Gameplay
Genie’s Hi Lo is a take on the classic card game High-Low, which has the player guess whether the next card revealed will be higher or lower than the previous card revealed. The default stake is $5, but there is also $2, $1 and 50-cent versions of the game, which each have their own jackpots. The jackpot seed is 250 times the bet size or $1,250 in the case of the default game. The contribution rate is 3.8 percent, which means that each $5 play contributes only 19 cents to the pot.
Once the stake is set, click the Confirm button to begin the game. The game will display 12 cards with the backs facing the player, and the player must then choose one of those cards. He or she must decide whether the next card will be red or black and “higher or the same” or “lower or the same.” Once those decisions are made, the game displays 12 new cards and has the player select one. Each correct guess moves the player up the ladder, and 10 correct guesses are needed to hit the top payout.
Graphics & Audio
Genie’s Hi-Lo has cute look to it, and although there is nothing particularly special about the UI, it works well. The playing cards and the various choices are very easy to read, and all of the buttons are easy to manipulate. The sound effects serve as audio cues and do not disrupt the experience.
Jackpot
The ladder implies that there are multiple payouts. In fact, when we first played the game, we assumed that you could simply bow out and take the prize money at an earlier stage, but that is not the case. The only way to win is to get all the way to the top, and the top prize depends.
Overall
When classic high-low is played as a betting game, the current card and odds dictate how much can be won, but that is not the case here. The other issue is that chosen cards are not removed from play. The player is essentially choosing from a fresh 52-card deck each time. Then add in the fact that the game only has a 3.8-percent contribution rate. If you can live with those negatives, then Genie’s Hi-Lo is a reasonably fun game.
