It's time for something a little bit different today as we leave behind the cool island setting of Tropicool 2 and bright lights of Book of Sam to take to the high seas in ELK Studios‘ upcoming release. According to the team, the time of pirates ruling these seas is over, as they have been outwitted, outsmarted, and outplayed by the Fearful Four – who originally belonged on their captain's shoulders but have now taken over to reign the seas. Basically, these swashbuckling pirates are taking back control and wreaking some havoc in Pirots. With a fixed RTP of 94.0%, this highly (7/10) volatile release is capable of producing wins up to 10,000x bet.
Everything looks pretty simple in Pirots, with a deep blue sea in the background and monstera leaves to the sides of the grid. On the grid itself are some pretty gems along with the four Pirots, each of which are adorned with various pirate imagery. Other than this, bombs, coins, anchors, ropes, scrolls, chests, and barrels help to set the scene. All in all, a nice picture – not the most exciting looking release the team at ELK Studios have produced, but more than enough to pique some interest. An upbeat, jolly tune rings through with various sound effects, tying it all together to make you feel like you really are at sea.
Pirots Base Features
Alright, so you can more or less forget what you know when it comes to collecting wins on Pirots. Let's cover symbols first, which will make things easier. There are four coloured gems – blue, green, purple, and red – and each gem has 5 levels, each of which holds a different value. Blue gems hold winning values between 0.05 and 3x bet, green gems hold values between 0.05 and 5x bet, purple gems hold values between 0.10 and 7.50x bet, and red gems hold values between 0.25 and 15x bet. There are no win lines or ways to win in Pirots. Instead, ELK have implemented their new CollectR mechanic. The four Pirots (parrots) – which again are blue, green, purple, and red – will collect any symbols that match in colour to their own. Birds will move across the grid, only collecting a symbol if it is in a vertically or horizontally adjacent position on the grid. Birds can move back on themselves if they cannot collect all adjacent symbols in one movement, and will also collect all Feature Symbols, which have no colour. Remember, since there are no win lines, the win values for gems is the value per gem collected.
The first thing to cover is how symbols are removed from the grid, which is in a way similar to Avalanches. On every drop, all symbols collected by birds are removed from the grid when they are collected. All remaining symbols will the drop to the bottommost available position on their respective column, with new symbols dropping in from above to fill the remaining gaps. This continues until no new symbols are collected.
With the exception of Bonus symbols, all symbols collected on the grid will also be added to the feature meter at the top of the grid. Once the meter has been filled, three chests will be added to the grid in random positions.
Each chest can reveal one of the following Feature Symbols:
- Coin Win – when collected by a bird, their value will be awarded as a times bet win. Coins can hold values up to 1,000x bet, or can display the maximum win.
- Wild – substitutes for any gem at the current respective win level. Once collected, Wilds remain on the grid and can then be collected by a new bird that is adjacent.
- Grid Expander – explodes when there are no more wins in view, removing all symbols except Feature Symbols in close proximity, and awarding a re-drop. Explosions will also expand the size of the grid by adding an additional row and column, up to a maximum size of 8×8.
- Symbol Upgrade – a white upgrade symbol will upgrade all gems of the colour of the bird that collected it, whilst a multicoloured upgrade symbol will upgrade all gem colours simultaneously. Symbols can be upgrade between 1 and 3 levels, up to the maximum level of 5.
- Symbol Transform – transforms a cluster of gems around it into the same colour of the bird that collected it, or into a random number of Feature Symbols.
- Bonus Symbol – awards a Bonus symbol.
Pirots Bonus
Collect 3 Bonus symbols in one game round to trigger the Bonus, with 5 Free Drops awarded. During the Bonus grid size, feature meter progression, and gems level do not reset between drops.
Aside from this, everything continues as normal during the Bonus, with the same Feature Symbols available:
- Coin Win – when collected by a bird, their value will be awarded as a times bet win. Coins can hold values up to 1,000x bet, or can display the maximum win.
- Wild – substitutes for any gem at the current respective win level. Once collected, Wilds remain on the grid and can then be collected by a new bird that is adjacent.
- Grid Expander – explodes when there are no more wins in view, removing all symbols except Feature Symbols in close proximity, and awarding a re-drop. Explosions will also expand the size of the grid by adding an additional row and column, up to a maximum size of 8×8.
- Symbol Upgrade – a white upgrade symbol will upgrade all gems of the colour of the bird that collected it, whilst a multicoloured upgrade symbol will upgrade all gem colours simultaneously. Symbols can be upgrade between 1 and 3 levels, up to the maximum level of 5.
- Symbol Transform – transforms a cluster of gems around it into the same colour of the bird that collected it, or into a random number of Feature Symbols.
By collecting 3 Bonus symbols in one spin or drop of the Bonus, players can trigger additional Free Drops.
Players in appropriate regions can take advantage of the following X-iter options:
- Bonus Hunt (more than quadruple the chance of triggering a Bonus) – 3x bet
- Feature Bonanza (one drop with Feature Symbols awarded) – 10x bet
- Maximum Grid Size (one spin on an 8×8 grid) – 25x bet
- Bonus Game – 100x bet
- Super Bonus Game (maximum grid size and all upgrade symbols upgrade all gems) – 500x bet
RTP is unchanged when using X-iter.
The maximum win available in Pirots is 10,000x bet. If the sum of a single game round exceeds this, the game round will end and 10,000x bet will be awarded.
First Impression
Well, that was interesting. At first glance I thought Pirots would be regular ways to win game, and it did take a while to get used to how things worked, but once you get into the swing of it it's easy to pick up. It's always good to see someone trying something new, and in this instance we have a new payout mechanic, new features, and new X-iter options to spice things up even more.
Base game play is kept ticking over with the host of Feature Symbols available working alongside upgrading symbol values and an expanding grid, but the Bonus is where things really heat up, with symbol upgrades, grid size, and feature meter progression not resetting between Drops. In particular the Super Bonus, which sits at a coast of 500x bet, takes this to a further level, with all Drops played on the maximum grid size and all upgrade symbols upgrading all gems. When the right combinations land, wins are possible up to 10,000x bet.
Finally, maths is highly (7/10) volatile and RTP is fixed, albeit at 94.0% – which is on the lower side, and helps contribute to a few points lost. If you're wanting to try something new that comes packed with plenty of features, Pirots will suit you down to the ground.
*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.
