Pirates Island Slot Machine
Swash your buckles and fare the seven seas with this pirate themed slot machine by iSoftBet. With 5 reels and 5 paylines, this simple video slot takes spinning pirates on shore to explore an desert island in search of buried treasures. The biggest bounty on offer in the game is a 5,000x line bet multiplier which is not a bad return at all, especially considering that there are some hefty wagers available to be placed.
That said, the game doesn't throw up any bonus features or side games to break up the spinning action or add any extra narrative elements to the theme.
A Classic Tale of Buccaneers and Buried Gold
Pirates Island is one in a long line of online slot machines which take on a swashbuckling pirate theme, so it has a lot of competition to contend with. The theme is perhaps so popular thanks to the modern obsession with pirates in certain film franchises and television series, but the pirate of today's popular culture can be traced back to one of the original tales of “buccaneers and buried gold” - that is, of course, R. L. Stevenson's novel, Treasure Island.
This slot machine features all of the fanciful stereotypes associated with pirates that were made popular by such fictional accounts, with a series of symbols including cannons, Jolly Rodger flags, hand hooks, parrot side-kicks, treasure maps, magnificent galleons and chests of gold. It's enough to wish you sailing the seven seas in search of riches and adventure yourself!
Vintage Style Pirate Spins
This game might contain all of the staple props and icons of the pirate genre, but how does it compare to other buccaneering games on the market? Well, truth be told, it is somewhat underwhelming with a set of rudimentary two dimensional symbols and a lack of special animations whenever those symbols align into winning sequences. In fact, this game almost has the appearance of a classic slot machine instead of a video slot. As such, it is safe to say that players will find more innovative games out there with similar themes and more spectacular visual effects, like Playson's Lucky Pirates, or Hook's Heroes by NetEnt.
No Bonus Bounty to be Found
As well as being a bit disappointing in terms of visual aesthetics, this slot machine also lacks any interesting bonus features such as free spins, wild wins or special side games. Of course, this may appeal to certain types of spinners, especially those purists out there who don't like to get bogged down in distracting sideshows.
However, bonus games are not simply useful for boosting the betting balance, but they are also means by which slot machines can expand on the theme with extra narrative elements. So, if you are after something with a sense of seafaring adventure and narrative, then you might be better off looking elsewhere, perhaps to a game like “Treasure Island” by Inspired Gaming.
A Treasure Chest of Riches
If you're happy to settle for Pirates Island – which is perfectly fine if you are after some no-nonsense spins with a pirate twist – then you can expect to be in for some decent wins with a wide variety of wagering options. The game can be played with anywhere between 1 and 5 paylines with up to 5 coins worth any of the following credit values: 0.02, 0.05, 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00 and 2.00. So, by our calculations, that means that players can take it easy with minimum total bets of just 0.02 credits per spin, or they can throw caution to the wind and sail on for big jackpot wins with a 50.00 credit stake per spin.
No matter how much a player bets, the winning payout is always proportional to the value of the bet that is placed on each active line. So, if two or more symbols appear upon a payline starting from the left of the screen going to the right, players can expect to receive one of the following line bet multipliers:
Get your sea legs
We have to admit that, despite the basic nature of this slot machine's design and gameplay, it still offers spinners with some handsome of prize winning potential. Because, with a maximum line bet of 10.00 credits in play, there is every chance that a row of five treasure chests could line up for a 50,000 credit jackpot. If that's not worth a few spins, then we don't know what is.