Arrr! 10K Ways

Arrr! 10K Ways: Slot Overview

Hey players, here's a rib-tickler for you – what has eight eyes and eight legs? Give up? Eight pirates! Sorry, we were going to ask what a pirate's favourite letter is, but ReelPlay beat us to the punch with an online slot called Arrr! 10K Ways. If you like a title to let you know what a game is all about, then Arrr! 10K Ways drops a couple of strong hints. For one, it's pirate based; for two, it's powered by ReelPlay's 10K Ways pay system. Sure, sure, both elements are already well represented in the marketplace, but for some reason, perhaps it was the call of the open sea on a sunny day or the surprisingly positive time we had in last one, Bananaz 10K Ways, we went into with minds wide open. Were they blown?

If you played and enjoyed Bananaz 10K Ways, you'll be very clued up as to what to expect from Arrr! 10K Ways. The two games offer more or less the same features, though they do run on very diverse math models. Thematically, they are miles apart, too, and Arrr! takes place aboard a pirate ship on a sunshiny day, weaving between reefs, past palm-covered islands. Judging by the weather at least, it's no wonder so many Europeans went off to find their fortune in the Caribbean. A jaunty pirate tune is accompanied by the sort of charming graphics Yggdrasil would do, which makes sense since the two studios are partners.

Playable on any device, keyboard privateers can load up stakes of 20 p/c to $/€12 per spin to get all piraty. Surprisingly, low volatile, Arrr! goes on to produce a solid theoretical return to player value of 96.1%, and on paper at least, sizeable 20,000x potential. As the name suggests, players get 10,000 ways to create winning combinations of matching symbols, across a 6x4 main grid, with an extra 4 position reel up top.

When picking the pirate theme, a studio generally has to go salty or cartoonish. ReelPlay has chosen the latter option, which fits nicely with the cheerful atmosphere. On the reels, we find six low pay coin symbols with hearts, clubs, spades, diamonds, anchors, and skulls imprinted on them. Premiums display krakens, parrots, lady pirates, and men pirates. Landing a six of a kind winning way is worth 0.5 to 1.2 times the stake for the low pays, or 2 to 50 times the stake for the highs. Winning ways then trigger the cascade feature, which removes them and lets symbols drop down from above to plug the gaps.

Arrr! 10K Ways: Slot Features

So much for the plain sailing part of the game, now it's time to open up the sails for the best bits. These include Cannon Wilds, Bonus Respins, and a Gamble Feature.

Cannon Wilds

At the end of any non-winning spin, there is a chance the Cannon Wild feature activates. When it fires, 1-3 symbols on the grid are transformed into Jolly Roger Wilds, which substitute any pay symbol. Each Jolly Roger Wild has a multiplier of x1-x5 that gets applied to any win the wild is part of. If more than one wild is used in a win, the multiplier values are multiplied together. Jolly Roger Wilds can be added to reels 2, 3, 4, or 5 and only appear in the game when placed there by the Cannon Wilds feature.

Bonus Respins

Landing 4 Treasure Chest symbols awards the Bonus Respins feature. The triggering Treasure Chests take on a random value of 1-1,000x the bet and lock in place. Now, 3 respins are awarded and are reset whenever a new Treasure Chest, Kraken, or Captain symbol hits. Treasure Chests bear prize values, Krakens collect all of the values adjacent to them, and Captain symbols have a value equal to the total of all prize symbols in view. When spins run out, the sum of all prize symbols is awarded.

Gamble Feature

When respins end, players get the chance to gamble their winnings. This occurs on a trail of x0.5, x1, x1.5, x2, x3, and x4 multipliers – players start on x1. If the gamble fails, you move one step on the trail to the left; if it is successful, you move one space to the right. Falling off from x0.5 means you lose the lot, while moving right from x4 awards an x5 multiplier and ends the feature.

Buy Bonus

If standing around on deck waiting for the action to happen doesn't appeal, applicable players can buy the respin feature instead for the cost of 100x the total bet.

Arrr! 10K Ways: Slot Verdict

As we said, if you've played Bananaz 10K, a lot of this will sound familiar. Actually, pretty much everything is the same, except for a tweak to the math model. Well, more than a tweak, really, and closer to replacing a V8 with a regular four-banger. It was hard to detect a major difference in gameplay during the review, and swathes of dead spins were not uncommon. However, officially, Arrr! sits in a different category to Bananaz 10K, technically catering to a alternative group of gamblers altogether.

Aside from a game engine re-tune, the rest of Arrr! was business as usual. Cannon Wilds have the potential to be quite deadly if more than one multiplier is used, and cascades are there to keep the base game chugging along. Respins might suit players after something uncomplicated, better if for those keen on risking the total prize money in a gamble feature. Hit a major hot run and the total take in Arrr! can be as high as 20,000x the bet. Big numbers, but the real saving grace, like Bananaz 10K, was the game's positive presentation. Objectively, a low volatile version of an already fairly basic game should be an instant buzz kill. However, perhaps it's because we hadn't reviewed a pirate game for a while, but Arrr! seemed to scratch an itch for the sea we weren't even aware of.

If you ever played Bananaz 10K and really wished ReelPlay had eased up on the volatility, then apparently you weren't alone. For anyone in this group who voiced their concerns, consider yourself heard. For a low vola, bubbly looking, clear-cut hold 'n win game, which gives you a chance to gamble your bonus game winnings, eh, why not.