Barb’s Best Bets: Best Movie-Themed NJ Online Slot Games On The Planet
Did you watch the Oscars last night? If so, I bet you saw actors, actresses, and directors give speeches, cry, hug their award, and walk off the stage as winners.
But don’t think that you can’t also be a winner. You can turn the week into a winning week for you, too. I have already done all the hard work — hunting the NJ gambling websites and looking at hundreds of online slot games. The goal was to find the top two movie-themed slots on the planet that you can play from the comfort of your own home.
The exhaustive search was a success. I found two movie-themed NJ online slot games that are really worth your time: Planet of the Apes and Emoji Planet.
I guarantee that during the entire time you play either of these games, you won’t ever be bored — which is something even Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t guarantee at the Academy Awards. More importantly, both of these slot games have a return to player (RTP) exceeding 96 percent. That translates into frequent payouts, little likelihood of tapping out even if you play a long time, and a good likelihood of winding up a winner.
You can play either game online at Golden Nugget, Betfair, 888 Casino, or Borgata NJ online casino.
Planet of the Apes
Have you seen the film “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and/or “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes?”
If so, when you start playing this action-packed slot, you might not find yourself in alien territory at all. That’s because not only do the game’s symbols include characters from both movies; you are shown actual clips from the movies to recreate the “outta this word” cinematic experience.
But if you never saw the films, don’t worry. Once you start playing and become immersed in the action, the exciting cast of characters will have you riveted to the screen.
Dual sets of reels
Planet of the Apes is a product of NetEnt in association with 20th Century Fox. It is a split screen video slot comprised of a left side and a right side, each of which contains five reels, three rows, and 20 fixed paylines.
Of course, many other slot games also have five reels, three rows, and 20 paylines. But what is unique about this particular slot is that instead of there being just one set of reels, there are two. The dual sets of reels are designed to represent two different phases in the life of Caesar, a chimpanzee who, as a result of being given an experimental drug, has acquired human intelligence and emotions.
Phase 1, depicted in the left set of reels, is called “Rise.” It represents Caesar’s early life, subsequent captivity and placement in an animal sanctuary, and ultimate escape with the help of an army of apes to whom he administered the same drug given to him.
Phase 2, depicted in the right set of reels, is called “Dawn.” It covers what happens to Caesar after his escape from captivity as his community of super-intelligent apes is threatened by the survivors of a deadly pandemic that has wiped out most of humanity.
Fittingly, each set of reels has its own symbols, outcomes, and bonus features. So in that sense, playing Planet of the Apes is like playing two games in one. The varying color scheme — warm natural colors for the Rise side and dark, foreboding colors for the Dawn side — set the tone for the action about to unfold.
Planet of the Apes symbols
The symbols on the Rise side include Caesar, three characters from “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” and the playing cards 10 through Ace. The symbols on the Dawn side include Caesar again, three characters from “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” and the playing cards 10 through Ace.
Each side also has a wild symbol and a scatter symbol. The wild symbol is Caesar’s attic window. However, in the Rise area, it is gold, while in the Dawn area, it is red. The wild symbol replaces all other symbols except scatter and bonus symbols to help form additional winning combinations.
Planet of the Apes special features
Stacked Wilds
If any of the reels in the Rise section is fully stacked with wild symbols, the corresponding reel on the Dawn side will also become completely wild!
Rise Bonus
When the Rise bonus symbol appears in Reel 1 on the Rise side, each human and ape symbol (other than the scatter symbol) that is displayed on the screen will pay a cash prize.
Dawn Bonus
When the Dawn bonus symbol appears in Reel 5 on the Dawn side, each human and ape symbol (other than the scatter symbol) that appears in the Dawn area is transformed into the same matching symbol.
Rise Free Spins
This feature is triggered when three scatter symbols land anywhere on the Rise side. The player then receives 10 free spins. Each wild symbol that appears on the reels will increase the win meter by one unit. However, on the final spin, all wild symbols that appeared on any of the preceding free spins will reappear simultaneously in random places. Afterward, the player’s total win will be determined.
Dawn Free Spins
This feature is triggered when three scatter symbols land anywhere on the Dawn side. The player receives 15 free spins, on each of which there are three different “collect” symbols. Each one, when it lands, activates a different win meter: multiplier, extra free spins, or extra wild. Each time a meter is filled to capacity with three collect symbols (which can happen multiple times), the player gets the corresponding reward.
