Wild Wild Pearls

Wild Wild Pearls: Slot Overview

Beneath the waves lies Wild Wild Pearls, Pragmatic Play's latest dive into underwater slots, complete with aquatic creatures, shimmering pearls, and local jackpots waiting to be uncovered. Having churned out a whole heap of water themed titles like Lobster Bob's Sea Food and Win It, Beware the Deep Megaways, and Release the Kraken Megaways, Pragmatic is no stranger to the deep seas. Wild Wild Pearls positions itself neatly into the developer's catalog with visuals that are unmistakably Pragmatic - bright, polished, and functional, yet leaving little room for surprise.

Visually, the slot sets its stage with coral reefs and schools of fish, painting a serene underwater landscape. While pleasant, it doesn't push the boundaries of what we've seen in water-themed slots before, though it does get the job done. Accompanying this undersea expedition is a calypso-inspired soundtrack, keeping the mood light and rhythmic. To summarize, the presentation is polished but painfully predictable - another underwater slot churned out by Pragmatic Play's well-oiled template machine. It looks fine, sounds fine, but feels like déjà vu in pixel form.

Wild Wild Pearls unfolds across a 6-reel grid with a 3-3-4-4-4-4 layout, offering 576 ways to win. A highly volatile slot, with Pragmatic's signature 5-out-of-5 lightning bolts to confirm, it's the kind game where you're potentially either riding the waves of a bigger wins or drowning in dead spins. The RTP is set at 96.46% by default, though be wary of the lower versions lurking about. Stakes range from a modest €0.20 to a whopping €360, making it accessible for casual players and high rollers alike. Activating the Ante bet, which adds 50% to the base bet, doubles the chance of triggering the feature.

The paytable doesn't exactly break new ground. Low-paying card suit royals flutter onto the reels, handing out wins between 0.10x and 1x your bet for a full line of six. Meanwhile, the high-paying symbols bring the ocean's cast of characters: clownfish, seahorses, sea stars, turtles, and the star of the show, an octopus. These pay anywhere from 0.25x to a respectable 5x for six-of-a-kind combos.

Wild Wild Pearls: Slot Features

Central to the gameplay is the Money Collect feature, paired with a Free Spins round that includes an enhanced Super Free Spins version.

Money Collect Feature

Money symbols land on reels 3 through 6, each displaying a random value ranging from 0.5x to 10x your bet. Jackpot prizes - Mini (25x), Minor (50x), Major (75x), and Mega (100x) - only appear on reel 6. Triggering the Money Collect feature requires wilds on reels 1 and 2, alongside money symbols on the subsequent reels,

Multipliers

Multipliers positioned on top of reels 3 through 6, ranging from x2 to x4, add to the total value of collected money symbols, creating the potential for boosted payouts.

Free Spins

The Free Spins feature offers 10 spins triggered by landing wilds on reels 1 and 2 and a bonus symbol on reel 3. During the round, the Money Collect feature remains active, with more frequent money symbols on the reels. In the upgraded Super Free Spins round, multipliers are increased to x3 on reels 3 and 4 and x5 on reels 5 and 6. Retriggering either feature adds +5 spins and doubles the multipliers already in play, with a maximum of 2 retriggers allowed.

Bonus Buy

The free spins round can be instantly triggered by activating the bonus buy. It will set you back 75x your bet to trigger regular free spins or 150x your bet to trigger the super free spins feature.

Wild Wild Pearls: Slot Verdict

Wild Wild Pearls feels like Pragmatic Play went rummaging through its workshop of slot mechanics, stitched together a collection of tried-and-tested features, and slapped on some local jackpots for good measure. It's not an inherently bad game, but it leans so heavily on recycled ideas that it struggles to carve out much of an identity of its own. The Money Collect feature is functional, the Super Free Spins definitely have the capability to spice things up, and the visual presentation is perfectly serviceable, but there's nothing here that screams innovation, though, to be fair, that was likely hardly the idea, and this obviously is no flagship release.

For players who enjoy the comfort of familiarity, Wild Wild Pearls offers a safe, predictable experience. However, for those looking for something fresh or exciting, this might feel more like a shelf filler slot - useful for passing time but not necessarily memorable. The inclusion of local jackpots is a divisive addition; some players might enjoy the thrill of chasing them, while others could be put off by the focus on Mini jackpots, which dilute the sense of high-stakes wins.

At the end of the day, Wild Wild Pearls is a functional but rather bland addition to Pragmatic Play's library. It lacks the spark needed to stand out in a sea of underwater-themed slots. Whether it keeps players coming back for more or just fades into the depths will depend on how much they enjoy playing it safe.