Long holiday weekends like Valentine’s and President’s Day Weekend can be wonderful for some, but a bummer for others. But the NJ online casino slot game I’m recommending here called Cool Jewels is as far from ho-hum as you can get. This game has good luck written all over it.

Can you imagine feasting your eyes on a stunning array of different color jewels that sparkle against the backdrop of an eerily calm polar scene? Since there are so many of them, all looking like they would cost an arm and leg, you wonder where they could have possibly come from, only to be privy to an even more amazing sight.

The spectacle is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before–whole clusters of these cool jewels suddenly exploding into smithereens, yet leaving in their wake a mountain of cash that no one can lay their hands on but you.

Once you start playing the hot slot game called Cool Jewels, instead of imagining all of the above, this is indeed the chain of events that you’re likely to see repeatedly unfold in front of you.

What makes Cool Jewels a Best Bet?

Cool Jewels is completely different from any slot game you have ever played on any other NJ gambling websites before. That’s why whenever your mood can use a little cheering up, it’s a perfect choice.

Even when only a slot game that is certain to grab and keep your attention will do, you can count on Cool Jewels to not disappoint.

Initially, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I wanted this Best Bet choice to be a slot with a theme relating to that holiday. But none of the many slots I looked at with hearts, flowers, or diamonds in the title made the cut.

Then I stumbled on Cool Jewels and thought what a cool title that is. Maybe that’s the Best Bet I was searching for that had eluded me.

So I opened the game, saw it has a most impressive 96.1 percent return to player (RTP), read the description, and started playing.

My search was over. Even though the holiday is now behind us, I don’t think it matters. Cool Jewels is Barb’s Best Bet.

How Cool Jewels differs from most online slots

The overwhelming majority of slots have the same predictable format. Three rows, five reels, and a designated number of paylines. However, the Cool Jewels slot game uses no paylines at all.

Instead, all of the symbols appear on a 6×6 grid comprised of six rows and six reels.

Many ways to win in NJ

Another important difference is in the way payouts are determined. When playing this game, forget everything you know about the traditional criteria of needing three or more adjacent symbols starting with the reel farthest to the left.

Cool Jewels uses an innovative Exploding Pays engine to generate winning combinations.

In order to get a winning combination, four or more identical symbols must appear adjacently (horizontally and/or vertically). Where in the grid this happens doesn’t matter, and often there will be multiple winning combinations simultaneously.

Multiple large clusters of identical symbols are precisely what you want to see because that means bigger winnings.

Sometimes a  gem that is part of a winning combination will have a 10x multiplier symbol on it. When that happens, the size of your win will be multiplied by 10!

Brace yourself for a wild ride

But wait. We’re just getting started. Every time you get a winning combination, all of the jewels that are part of it explode and get replaced by new symbols, which can also form winning combinations.

Furthermore, because this game also has four different types of wild symbols, things can start to get really wild. The wild symbols not only perform the same function usually associated with wild symbols of substituting for other symbols to help form additional winning combinations; they do much more.

They can also destroy other symbols, leaving behind lots of empty spaces soon occupied by new symbols that produce new wins.

Of course, Cool Jewels has a scatter symbol, too. You need four or more on the same spin to trigger the potentially highly lucrative Free Spins Bonus. However, it’s not as easy as you may think.

Whereas in most slot games, three scatter symbols anywhere on the reels will suffice to activate the bonus round, here you need at least four, all of which must line up in such a way that they face destruction.

On both the left and right sides of the grid, you will find a meter. The meter on the left side shows what each symbol will pay when it forms a particular winning combination.  The meter on the right side shows the number of available free spins.

But with the action in this NJ mobile casino game as fast and furious as it is, if you’re looking at anything besides what’s happening to the cool jewels on the screen, it probably won’t be the two meters.

It will be the increasing size of your playing stake.

If you ever played Candy Crush on social media or Bejeweled, a slot game with arcade game features, then you might have some idea what to expect in the Cool Jewels slot game. Or maybe not.

Whatever description of this game you conjure up based on other games you played or you read here or anywhere else online can’t possibly do it justice. You have to experience this unique game for yourself to fully appreciate it.

