The Jewel Thief Slot Machine
It’s funny – when we first saw the title “The Jewel Thief”, we were actually anticipating more of an Arabian theme, with thieves donned in black breaking into a Sultan’s palace and making off with piles of gold and jewels. But the more contemporary take on the crime genre is just as refreshing as well.
Depicting a classic “cops and robbers” scenario in which a thief clad in perfect old-timey criminal garb (complete with the black bandito mask) tries to make off with various assorted valuables, the idea of making off with great riches makes for a logical choice in theme for a video slots game (minus the whole criminal aspect).
888’s take on the genre is somewhat humorous, and The Jewel Thief certainly looks appealing to play. So with that in mind, how does the game play in comparison?
Cops and Robbers
The Jewel Thief relies on many of the staples of the cop genre, including police cars, guns, walkie-talkies, K-9s canines, the whole shebang. The backdrop is set during nighttime in what is presumably an inner-city area, giving the game a very subdued colour palette when compared to many of the other brightly coloured video slots games out there. And of course, the game managed to throw in a bit of sex appeal by having one of the symbols show a busty cop displaying an ample amount of cleavage. The only thing we found off-putting were the bulging empty eyes on each of the game’s characters.
Aside from the aforementioned appearance, the game’s menu and design isn’t dissimilar to most of 888’s other offerings. You can see the options plainly laid out on the bottom of the interface, making it easy to jump in and start playing. The game doesn’t stutter or lag, and the sound effects and music compliment the game quite nicely. The various sides of the game also contain additional information and tips.
Make Out Like a Bandit
Discussing the game on a more technical level, The Jewel Thief boasts a standard 5x3 reel framework and a total of 50 whopping paylines to play with. Bet sizes range from a penny per payline to total of $10, allowing for up to $500 a spin!
On the bottom you have the options to adjust your coin size and the number of paylines currently in effect, as well as spin the reels for the maximum amount. To the bottom-right is the regular spin button. To the left is the auto-spinner, available for up to 75 (!) spins. The furthest left button is the pay table, which also contains additional information and documentation of the game’s features. In a side note, there are scatter and wild symbols in play as well.
All Stealing a Victory
Like most 888 video slots games, The Jewel Thief lacks a progressive jackpot. But for those of you who are familiar with 888’s other games, you know that they still offer tons of ways to strike it rich. As is the case with many of their games, 888 offers the chance to get tons of free spins.
Get at least three necklace symbols on an active payline and you’ll trigger 10 free spins, going up to 25 for five symbols! On top of that, the base jackpot is a staggering 2,500x the base bet. If you line up a thief symbol on the first reel and a police car on the fifth reel during the free spins round, you can trigger the Happy Run bonus, this gives you the chance to pick from a variety of bags to get even more prizes.
The Crowning Jewel
The high base bet, the huge jackpot, and the bonus round make The Jewel Thief a ‘reel’ steal of an online casino slots game. You don’t need to become a thief to make out like a bandit with this game either, because the people at 888 have provided you with an incredibly abundant variety of ways to win huge jackpots. Some of the symbols in the reels are kind of creepy looking (which probably has more to do with the 3D rendering than the pictures themselves), but other than that the game looks great!
The lack of a progressive jackpot means very little, as this game offers pretty much everything else. If you’re stuck looking for a good video slots game to play, we suggest you try The Jewel Thief the next time you’re feeling the itch to take a risk.
