Jewel Collection: Dragon / Vault
HOW THE ADVANTAGE WORKS:
- Jewel Collection features four meters (amethyst, sapphire, emerald and ruby) that accrue five extra wilds whenever a jewel symbol of the corresponding color lands on the reels. The amethyst wilds are triggered randomly (similar to the blue wilds in Regal Riches), while the sapphire, emerald and ruby wilds are awarded when the corresponding free games is triggered. Unlike Regal Riches, these are not MHBs and the wilds are not guaranteed to actually land on the reels (they are just added to the reel strip, so you have a greater chance of landing more wilds).
There is also a free games scatter meter that increments by one every time a bonus scatter symbol lands on the reels. The scatter meter is guaranteed to trigger by the time it reaches 777. Triggering it will award the mystery free games feature, which will randomly award either the sapphire, emerald or ruby free games.
- The free games scatter meter (located above the second reel) is 480 or higher.
- The total of all four extra wilds meters (amethyst, sapphire, emerald and ruby) is 610 or higher.
Additional notes
- On the surface, this game seems very similar to Regal Riches, but it is actually much different. The accruing extra wilds are not guaranteed to land on the reels during the feature, they are not MHBs and they are capped at a relatively low number. Therefore, this game does not offer nearly as good of an advantage as Regal Riches.
- Sega Sammy games are known for having volatile bonuses and this game is no exception. You can get absolutely massive line hits when you land wilds in all five reels, but on some bonuses, nothing will line up and you will get completely shafted.
- Chasing the free games scatter meter (the MHB 777) is a high variance play that is similar to Buffalo Link. You are essentially playing for a shot at a bonus feature that could pay almost nothing or could pay 300x. If the base game runs poorly and you don’t trigger any features during the chase, then you are likely to take a loss on the play. It’s +EV over the long run, but you need to log many sessions to even out the ups and downs.
- This game is similar to Golden Beasts/Golden Elements in that the free games scatter meter is weighted to hit towards the bottom and becomes more likely to hit the higher the meter goes. The game rules state, “The probability of triggering the Mystery Free Game feature is dependent upon the count of the Scatter Meter.” It’s rare for the meter to run into the 600s and even rarer for it to get to the 700s.
- The bonus scatter symbols land frequently, so the free games scatter meter goes up quickly.
- The free games scatter meter resets to either 10, 30, 50 or 100.
- The amethyst, sapphire, emerald and ruby features trigger frequently, so it is not common for those meters to run high enough to be in a playable state.
- None of the meters are +EV to chase individually, but when you consider the equity on all four combined, it can push the game into an overall state of +EV.
- Amethyst (purple) resets to either 50, 55, 60 or 70 and is capped at 100.
- Sapphire (blue) resets to either 70, 75, 80 or 100 and is capped at 150.
- Emerald (green) resets to either 100, 110, 120 or 150 and is capped at 200.
- Ruby (red) resets to either 150, 160, 170 or 200 and is capped at 300.
- Landing an amethyst, sapphire, emerald or ruby jewel symbol on the reels will add five wilds to the corresponding meter above. After the meter increments, a non-jewel symbol will be revealed underneath the jewel symbol.
- If a jewel symbol lands for a meter that is already capped, the excess amount will be saved and added back to the meter immediately after it resets.
- The sapphire, emerald and ruby free games are triggered by landing two bonus symbols combined with the corresponding jewel bonus symbol. They all award seven free games.
- A mystery wilds feature can be triggered during any spin that randomly adds wild symbols to the reels.