Powered by WMS

Cool Jewels is a product of WMS Gaming. This is the same slot manufacturer behind another recent Barb’s Best Bet: Super Jackpot Party, along with a host of other familiar slot titles like Reel ‘Em In, Monopoly, Star Trek, Men in Black, and many more.

WMS first made a name for itself in arcade games and land-based slots. However, starting in 2010, the company has shifted its focus to online slots.

WMS merged with and became a subsidiary of Scientific Games in 2013. The company is now an international conglomerate, servicing not only the US, but also other big gambling markets such as the UK, Spain, and Australia.

WMS is highly regarded in the online slots industry and especially noted for its ability to consistently come up with innovative game designs, superior graphics, and entertaining special features without sacrificing game quality.

That’s what makes this elite slot designer and manufacturer’s games a favorite with many players in New Jersey and round the world.

A wide range of bet sizes

Another important plus that the Cool Jewels slot game has to offer is a very wide range of bet sizes.

• The minimum bet per spin is only 50 cents, while the maximum is $200.
• This game is perfect for all but the smallest of bettors all the way up to high rollers.
• Adjusting your bets to whatever size within this huge range suits you best is easy.
• Simply start with 50 cents as the base bet per spin.
• If you want to bet more, increase the multiplier until you reach the desired level.

For example, a multiplier of 10 will make the bet size for each spin $5. If you wish, you can increase the multiplier all the way up to 400x the base bet. That will make the cost of each spin $200, the maximum bet possible.

Outstanding RTP combined with medium volatility

We already mentioned that the published RTP for Cool Jewels is 96.10 percent. However, this is the theoretical rate of return on your dollar based on many thousands of sessions, so individual session results can vary considerably from this figure in either direction. That’s why it’s important, regardless of what kinds of stakes you play for, to have a bankroll you have set aside for slot play that can accommodate that bet size even when you’re not having good luck.

But what makes Cool Jewels much better than most slots is that the high RTP  translates into more frequent payouts and a better chance of winning or, at worst, not depleting your entire stake. Because this game is highly entertaining, you will almost certainly want to play a while rather than cut your session shortly abruptly out of fear of losing too much. Cool Jewels is a game where you can enjoy extended playing time with no worries.

Which NJ gambling websites offer Cool Jewels?

You can play Cool Jewels anywhere in New Jersey either on your computer or your mobile device. The game should work on any current iOS or Android smartphone or tablet.

Here is a list of all of the NJ gambling websites that offer Cool Jewels.

• Betfair
• Borgata
• Golden Nugget
• Hard Rock
• Mohegan Sun
• BetMGM
• Resorts
• Tropicana
• Virgin

Cool Jewels symbols: A closer look

Many slot games have only a handful of symbols. So it doesn’t take long at all to memorize them and distinguish the higher paying ones from the lower paying ones. In one respect that’s good because it simplifies the game considerably. But the small number of symbols and similarity in results spin after spin not only limit the number of different ways you can win, but after a while, make the game predictable and boring.

Predictable and boring are two words that don’t belong in any sentence pertaining to the slot game Cool Jewels.

Regular symbols

Don’t even try to memorize all the different colors, sizes, and shapes of the symbols in Cool Jewels because it’s an impossible task. The jewels come in a wide variety of colors, including red, yellow, turquoise, pink, blue, and green.

But even gems of the same color can be different in other ways. Looking at the dazzling display on the screen, you might think you see a winning combination that really isn’t because, in one way or another, the adjacent gems are not completely identical.

A winning combination is generated when four like symbols, with or without the help of a wild symbol, land horizontally or vertically adjacent to one another on the reels. If any symbol in the group bears the 10x designation, a 10x multiplier is applied to the payout.

Wins occur frequently in this game, but obviously, not on every spin. On non-winning spins, soothing and relaxing music plays in the background and all is quiet otherwise.

But don’t let it lull you into falling asleep, as the upcoming fireworks, which could start any minute, are far too spectacular to miss.

Wild symbols

Most games, if they have a wild symbol at all, it is only one. However, Cool Jewels has four different types of wild symbols:

• Persisting wilds
• Unstable wilds
• Shocking wilds
• Shattering wilds

All of the wild symbols substitute for any other symbol except the scatter symbol to help form winning combinations. However, each different type of wild symbol can also perform its own special functions.

