Pirate Isle

Pirates had these somewhat peculiar sayings in literature and film; Shiver Me Timbers! Ahoy Me Hearties! Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum! Whether its famous pirates like Blackbeard, Black Bart, Henry Morgan, or Francis Drake, each had their own quirks and foibles.

Well if you like all things nautical and fancy a few spins on an absolutely top-quality slot, then you could do a lot worse than running up the Jolly Roger and depositing some cash to try out the mesmerizing Pirate Isle slot from Realtime Gaming.

There are plenty of slot games around nowadays that feature Pirates or a similar theme so what is it about this particular slot that makes it so appealing to play? We decided to take a closer look and find out exactly how this slot played and whether or not this is a game that sails strong on the high seas, or whether it will sink without a trace. Here's what we found out.

Overview

• Game: Pirate Isle
• Developer: Realtime Gaming
• Reels: 5
• Pay Lines: 25 (non-selectable)
• Minimum Bet: $0.25
• Maximum Bet: $6.25
• Jackpot: 2,000 coins
• Free Spins Bonus: Yes
• Other Bonuses: Yes
• Progressive: Yes
• Volatility: Medium to High

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Presentation

When it comes to presentation, the Pirate Isle slot is arguably one of the best I have ever seen. The actual backdrop to the base game is rather mundane as it is set on a pirate ship with the reels in the center of the screen and all the main controls at the bottom. However, it is as you play through the game that the slot comes to life.

There's a sea-shanty playing as you spin (which in truth can get very repetitive) but the graphics and animations that trigger throughout the slot as you land base game wins are absolutely superbly done and inject life and humor into the slot in equal measure.

Furthermore, when you trigger the bonus features, these have been designed to be very different to the standard base game and these are like a mini-arcade game in many cases and add a huge amount of depth and variation to the slot and have been animated quite superbly.

All in all, the presentation on the Pirates Isle slot is as good as you are likely to find on any slot game and that is high praise indeed.

What's on the reels?

There are a lot of symbols on the reels. The lowest value symbols are the various items you would associate with a pirate and their ship. These offer pay outs of between 5 coins and 250 coins depending on which symbol you land and whether you land three, four or five on a pay line.

There's a number of medium value winning symbols including the parrot, the monkey and two members of the shops crew and these offer wins from 20 coins up to 750 coins. The higher value symbols include the ships wench, the jolly roger flag and the captain who all offer pay outs of 5 coins (for 2 symbols on a pay line) up to a 1,000-coin standard pay out.

Alongside these symbols there are a number of different colored key symbols each of which offers pay outs for 2 symbols on a pay line and wins of up to 1,000 coins if you land five of the diamond keys across the reels. These treasure key symbols are used in the free spin features of the slot which we will explain in more detail below.

Wild features

The Skeleton key is the in game Wild symbol and it can be used to substitute for any of the higher or lower value symbols on the reels to create winning lines and when it is used as part of a win, it offers a 2x multiplier for that win which can radically increase its value.

This essentially means that any of the prize pay outs are doubled if you can land a Skeleton Key wild on the reels as part of the win, which is where the base game jackpot of 2,000 coins can be won using several of the symbols.

In the base game, the Skeleton Key appears as a grouped wild on the third reel.

Free Spins features

There are two scatter symbols on the reels, the Galleon which offers a pay out of 3x, 10x or 200x your total bet for landing three, four or five of these symbols anywhere on the reels on any single spin. There is also the Treasure Chest symbol which offers slightly smaller pay outs of 2x, 8x and 150x your total bet for landing three, four or five of these symbols across the reels.

However, if you land three of the Treasure Chest scatters, you trigger the Treasure Chest Feature which sees you select X's on a map to reveal a cash prize and the chance to pick again, or it will trigger the Ghost Pirate which ends the selection round, but which also then awards you a random number of free spins up to a maximum of 100.

During this bonus round, when you select an X on the map, if you find a treasure chest with a lock on it that matches a key you have collected in the base game, then you receive a 3x multiplier on the prize that you have just won. Furthermore, during the subsequent free spins bonus, the Skeleton Key Wild is grouped on all three middle reels, not just the center reel.