Multiple Free Spins
If three or more scatter symbols land in both the Rise and Dawn play areas on the same spin, both free spins features will be triggered, starting with the Rise Free Spins.
Dual Feature
This feature can occur before any spin. One symbol will be randomly picked from the Rise area (but not the bonus or scatter symbol), and another symbol (but not the bonus or scatter symbol) will be randomly picked from the Dawn area.
If the designated symbol lands on the same side, it will be frozen. Or if it lands on the other (wrong) side, it will move over to the same position on the intended side. Then the reels keep respinning until no new matching symbols land. At that point, the player is paid.
Planet of the Apes bet range and pay rate
The combination of low-medium volatility and an exceptionally high RTP of 96.8 percent makes this game a slot player’s dream. You won’t be chasing any elusive life-changing jackpots, but instead, you can look forward to lots of bonuses and frequent payouts of varying size that will keep you from going broke. It may even culminate in a big payday.
The minimum bet is just 20 cents and the maximum is $200, making it a suitable choice for virtually any player. The game can be played on mobile devices as well as your desktop.
Emoji Planet
Whether you have seen “The Emoji Movie” or not, it’s hard to imagine any slot game that is more in tune with the way people on this planet are communicating today than Emoji Planet.
With more than 1,000 different emoji currently in existence, they are popping up everywhere in online communication. Whether you’re catching up on your latest messages on social media or simply texting your friends, you would probably feel at a loss for words without them.
Now, thanks to the ingenuity and creativity of NetEnt, your love of Emoji images can pay off big time because you can actually play an Emoji-based slot game. Released in 2017, Emoji Planet is a cluster paying slot with five reels and six rows and many ways to win.
Emoji Planet symbols
The colorful cartoon-like symbols include eight emoji varieties.
- Bombs
- Pizza slices
- Kiss marks
- Rockets
- Two Hearts
- Poo
- Aliens
- Smiley faces
The highest value symbol is the Smiley face. It can pay up to 500x your stake.
Another important symbol is the Star, which is the game’s wild symbol. It substitutes for all other symbols. Some wild symbols are stacked, while others are sticky.
Emoji Planet Special Features
Each of the first five Emojis listed above comes with its own special Emoji meter. Each time you destroy one of these symbols, the corresponding meter will be filled by one space. You can check the sticker on each Emoji meter to see how many times it has been filled.
A meter is completely filled when all 12 spaces are filled, which will activate the corresponding Emoji feature. However, all Emoji meters are reset to zero at the end of each game round.
If more than one Emoji meter is filled at the same time, the corresponding features will each be activated in turn, in the order indicated below.
Bomb Feature
Eight random symbols (not including sticky wilds) are destroyed, each generating a random coin win of 5 to 100x the bet level. The eight destroyed symbols will not fill any of the Emoji meters.
Pizza Feature
A 3×3 overlay of a random symbol (other than a wild symbol) will randomly appear on the reels.
Kiss Mark Feature
Three sticky wild symbols will randomly appear on the reels and stay there. Each of these symbols, which can substitute for any other symbol, has three lives, corresponding to three chances to be part of one or more simultaneous winning combinations. When all three lives are lost, the sticky wild symbol disappears.
Rocket Feature
A stack of 10 wild symbols appears on and above one reel to create a winning combination, which is a cluster of five symbols or more. The bigger the cluster, the bigger your win. In addition the winning cluster sets off an “Avalanche” where the winning symbols explode and in their place, new wild symbols from the stack land on the reels. The Avalanche (and winning) will continue until no more wild symbols remain in the stack. Each Avalanche has the potential to produce wins up to 5,000x your bet!
Two Hearts Feature
This feature is activated only when there are no other winning combinations and Emoji features. The total win is multiplied by the number of times the Two Hearts meter is filled plus 1.
Emoji Planet bet range and pay rate
Emoji Planet is a medium volatility game with a very favorable RTP of 96.4 percent. With a minimum bet of 20 cents and a maximum bet of $200, the game is appropriate for everyone from small stakes players to high rollers. Like Planet of the Apes, Emoji Planet can be played either on your desktop or mobile device.
The best bet to make on NJ gambling websites
The best NJ gambling websites offer a wide choice of movie-themed slots, but if you are going to play, your best bet is one that is not only highly entertaining but likely to give you a high rate of return.
Just as your Oscar picks may not have matched Sunday’s big winners, we also can’t guarantee that you will win playing Planet of the Apes or Emoji Planet. But this much is certain: You will have a ton of fun and your chance of winning will be as good as or better than you will have in any other slot game.