Slot machine name: Monopoly Jackpot Station
Manufacturer: WMS
Slot Type: Transmissive Reel
Lines: 20 lines
Reel dimensions: 5 reels, 3 symbols per reel.
Bonuses: Free spins bonus, with random multipliers, wild reels, and other goodies
Progressive: One progressive variant with large jackpot for 5 monopoly symbols across line 1.
Author's Rating: 9.0/10
Jackpot Station is one of many Monopoly based games released by WMS. This particular version is a 5x3 transmissive reel version which features a fairly frequent free spin bonus and a change-to-symbol feature on a five of a kind match of the blank community chest .
The base game features 20 lines. I have seen this game in several denominations, including 1c, 2c, and 5c. In my experience, the base game pays fairly poorly. There are stacked wilds present on each reel, but they are rarely seen unlike many other games.
This game shines in it's fun and frequent bonus round. The bonus round is triggered by getting three or more scattered bonus symbols in the game area. This gives the player two dice which they are asked to roll twice.
The player starts on the "Go" space, and moves around the board for each roll. Each property awards a number of spins, with properties further along the board awarding higher amounts. Note that the absolute best starting case you could obtain is rolling a 7 to land on chance, picking "Advance to the next railroad (7 spins), then rolling a 10 to land on another railroad (10 spins) for a total of 17 spins.
Once you have your base spins, the game starts. For each base spin, the player picks one of 5 characters on the screen. The characters are assigned randomly from a pool of 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, and wild reel. Not every choice is present on every pick and sometimes symbols might appear multiple times.
Once the player makes their pick, that spin either has the multiple of the player's choosing or the first reel turns to all wilds.
If, during that spin, the player gets TWO or more bonus symbols, they get to roll the dice again for additional free spins with the chosen multiplier. Example: I have 10 spins and pick a 5x multiplier. On that spin, I get 3 of a kind and two more bonus symbols. I get paid for 3 of a kind times 5, then roll again. When I roll, I land on St. Charles place for 3 spins. I now get 3 more spins at 5x. Once those are over, I still have 9 of my base spins left for which I must pick new multipliers.
Due to the fact that only two bonus symbols are required to re-trigger the bonus, bonuses tend to last quite a while.
The other feature in the game is the community chest bonus. Some of the symbols on the reels are "blank" cards. Normally they pay nothing and block other combonations. However, if you manage to get 5 of them on a payline then you get a community chest pick, transforming all the blanks into the symbol you choose. Among the choices may be BONUS and WILD symbols. If you manage to get this mini-bonus during the regular bonus and then pick the wild symbol, be prepared for a massive payout.
Jackpot party is a great game. Most of the pays come from the bonus, but it shouldn't take you to long to hit it. I'd recommend you give this game a shot!
