they came up with this slot but it certainly had me intrigued. J-POP is colourful, weird and, above all, fun. The slot features a max win of 25,000x plus an expanding game area that can increase players’ win ways up to 262,144.

Full review continued below ↓

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Our Rating

“Delicious weirdness from ELK Studios”

4.0 out of 5

Features
8/10
Design
8/10
Gameplay
8/10
Win potential
8/10

J-POP Screenshots

  • J-POP Slot - Screenshot 1
  • J-POP Slot - Screenshot 2
  • J-POP Slot - Screenshot 3
  • J-POP Slot - Screenshot 4

J-POP Features

This colourful, brightly lit slot starts off with a game area of 6x4 and 4,096 ways to win, but those soon expand and increase. To win, you need to land matching symbols on 3 or more adjacent reels starting from the leftmost reel. If you do hit a winning combo, its symbols burst, another row of symbols is added to the grid, and there’s an Avalanche of symbols that fills all the new spaces. This continues until there are no more wins on the board. You can effectively end up with a 6x8 gaming area, which increases the win ways to 262,144!

Low pays are Jack, Queen, King, Ace—all worth the same. 6-of-a-kind is worth 0.2x the bet. Mid-pays are the four different sweets symbols. Their 6-of-a-kinds will pocket you between 0.25x and 0.5x the bet. The 4 character symbols are the high pays. 6-of-a-kind will return between 1x and 5x the bet. Finally, the mid and high-pay symbols’ order of value is blue, purple, yellow and red in ascending order.

Special symbols and bonuses

There are 3 different Wild symbols. If part of a win, the jukebox Wild Box places other Wilds randomly on the grid. The vinyl record Walking Wild moves to an adjacent position and increases its multiplier value by x1. There’s also the standard vinyl Wild. All Wilds can substitute for any pay symbol.

Big symbols are exactly that and come in 2x2, 3x3 and 4x4 sizes. They push other symbols off the grid and bring new ones into play while transforming themselves into Wilds.

Also, watch out for Grid Flip symbols—the grid is turned back to front, giving you another chance to land a combo starting on the leftmost reel. Grid Flip symbols also turn into Wilds, further increasing your chances to win.

3 cassette tape Scatter symbols give you access to the Free Spins game, where the number of rows immediately increases to 8, but you have to spin and win in order to elevate the Safety Level Bar to keep the win ways as high as possible.

J-POP - Big Symbols

Big Symbols

Super symbols are 2x2, Megas are 3x3 and Epics are 4x4. These big symbols are so heavy that when they land, they crush those wee 1x1 pay symbols, thereby leaving room for more symbols to drop.

J-POP - Grid Flip

Grid Flip

If the Grid Flip symbols drop, the entire grid turns back to front. Once the grid has flipped, all of the Grid Flip symbols turn into Wilds and the grid returns back to normal once your wins stop.

J-POP - Free Spins

Free Spins

At the beginning of the round, the grid increases to 8 rows, but in order to get the reels up there, you need to hit a win. The Safety Level bar moves up 1 row with each win and stops the grid from shrinking between payouts.

J-POP Review

It’s got sweets and alien creature symbols—both of which seem perfectly edible—and you’ve then got vinyl and cassette tape symbols. What’s this game all about? J-POP from ELK Studios doesn’t just expand your mind; there’s also an expanding game area, which can offer players up to 262,144 ways to win.

Design

What is it about this game? I don’t know whether to play it or eat it! I imagine the idea began life as a tongue-in-cheek representation of pop culture in Japan but quickly got out of hand. Lots of ASMR squelching and popping and the music is dreamy and melodic, too. Put simply, the presentation is superb.

Game Play

This game isn’t just about great audiovisuals. Thanks to the bounty of features, such as the expanding grid, the variety of Wilds and the Big symbols, there’s almost always something going on. For the most part, I loved it!

Win Potential

You might consider a 94% RTP quite low, but this is a medium-volatile game with a very decent max win of 25,000x. The expanding game area and a potential quarter of a million win ways mean you always feel like you're in with a chance of seeing some action. 

My Verdict

J-POP has got a bit of everything. Despite its weirdness, audiovisually, it’s a very inviting slot. There are lots of features to keep you interested, and the game makes you feel like there might be a win around the corner. You have to see it to believe it!

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Jump straight into the action and play J-POP now at the following fully licenced UK slot sites. These slot sites have been thoroughly audited and reviewed by the team here at Slot Gods to ensure they offer an exceptional user experience, are trustworthy, safe, secure, and boast the best selection of online slots in their portfolio including J-POP...