In this game, wild symbols can only appear on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Persisting wilds

Whenever two like wild symbols land next to each other, they activate a persistent or locked wild. The wild symbol remains in play, cascading down to the bottom row of the grid, and all the while creating new winning combinations.

Shocking, Shattering, and Unstable wilds

 Each of these wild symbols has its own special capability to destroy other symbols. However, when a pair of two different wild symbols from this group land horizontally adjacent to each other, their powers are further enhanced. See the Special Features section for a description of what these enhancements are and how they work.

Unstable wilds

Unstable wilds are represented by a pink star. Activated unstable wilds will destroy any symbols that surround them.

Shocking wilds

Shocking wilds are represented by a green star. When this symbol is activated, will destroy any symbol that is diagonal to its center.

Shattering wilds

Shattering wilds are represented by a blue star. An activated shattering wild symbol will destroy any symbols that are horizontal or vertical from the wild symbol’s center.

Scatter symbol

The symbol with the Cool Jewels logo serves as the game’s scatter symbol. If four or more get destroyed by a wild symbol pursuant to a given spin in the base game, it will trigger the Free Spins Feature described below.

Cool Jewels Special Features

Cool Jewels is loaded with special features. These multiple exciting extras not only make the game very entertaining but give you many more ways to win.

Cascading Reels feature

 When four or more regular symbols appear together to form a winning combination, these symbols explode, only to be replaced by other symbols. This sometimes sets in motion a sequence of cascading wins leading to even more consecutive wins, all on the same spin.

In addition, frequently during the course of this game, wild symbols will become exploding wilds. Once they start blasting other symbols, all of the empty spaces that are left behind only stay empty momentarily.

They get quickly filled with new symbols, which can then form more winning combinations. If they do, they explode as well, and the process repeats itself. The series of explosions and cascades can continue for quite a while, during which time the win meter keeps rising.

 Enhancement features

When two different types of wild symbols appear next to each other horizontally, the pay level increases. In addition, depending on which wild symbols make up the pair, it will trigger one of the following enhancement features:

• Unstable and Shattering Wild: These two symbols appearing together create a pink watermark, destroying all regular symbols in its path.
• Unstable and Shocking Wild: These two symbols appearing together create a green watermark, destroying all regular symbols in its path.
• Shattering and Shocking Wild: These two symbols appearing together create a blue watermark. After destroying all regular symbols in its path, each destroyed symbol will be paid at 10x the normal rate. Any destroyed symbols already marked “Premium 10x” will produce payments of 100x what they would pay otherwise.

Free Spins Feature

When four or more Cool Jewels logo symbols get destroyed, it triggers the Free Spins feature. The number of free spins you get depends on how many destroyed scatter symbols there are, as indicated below:

• 4 scatter symbols: 8 free spins
• 5 scatter symbols: 10 free spins
• 6 scatter symbols: 15 free spins
• 7 scatter symbols: 20 free spins

For each additional destroyed Cool Jewels logo symbol, you are awarded an additional 5 free spins.

While occasionally, you will get a relatively large payout during the base game, it is during the free spins, that you are likely to rack up your biggest wins. The minimum amount you can win during the Free Spins feature is 10x your bet. The Free Spins feature can also be retriggered.

How I fared playing Cool Jewels

I played the game in demo mode betting $5 per spin. In both playing sessions, payouts during the base game were frequent, but mostly for small amounts (less than my bet size). However, I did get enough larger payouts to keep me from ever falling too far behind, including a couple over $100.

I also triggered the Free Spins bonus round in both playing sessions, winning 8 free spins each time. The first time I won $364, the second time $173.

I also tried the game one time in demo mode with a $10 bet. However, after a half hour of play, I didn’t trigger any free spins and finished the session with a small loss.

The bottom line

Cool Jewels is an ideal choice for anyone who might be tired of the usual slot game format and eager to try something very different. If you’re looking for a slot game that is not overly complicated, but never boring, look no further.

As long as you pick a bet size that makes sense for your budget and playing style, the high RTP should keep you in the game for a reasonable length of time with no worries.

Cascading reels, exploding wilds, and the potentially highly lucrative, re-triggerable free spins feature, not only make this slot game amazingly entertaining but give you many ways to win and keep winning.