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Pirate Pays Megaways Review
If we turn a blind eye to the early release, Tumblin' Treasures, Pirate Pays Megaways is the first attempt at the buccaneer genre after their big break. We have to say that we expected a bit more from this effort, although the stats are nothing to sneeze at. What you get instead is a smooth-sailing and sturdy experience, with a few twists inspired from other games.
The bottom sliding reel comes with a somewhat innovative Compass Wild, and it turns additional symbols wild in the random direction of the needle. A feature plays out before the progressive multiplier bonus round starts, and there is even an Enhanced version of it that you’ll trigger once in a while. The math model is solid as usual, but it’s about time slots showed some muscle when it comes to actual big wins.
Pirate Pays Megaways Features
The premiums pay between 0.7 and 25 x your stake for 6 of a kind wins, and winning symbols are removed from the grid via the Reaction mechanic. New and/or existing symbols will then drop down to fill the gaps, and this process goes on as long as you keep winning.
The bottom sliding reel adds an extra position to the 4 middle reels, and this is also where the special Compass Wild can slide in. The compass needle spins to determine the direction of the wild transformation, which will be upwards, downwards, left or right (or north, south, east or west in nautical terms). All symbols in the chosen direction turn into Parrot Wilds, and the wilds step in for all regular pay symbols to help complete winning combos.
You trigger the Kraken Bonus Round by landing 3+ regular scatters anywhere on reels 1 to 5. The Enhanced version of the feature is triggered by landing 2+ regular scatters, plus a purple chest Megascatter on reel 6.
The pre-bonus game plays out on a different screen, where the pirate ship fires cannons to gradually and randomly remove 20 different outcomes. These consist of a number of spins combined with a starting multiplier. The best possible outcome is 25 free spins with a x10 starting multiplier, while the absolute worst outcome is 6 free spins with an x1 starting multiplier.
Up to 5 outcomes are removed by the cannons, and Kraken then makes you an offer based on the remaining outcomes. If you reject the offer, the cannons fire to remove more outcomes randomly, and you get a new offer from the Kraken. This offer can be better or worse, depending on what outcomes are left, and you get a randomized choice if only 2 outcomes remain.
If you triggered the Enhanced Bonus Round with help from the Megascatter on reel 6, the same Kraken pre-game plays out. The big difference is that the 10 lowest-tier outcomes are already removed up front.
Either way, the starting win multiplier increases by +1 per Reaction Win, and it does not reset and comes with no upper limit. You cannot land any megascatters during the feature, but you can win extra spins via scatters on the bottom sliding reel. Slide in 3 or 4 scatters, and you’ll be awarded with +5 or +10 free spins, respectively.
The 200 Spins Pirate Pays Megaways Experience
Nothing very exciting happens until we trigger the Kraken Bonus Round at 1:27 into the 4:55-minute highlights video. We do get a compass wild pointing south, which basically means it has no transformative effect. Anyway, we rejected Kraken offers until we ended up with 15 free spins and an x2 starting multiplier, and you can see it all play out by hitting the play button below.
Review Summary
It’s not all that often we’re disappointed by releases, but Pirate Pays Megaways didn’t quite live up to our expectations. It’s an overall solid effort, don’t get us wrong, but we feel that more polishing and tweaks could have produced a far better result. The buccaneering pirate vibe is missing when you just cruise along in calm waters staring at the stern all the time. It would also be more fun if the Compass Wild could land anywhere, and not only on the bottom sliding reel.
When it points south or into the edge, no effect comes from it, and it usually doesn’t do all that much damage even if transformations do happen. Another thing is that the main elements seem borrowed. The 15,500x base game potential seems far-fetched, not to speak of the un-capped 104,400x max win that’s supposedly possible in the progressive multiplier bonus round.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Compass Wild transformation | Feels underdeveloped and tame despite stats |
| ‘Deal or no Deal’ pre-bonus round game | |
| FS w/ progressive win multiplier | |
| Win up to 104,400x your stake |
If you enjoy Pirate Pays Megaways you should also try:
Star Pirates Code - is a buccaneer-themed release, and it comes with a similar Compass Wild feature. These can land on the 3 middle reels, and symbols turn wild in the direction the needle points (including diagonally). You then get a sticky wilds respin, and this can lead to payouts up to 2,500x your stake.
Cash Compass - is a title that revolves around the Compass symbol transformation feature. Land 5+ high-value compass symbols to trigger the base game transformation, and the feature triggers for any compass you land in the bonus round. You can win up to 7,400x your stake in this cluster pays grid slot.
Pirates Plenty Megaways - is the 3rd installment in the pirate range, and you can play with up to 200,704 ways to win. This is done by unlocking the top sliding reel, which also gives you expanding wilds with up to x8 multipliers. The bonus round comes with an unlimited progressive multiplier, which can lead to payouts up to 10,489x your stake.
