Jurassic Island - Review, Free Spins & Bonuses

Jurassic Island is a 5-reel, 25-payline video slot made by Ash Gaming, a studio in the Playtech group. It first came out in January 2014. It’s one of the better-known jurassic slots in the Playtech range: you play on a misty prehistoric island where bone-carved card symbols sit alongside raptors, pterodactyls and other dinosaurs.

The main draw is choice. When three or more hunter scatters land, you pick one of four bonus rounds instead of getting a fixed feature. In the base game, a raptor wild can expand to cover a whole reel.

The game is set in a lost-world jungle. Earthy greens and browns fill the screen, and a big-game hunter acts as the bonus character. Low-value symbols are card ranks from 10 to Ace, drawn as if carved from dinosaur bone. The premium symbols are prehistoric creatures, with a triceratops skull among them.

Jurassic Island dates from the mid-2010s, so the visuals look plainer than many modern releases. The game was later made available on mobile, so it runs on phones and tablets as well as desktop. Playtech also released a separate sequel, Jurassic Island 2. It’s a different game with a different reel layout, so make sure you open the right one in the casino lobby.

The slot uses a standard 5x3 grid with 25 fixed paylines, so every line is active on every spin. Wins pay from left to right for matching symbols on a line.

• Low-value symbols: 10, J, Q, K and A in a bone style.
• Premium symbols: a range of dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures.
• Wild: the raptor. It appears on reels 2, 3 and 4, substitutes for regular symbols and can expand to fill its reel.
• Scatter: the hunter. It pays anywhere on the reels and triggers the bonus choice.

We couldn’t check the full paytable against an official Playtech game sheet, so we haven’t printed symbol values here. Open the paytable in the game to see current payouts at your stake. If wilds, scatters and paylines are new to you, our guide to slot features explains each one.

Expanding Raptor Wild

When a raptor wild lands on reel 2, 3 or 4, it can expand to cover the whole reel. This happens in the base game, and one expanded wild in the middle of the grid can complete several of the 25 lines at once.

Hunter Scatter and the Bonus Choice

Three or more hunter scatters anywhere on the reels start the bonus, and you choose one of four rounds. Several reviews say each option is built to give the same long-term return. Your choice changes how the winnings arrive, not how much you can expect to win over time.

• Multiplier Free Games: free spins where wins are multiplied. This option gives fewer spins but a higher multiplier on each win.
• Carnivore Free Games: free spins with a reel set limited to higher-paying symbols.
• Raptor Free Games: more free spins, built around stacked expanding wilds.
• Hot Shot Hunter Bonus: a pick-style shooting game where you aim a crosshair at dinosaurs crossing the screen. Your prize depends on which creatures you hit.

The number of free spins depends on how many scatters started the bonus, and extra scatters during the free spins can add more. The exact figures can differ between versions of the game, so check the in-game help before you play.

Independent slot databases list Jurassic Island’s RTP at about 96.5%. One gives a narrow range of roughly 96.47–96.53%. We couldn’t confirm this against Playtech’s own documentation, and some casinos run different RTP settings, so check the info screen at your casino before you play.

Sources disagree on volatility. Some call it medium and others medium-high, and the published maximum-win figures don’t match either. We’ve left these out of our key facts. In practice, expect the bonus rounds to make up a large share of your winnings and the base game to have losing runs.

RTP is a long-term average worked out over millions of spins. It doesn’t predict what will happen in one session, and losses are always possible.

1. Set your stake. The minimum is 25p per spin (1p per line across the 25 fixed lines). The maximum depends on the casino, so check the bet panel.
2. Spin. Wins pay left to right on active lines, and the raptor wild can expand on reels 2–4.
3. Trigger the bonus. Land three or more hunter scatters, then choose one of the four bonus rounds.
4. Use autoplay carefully. If you use autoplay, set a loss limit and a spin limit before you start.

New to slots? Our beginner’s guide on how to play online slots covers stakes, paylines and game settings.

No strategy changes a slot’s odds, but you can control how long your budget lasts and how you play. Some practical points:

• Size your stake to your budget. Much of the return comes from the bonus rounds, so pick a stake that lets you play enough spins to reach them.
• Pick a bonus that suits your style. Since the four options are built to return the same over time, choose the one you prefer. Fewer spins with higher multipliers give bigger swings than longer rounds.
• Check bonus terms. If you use casino free spins or deposit offers, check whether this game counts towards wagering and what the maximum bet is.
• Set limits. Decide on a time and loss limit before you start, and stop when you reach either one.

Gambling is entertainment, not a way to make money. 18+ only. Please play responsibly.

If you like the Playtech style, Goblin’s Cave comes from the same group and has a fantasy theme. For more animal-themed reels, Buffalo Rising offers big-reel action in the wild, and Wild Shark moves the hunt underwater. You can also see Playtech’s wider catalogue in our Playtech provider review.

Jurassic Island is an older slot, but it holds up thanks to one good idea: you choose your own bonus round from four options. The expanding raptor wild keeps the base game interesting, and the 25p minimum stake suits smaller budgets.

The graphics look dated next to modern releases, and the published figures for volatility and max win don’t agree. If you like dinosaur themes and want some say in how the bonus plays out, it’s worth trying. Check the RTP and stake limits at your casino first.