Pirates Bounty Megaways

(Blueprint Gaming) Slot Review

promo

pirates bounty megaways slot

Pirates’ Bounty Megaways: Slot Overview

Developer Blueprint Gaming keeps the Megaways production line hot, releasing a pirate-themed slot using Big Time Gaming’s infamous game engine. To speed up the process, it appears much of Pirates’ Bounty Megaways has been taken from Blueprint’s UK hit Deal or No Deal Megaways. It’s not a straight clone, some of the features have been altered, and different stats come through. But there are definite similarities, giving it a rather rushed feel, almost as if the studio didn’t have the time or motivation to develop a great pirating game. The result leaves a strange taste in the mouth.

Pirates’ Bounty Megaways’ setup comprises 6 main reels of up to 7 symbols each which can generate up to 117,649 ways to win, plus a 4 symbol horizontal bonus reel running along the top. The grid is located on the deck of an old pirate ship, surrounded by barrels, ropes, and burning torches (which seems a bit dangerous on a wooden boat). Out the back is the glistening Caribbean Sea, where merchant ships ripe for the plunder would be found.

Playable on mobile, tablet, or desktop, Pirates’ Bounty Megaways offers stakes from 10 p/c to $/€100 per spin. While the theme use is insipid, Blueprint has no trouble conjuring up a bunch of respectable stats from the math model. It starts with an RTP rating of 96.12% which is higher than its template slot Deal or No Deal, so no complaints there. A medium/high variance gives the game a bit of sting, while the potential is also rather high.

The rules for winning adhere to the usual Megaways arrangement. That means combinations must start on the leftmost reel, regardless of row height, in three of a kind or more. One exception is the top paying symbol, which needs just two in a line to payout. On the lower end of the paytable are 9-A royals, followed by maritime icons such as octopi, ships, mermaids, and skull and crossbones. Premium values start at 2x the bet, rising to 50x for winning combinations of 6 of a kind. The last symbol for this section is the Wild, appearing on the upper tracker reel. It has no worth but substitutes for any of the regular pay symbols.

Pirates’ Bounty Megaways: Slot Features

pirates bounty megaways
Pirates Bounty Megaways – free spins wheel

Features here are pretty standard Megaways extras, with a Bonus Wheel mixed in for some variety. First up are Blueprint’s standard mystery symbols, which land in random numbers, all transforming into the same matching pay symbol – anything except the wild.

Cascades are a critical component of Pirates Bounty Megaways. Not only do they cause chains of consecutive pays by removing winning symbols to allow new ones into the gaps, but they also trigger the bonus game. When 4, 5, or 6+ cascades occur on a single spin, then the Bonus, Super Bonus or Mega Bonus is activated.

Players are then presented with a 3 leveled Bonus Wheel. Before the wheel spins, players select gems which can increase the number of spins, up the rewards, or add more arrows to the wheel. Winning a better bonus starts you off on a higher tier:

  • Bonus – starts on level 1, offering instant prizes of 12 – 40 times the bet, 8-12 free spins, or land on an arrow to move up a level.
  • Super Bonus – starts on level 2, offering 12-18 free spins, or a green arrow.
  • Mega Bonus – awards level 3 and 20 free spins.

A progressive multiplier is used during free spins, starting on x1, and increasing by 1 with each cascade. The multiplier does not reset between spins; it can only go higher. Lastly, scatter symbols now appear on the upper reel, awarding extra free spins when at least 3 are in view.

Pirates’ Bounty Megaways: Slot Verdict

Are you looking to get all swashbuckly on the seven seas in a pirate-themed slot? If not, then you might have come to the right place, because neither does Blueprint Gaming really. Despite the name and the graphics, Pirates’ Bounty Megaways feels devoid of much passion. As if the team had a pirate slot to make, knocked it together using bits from other games and shipped it out the door as quickly as they could.

On one level, Pirates’ Bounty has all the correct elements, yet the overall package is missing something. It’s like finally meeting your crush, and realising you have absolutely nothing in common. There’s just no spark. Everything here has mostly been seen before in Deal or No Deal, minus the infamous box selection scene and beating the pesky banker where things get personal. Take all that out, and what have you got? Well, Pirate Bounty Megaways.

Maybe we’re coming down too hard. Pirate Bounty is a competent use of Megaways after all. The graphics are fine and the features do the job. The Bonus Wheel is irritating when it doesn’t go your way. It is possible to trigger up to 20 free spins from it, but it might have worked better for some if scatters just directly awarded free spins, rather than possibly ending up with a modest xbet. Potential wins are big though, where payouts of up to 10,000 times the stake are possible.

If this were happening in a vacuum there wouldn’t be so much of an issue. It’s just that it seems Blueprint blasted Pirates’ Bounty Megaways out for the sole purpose of keeping their name associated with Megaways in the public eye. The studio is one of the best around at turning out Megaways slots, yet Pirates’ Bounty comes across as superfluous to requirement.

All up, an okay slot, that has its moments. Technically the game does the right things but is far from unmissable – quite the opposite. Pirates’ Bounty fails to extend Megaways or the pirating theme in any way. This is how soullessly sanitised those rogues of the sea would’ve been like if they’d been backed by modern corporations in the days of yore.

Fair

Pirates’ Bounty Megaways is technically capable of decent Megaways gaming, yet lacks heart or originality which makes it hard to get excited about.

Latest Reviews

Play'n GO
wild survivor slot

Wild Survivor

Big Time Gaming
Trigger Happy slot

Trigger Happy

Slotmill
Tyrant's Fall slot

Tyrant’s Fall

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments