You often come across a follow-up slot with the word 'Deluxe' or 'Gold' in the title where the change isn't immediately apparent. Usually after a few spins, or a browse of the paytable, the new features, bigger potential, or graphical upgrade becomes clear. There must be a different definition over at Pragmatic Play because Pirate Gold Deluxe feels like a step down rather than up compared to the original Pirate Gold version. While there have been some changes to the Lucky Treasure Bag feature, several key stats have walked the plank, and free spins have been axed altogether.
Visually, the two slots are pretty much on par with each other. The Deluxe version does have a more enticing environment due to the brighter, warmer tones used in the animated background image. Yet, it is essentially the same thing, as is the suspenseful soundtrack. The 5-reel, 40-payline grid isn't quite so authentic as the first one though. It's cleaner, less detailed, and looks like it might actually hold up in a storm. Altogether, there's very little separating the two games in the looks or sounds department.
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One area the two games differ in is bet selection. While Pirate Gold Deluxe can also be played on any device, it's more low roller friendly with bets starting at 20 p/c, though not so high roller friendly, due to stakes topping out at $/100 per spin. As well as the max bet taking a hit, the default RTP has also dropped ever so slightly to 96.48% while volatility remains high with a rating of 5 out of 5.
Since so much else remained the same, it stands to reason regular pay symbols are unchanged as well. From the bottom up are bronze, silver, gold doubloons, and a hook which need three to win at least. The next batch needs only two and consists of telescopes, maps, ships, parrots, a lady pirate, and a male pirate – worth 10 to 25 times the stake. Appearing on reels 2-5 is a treasure chest overflowing with loot as the wild symbol. It has no value of its own but substitutes for any symbol except the Money Symbol.
>We probably spoilt this bit by mentioning free spins are gone. In its place is, well nothing really, though the Lucky Treasure Bag feature has been altered. To trigger it you'll need 8 or more gold Money Symbols to land anywhere on the reels. These bags carry a random value or display the minor or major jackpot. When 8 land, they are locked in position and three respins awarded. During respins, only blank spaces, chests, or purple, red, or green bags can land. When they do, respins are reset back to three. Also, they apply one of these modifiers:
Rounds end when respins run to zero or all positions are covered. All bags are added up, and any win multiplier applied to the total amount. If all 20 positions are filled, the Grand Jackpot is awarded, worth 1,000 times the bet.
Something brand shiny new is the Buy Money Respins feature. For the cost of 100 times the bet, where possible, players will get 8-19 Money Symbols on the next spin.
Pirate Gold Deluxe is odd because it feels like the very opposite of a deluxe version. If less is more, then perhaps it qualifies, though that thinking really runs against the grain when it comes to slot remakes. Maybe this was a test run of new bag symbols for possible future hold and win features if they are successfully received here. It's hard to think of many justifications for Pirate Gold Deluxe's existence.
Perhaps there was strong demand for a feature buy option from Pirate Gold fans? If the thought of buying your way to a hold and win game sounds tempting, you can add a new slot to the must-see list. As far as these types of features go, the Lucky Treasure Bag isn't a bad one. It's not like the juiced-up freak show that say, Money Train 2, can turn into. But, there are moments when good things happen. Multipliers are great, and rare as you'd imagine, though not as uncommon as the chest retrigger. Getting even one multiplier can change an average bonus round into a good one.
This leads to the next Pirate Gold Deluxe enigma. Get the bonus round going mental, and Pragmatic Play mentions wins of up to 15,000 times the bet are possible. An impressive haul to be sure, yet it's less than half the amount claimed in the non-deluxe version, where wins of 32,270x are advertised. Now, we all know Pragmatic Play potential is a bit of a controversy as it never seems to come into realization - not even by a longshot. Either way, why the drop? Why the axing of free spins? There are so many ponderables in Pirate Gold Deluxe your mind starts blanking if you think too hard about them.
Pirate Gold Deluxe is a decent enough game, but it just didn't seem worth the effort to design. Then again, it’s unlikely a whole lot of effort was required to make the minimal tweaks. If you've ever played Pirate Gold and thought it would be the shiznit if they removed free spins and halved the potential, prepare for a mind melt.
For more pirate-themed slots action, be sure to try Push Gaming's Booty Bay slot which utilises progressive unlimited respins whilst giving you the chance to land massive rewards.
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