I’ve played my share of new slot games with dinosaur themes over the years. When I stumbled upon Nucleus Gaming’s Jurassic Fortunes Hold & Win, I thought, why not?
With its Hold & Win feature, Sticky Wilds, and Buy Option it seems like an interesting slot. It has 5 reels, 4 rows, and 100 paylines.
Besides, more and more software providers are releasing slot machines with Hold & Win features. Betsoft’s A Big Catch Hold & Win is a prime example.
Did I win money playing the casino game? Let’s find out. I also give you tips to improve your winning chances.
RTP and Symbols
Nucleus Gaming did not include the RTP or the payback rate when it released the slot. If I can give an educated guess I’d say it’s around 95% to 96%.
Moreover, it’s a high variance slot with a hit frequency of 20%. You’re looking at a winner on every 5-6 spins.
The symbols on the reels enhance the theme while the audio track bumps it up a notch or two. The visuals aren’t over the top either.
The premium symbol is the red T-Rex, land 5 of them and you’ll win 75x your stake. The low-value card suits are 10 to Ace.
The Wild substitutes symbols during winning combinations. The Sticky Wild is the symbol you want to see in the main game.
When it lands it remains on the reels and awards to respins. The coin betting range is $0.20 to $60 per spin.
Bonus Rounds
Hold & Win Feature
The Hold and Win bonus game initiates when 6 or more Golden Egg dinosaur Bonus with the Collect symbols pitch. A new screen opens up awarding you three respins.
Each egg has its value and when the Collect symbol lands it collects the value of each egg. Furthermore, the respin count resets back to 3 for every egg symbol that appears.
At the lowest betting range, the price values of the Bonus symbols are from $0.10 to $60. If you’re a high roller, the values range from $30 to $18,000.
Buy Option
The buy options at 20 cents cost $6 (30x stake) for 5 Bonus symbols including the Collect symbol.
Tips & Strategy
Before I played the slot to win money I tested it for free for 100 spins. My average bet was $60 per spin for approximately 18 spins.
The odd big win was $500 when three or more sticky wilds appeared awarding 2 respins. You can buy the respins but I suggest you try the 1 respin option.
I had a “golden run” with it and won $2,100. The mistake I made was I went straight into the buy option which cost $1,800 for 1 respins.
Unfortunately, I only won $300 and lost $1,500 by buying my free spins. That proves again that the Buy Option is risky and you should use it wisely.
Instead of jumping into the Buy Option, I should have spun the reels with my then bankroll of $2,100.
I would have won more money especially if a sticky wild pitched. The most sticky wilds I got in the base game was 5.
Can I play the game with a bonus? Yes, you can. That also depends on the size of the bonus, the WRs, and the online casino. I usually avoid bonuses when it comes to high-variance games like Jurassic Fortunes Hold and Win.
Verdict
I enjoyed playing Jurassic Fortunes Hold and Win although it’s rough around the edges. The big wins in the main game depend on the number of sticky wilds, and symbol combinations.
The more sticky wilds that land on the reels the bigger the win. Is it better to play the slot for low or for high stakes?
Play it for at least $6 per spin unless you’re a casual player. I won’t play the game for fun because “it’s not that type of slot”.
The slot requires a large bankroll to initiate the Hold and Win bonus. The average trigger is 60-70 spins unless you use the buy option.
More importantly, lucky players can catch egg values at the highest stake with a maximum value of $18,000.
Get a few of them and the payout can be insane. The Egg Collect symbol is another nice addition as it collects all the egg values when it lands.
Nucleus Gaming copied the same mechanic of Betsoft’s A Big Catch Hold and Win. The golden shark symbol also gobbles up symbol values every time it pitches.
Wrapping up, Nucleus Gaming did a fine job with Jurassic Fortunes Hold & Win.