After a hard day of looting, plundering, and sailing the seven seas, where's a disrespectable buccaneer going to lay their weary bones and down a pint or two? If developer Pragmatic Play has any say in the matter, it's at a spot called Pirates Pub. It made us wonder if a pub that caters to pirates would be like a club you'd have to apply to join. Maybe prospective members would have to prove their credentials to get in, like submitting a certain number of wanted posters, dressing a certain way, or saying the word 'ARRR' a lot. Fortunately, Pirates Pub the slot is a lot less exclusive and opens its doors to players of all persuasions, willing to give it a try. Once in the door, be on the lookout for a free spins round which marks grid positions before adding in wilds, some with multipliers, during its second stage.
Pirates Pub isn't the saltiest of pirating-themed slots we've ever played. Instead of getting rough and realistic, Pirates Pub has gone easy-going and light instead. The large majority of the screen is covered by Pirates Pub's gaming grid, while hints of the actual pub struggle to make itself known around the edges. In other words, if you want an online slot to make you feel the wind in your hair as a ship ploughs through rough seas on the way to ransack Port Royale or something like that, Pirates Pub probably ain't it. This one's more low-key relaxed, at least initially.
>Where the gaming action occurs is on a grid with 5 reels, 3 rows, and 9 paylines for landing winning combinations of 3 to 5 of a kind across. It's a highly volatile machine, displaying 4.5 out of 5 lightning bolts for volatility on the pay table, and comes in three RTP with 96.03% being the preferred one. At the highest RTP version, the return rate decreases slightly to 96% when buying free spins for the cost of 70 times the stake. Stakes may be set from 9 p/c to $/€99, and that about wraps up the technical stuff.
One way of getting some coins from Pirates Pub is when at least three matching symbols land on a payline across adjacent reels, starting from the left. Do so with five matching symbols, and the game pays 2.22 to 4.44 times the bet for the lower value diamonds, hearts, clubs, and spades card suits, or 6.67 to 33.33 times the bet for five chopped fish, beer mugs, bottles, swords, hats, and coins. Also appearing on all reels is the Pirates Pub logo wild, substituting for all pay symbols. Hit a line of five winning wilds, and the reward is 55.56x the bet. Values are approximate due to the bet levels on a 9 payline machine.
>If you like a slot with a full and busy base game, Pirates Pub probably won't suffice, as there are no features present in that phase of play. Instead, the action only really heats up when 3, 4, or 5 wild symbols land on a base game spin to trigger the free spins feature.
Landing 3 wilds awards 5, 6, 7, or 8 free spins, landing 4 wilds awards 8, 9, 10, or 11 free spins, while 5 landed wilds award 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15 free spins. The number of free spins is randomly awarded.
During the first part of the free spins round, the wilds that triggered the feature highlight their grid positions. Each time a new wild lands, it also marks the position it hits in. If a wild lands on an already marked position, the mark is upgraded. This can occur for up to 5 upgrades. Should 3, 4, or 5 wilds hit at the same time, then a random number of free spins is awarded from the same values as in the base game.
When all of the free spins have been used, the second stage of the round begins. Here, 2, 3, 4, or 5 free spins are randomly awarded. For the second stage, all marked positions are filled with sticky wilds. Depending on the upgrade level of each marked position, the sticky wild has a multiplier of up to x5. Sticky wilds do not substitute for the original wilds. When more than one multiplier is part of a win, the values are added together. Sticky wilds have the same payout value as regular wilds, and this second stage cannot be retriggered.
>Pirates are sometimes stereotypically portrayed as raving, forever drunk, looking for fights, hunting around for the next illicit big score, with parrot and peg leg in place. Surely they weren't all like that, though. How many pet parrots could there possibly be? Just as pirates no doubt had different looks, temperaments, and personalities, so do pirate-themed slots, which is a good thing from players' perspective since it provides a range of options depending on the mood.
And so, for players in the mood for a light-hearted, jolly pirate game that doesn't go overboard with the features, then Pirates Pub might suit. In terms of features, well, the base game's got none to speak of, so it'll help if users have an affinity for Pirates Pub's cheerful theme use, or just skip the base game altogether by using the bonus buy to trigger free spins where the adrenal rushes get a chance to, um, rush a bit more. Marked positions turning wild at a later date is a feature which pops up every so often; Wild Chapo from Relax Gaming is one fiery example which came to mind, and it works just fine here too. Stage 2 triggers up to 5 additional free spins, and multiplier wilds are always something to look forward to. Here they're good for wins of up to 5,000 times the bet at best.
After coasting into port, gotta say Pirates Pub provided an okay voyage. It didn't come across as a slot Pragmatic Play threw a lot of love or resources at, though. The theme treatment is cheerful if lacklustre, and the features can technically pop but are a bit bland. Pirates Pub can perform during its bonus round, yet this wasn't a crew we'd be rushing to sign back up for in a hurry.
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