Other bonus features

The Galleon Scatter offers a payout and also offers an additional feature when you have the Extra Bet option enabled on your spin (which is worth the extra cash). When you trigger the three galleons scatters, the Extra Bet Broadside feature loads up and you will see two ships, your pirate ship and a another vessel, next to each other on screen.

You exchange fire with the ship to win a prize, moving you up the prize ladder with each ship you defeat. Defeat the Spanish ships and you move up the ladder more quickly and earn a bigger cash prize as a result.

If you can reach level 10 on the Prize Ladder then you will win the top prize which is the progressive jackpot fund plus another 1,000 coins on top of that.

Best feature of the Pirate Isle slot

Without doubt the presentation of the Pirate Isle slot is one of the best I have ever seen on a slot game but I feel that the slot has some equally impressive other features too. The way the Free Spins bonus round works is great because you essentially get two ways of triggering a cash win from a single feature (the initial Map picks and then your free spins).

Add to that the innovative way you can try to win the progressive jackpot on the Broadside Feature game and the fact that there are two separate bonuses to aim for, plus the stacked Wilds and the Key's to collect means that there is always something going on for you whether you are in the base game, or playing through one of the features.

What does the Pirate Isle slot lack?

The one thing that the Pirate Isle slot lacks at times are base game wins. This is a medium to high volatility slot and that means you can play through a lot of spins before you trigger a win and often in the base game, these wins are not massive.

However, if you budget well and play for long enough and trigger the bonus features, then the wins you can achieve in these rounds can lead to some massive pay outs which will more than cover what you spend in the base game. However, it is a very 'hot and cold' slot and that means sometimes you will play and make a lovely profit and other times you will find the slot plays very tight indeed.

Conclusion

I was massively impressed with the Pirate Isle slot. The way it is presented is first class, the animations are smooth, funny and link the separate parts of the slot together very well indeed. It has many nice touches throughout and all the elements of the slot work together to provide a fun and immersive gaming experience that, with a progressive jackpot attached, has the potential to reward players handsomely.

Ratings

• Presentation: 20 / 20 - I cannot remember the last time that I awarded full marks in any category, but the Pirate Isle slot deserves it for the presentation value. Although the music is not to my taste, it does fit the slot and is jaunty enough to listen to while playing. The animations of the slot and all the nice touches regarding humor and linking the different elements of the slot together are superbly done. This is how a 21^st century slot should be put together in terms of how it is presented to players.
• Game-Play: 15 / 20 - There were two issues with the game-play for me that I felt detracted a little from what was otherwise a hugely enjoyable game. The first is the sheer number of symbols on the reels. Including all the bonus symbols, there are 20 different symbols on the reels and that does mean that you can go many spins in between wins at times. As such, wins don't come along that often and that does impinge how much you enjoy the base game.
• Bonus Features: 19 / 20 - Both the main bonus games are superbly done and are almost like their own little arcade adventure game in their own right. There's a progressive jackpot prize to aim for (though this is small compared to some other bigger progressive games) and the way the Key symbols and the Wild symbols work with the other aspects of the game is excellent.
• Entertainment Factor: 17 / 20 - This is a hugely enjoyable slot to play and if you enjoy mid to higher variance slots then you will have hours of fun playing this game. Those players that enjoy lower variance slots however may well find that the Pirate Isle slot doesn't pay out as often as they'd like and this does diminish its appeal and enjoyment while playing. But that is balanced out by the occasional bigger win, especially in the bonus features.
• Play Value: 13 / 20 - For a medium to higher variance slot, the Play Value on Pirate Isle is very decent, but you do need to be patient in order to trigger these higher value wins. It can take a lot of time and effort to get to these wins by playing through non-winning spins in the base game and that is where this slot can start to take some bigger chunks out of your balance, especially if you have the Extra Bet feature active too.
• Overall 84 / 100 - Pirate Isle is a fantastic slot that has been superbly designed, immaculately presented and the result is a slot game that works superbly well. It is a medium to higher variance game, so it is best suited to players that enjoy this form of slot and if you do, you'll have found one of the very best examples of the genre. Lower variance players will find that Pirate Isle can be a little expensive at times, but the big wins available in the features can offset your spending. Overall, this is a superb game and well worth a closer look.

Good Luck!

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