Introduction to Jack and the Wild Beanstalk
Jack and the Wild Beanstalk is a casino slot fromIconic21 that is based on the English fairy tale Jack and theBeanstalk. It’s a pretty well-known story that has featured in several previous slot games, although it’s not as big as the Disney fairy tales. The story revolves around Jack, who lives with his mother. One day, he sells the family cow for magical beans. His mother is angry and throws them away, but overnight, a huge beanstalk grows into the sky. Jack climbs it and finds a giant’s castle filled with treasures, including a harp and a goose that lays golden eggs.
The beans portray the Wild Symbol in this game, which can grow and cover an entire reel, although you can’t climb to the sky on it. For a closer look at how it works, you can play the free demo of Jack and the Wild Beanstalk at the top of this review.
Theme, Gameplay, and Payouts
Jack and the Wild Beanstalk is a video slot from Iconic21 with 5 reels, 5 rows, and 19 paylines. The Min.bet is 0.1, and the Max.bet is 25. Jack and the Wild Beanstalk has a default RTP of 96.02%, but a version of 94.07% is also released. The game has mid-high volatility and a max win of 10,000x the bet. With a hit frequency of 16.31%, you win on about 1 spin in 6.
The game takes us to the countryside, probably where Jack lives with his mom. A small cobblestone bridge crosses a blue pond, and next to it stands a cow, eating the green grass. A picket fence with a scarecrow runs around a small stone house with a red roof, and in the distance are pine trees and a tall mountain. The dark reels are placed in the middle of the screen, and they have a brown wooden roof. To make a win, you need to land 3 or more matching symbols on one of the 19 paylines going left to right. All wins must start on the first reel to the left, and you can play the game on mobile phones, tablets, and desktop computers.
The lower-paying symbols in Jack and the Wild Beanstalk are 10, J, Q, K, and A. They pay 1x the bet for wins of 5 symbols. The higher-paying symbols are cows, harps, giants, and Jacks. They will give you between 2x and 5x the bet for a complete winline. The Bean Wild Symbol substitutes all symbols except the Scatter Symbol.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Jack and the Wild Beanstalk?
You can win up to 10,000x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Jack and the Wild Beanstalk?
The features are Expanding Wild Symbol, Free Spins, Ante Bet, and Feature Buy.
Expanding Wild Symbol
The special Bean Wild Symbol can land anywhere on the reels with a random multiplier between 1x and 20x. When the symbol is activated, it transforms into a beanstalk and grows upward on the reel if there is space above it.
Each time the beanstalk expands, its multiplier increases by the same value as its original multiplier. Every position covered by the beanstalk acts as a Wild symbol, substituting for all regular paying symbols to help create winning combinations.
Any win that includes an Expanding Beanstalk Wild receives the symbol’s multiplier. If more than one Expanding Beanstalk Wild contributes to the same payline win, their multipliers are added together before being applied to the payout. Wild symbols can replace all regular paying symbols, but cannot substitute for Scatter symbols.
Free Spins
You trigger the Regular Free Spins by landing 3 Scatter Symbols anywhere on the reels, while 4 Scatter Symbols will get you the Enhanced Free Spins. The Expanding Bean Wild symbol appears more frequently in the feature than in the base game.
In the Enhanced Free Spins, a reel becomes activated when an Expanding Bean Wild lands on it. Once activated, that reel is guaranteed to receive an Expanding Bean Wild in a random position on every remaining spin.
Ante Bet
The Ante Bet doubles your standard bet and increases the chances of triggering the Free Spins four times. Activating the Ante Bet doesn't change the paytable.
Feature Buy
You can pay 40x the bet for the Bean Boost Spin, which guarantees that at least 2 Expanding Bean Wild symbols land. You can also pay 100x the bet to trigger the Free Spins and 200x the bet to trigger the Enhanced Free Spins.
Final Thoughts on Jack and the Wild Beanstalk
Jack and the Wild Beanstalk feels like a familiar bedtime story where you know what’s coming, but you still stick around to see if something exciting happens. The visuals are pleasant and cozy, with a countryside setting that won’t scare anyone, and the fairy tale theme is easy to follow, even if you skipped story time as a kid. However, once you get past the beans and the cow, the gameplay is pretty standard stuff.
The Expanding Wild Symbol is a big part of the game, stretching up the reels like it’s trying to reach the giant’s castle. It also comes with multipliers that increase the longer the symbol expands. The Free Spins give you a bit more action, especially the Enhanced version when reels start guaranteeing Wilds. Sadly, none of them feels particularly groundbreaking at the end of the day. The game has parts that make us think of both Evoplay’s Beanstalk Magic Treasures and Button Studios’ Beanstalk Grows Wild.
Jack and the Wild Beanstalk from Iconic21 is a perfectly average slot that leans on a well-known story and a couple of decent features to keep things ticking along. It’s a relaxed, mildly entertaining climb if you’re not expecting to reach the clouds.
