Pirots X Slot Review
Swedish developer ELK Studios brings the cheeky parrots back as it presents a fourth game in the Pirots series. Pirots X might be a return to the pirate theme of the first game, but it does represent a change in game style. You see, while the first three Pirots games were traditional video slots with an interesting symbol collection mechanic, Pirots X is a cluster slot. This means no paylines, as instead wins are formed with clusters of matching symbols. Is this pairing of familiar and different elements enough to impress? That’s what this Pirots X review is all about!
Pirots X
Pirots X RTP and Wagering
As mentioned in our introduction, ELK went for the cluster slot format with Pirots X. As such, wins are formed by landing 5 or more matching symbols in vertically or horizontally adjacent positions anywhere on the 5x5 grid, forming a cluster. The symbols making a winning cluster are removed from the reels, leading to a cascade as new symbols drop to fill the empty spaces. In addition, the winning cluster leaves a wild in one of the empty spaces. This can lead to more winning combinations, in which case the cascade process repeats until there are no more winning symbols in view.
The RTP of Pirots X is relatively low at 94%, considering the average slot RTP clocks at 96%, while the volatility can be described as high. Betting starts from £0.20 and can reach up to £100, making this a slot game suitable for both casual players and high rollers. And just as well, considering the maximum win is capped at no less than 10,000x the stake. You can potentially win this amount through bonus features such as the multiplier wilds, which we’ll detail further on in this review.
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Pirots X Symbols and Audio & Video Design
While Pirots X is a throwback to the pirate stylings of the first Pirots slot, ELK still made sure to bring new and exciting visuals to the table. The developer is well-known for its painterly art style, and we’re happy to report it went all out in Pirots X. Note the tropical island background with the giant bird skull hidden behind the game grid, or the four animated Pirots characters perched on top. It looks striking and immediately inviting, just like any good modern video slot should.
The grid holds 8 different paying symbols - four stylised birds in red, purple, green, and blue, and gems in these same colours. Each symbol can appear in big 2x2, 3x3, or even 4x4 size, making it count as 4, 9, or 16 matching symbols respectively. Winning clusters leave golden “W” wilds on the grid. Wilds can substitute for all paying symbols, and can even merge or split depending on how and where they appear. The last symbol of note is the golden anchor. This is the game’s scatter, and landing 3 of these will award you with the game’s bonus round. Keep an eye out for the Super scatter, as landing one of these together with 2 regular scatters triggers the Super version of the bonus round.
Blue gem
5 - 0.1x / 6 - 0.15x / 7 - 0.2x / 8 - 0.25x / 9 - 0.3x / 10-12 - 0.6x / 13-15 - 1.25x / 16+ - 4x
Green gem
5 - 0.15x / 6 - 0.2x / 7 - 0.25x / 8 - 0.3x / 9 - 0.35x / 10-12 - 0.7x / 13-15 - 1.5x / 16+ - 6x
Purple gem
5 - 0.2x / 6 - 0.25x / 7 - 0.3x / 8 - 0.35x / 9 - 0.4x / 10-12 - 0.8x / 13-15 - 1.75x / 16+ - 8x
Red gem
5 - 0.25x / 6 - 0.3x / 7 - 0.35x / 8 - 0.4x / 9 - 0.45x / 10-12 -0.9x / 13-15 - 2x / 16+ - 10x
Blue bird
5 - 0.3x / 6 - 0.4x / 7 - 0.5x / 8 - 0.6x / 9 - 0.75x / 10-12 - 1.5x / 13-15 - 3x / 16+ -15x
Green bird
5 - 0.4x / 6 - 0.5x / 7 - 0.6x / 8 - 0.7x / 9 - 1x / 10-12 - 2x / 13-15 - 4x / 16+ - 20x
Purple bird
5 - 0.5x / 6 - 0.6x / 7 - 0.7x / 8 - 0.8x / 9 - 1.5x / 10-12 - 3x / 13-15 - 5x / 16+ - 25x
Red bird
5 - 1x / 6 - 1.25x / 7 - 1.5x / 8 - 1.75x / 9 - 2.5x / 10-12 - 5x / 13-15 - 10x / 16+ - 50x
Pirots X Mobile Features
Like any other self-respecting modern video slot, Pirots X is fully compatible with your mobile devices. Better still, you don’t even need to download any additional software to play it on your smartphone. This is thanks to HTML5, a technology that allows games to run on any internet browser regardless of display size. That said, we do recommend playing Pirots X in landscape mode for maximum visual clarity, especially once things get busy during its randomly triggered features.
Pirots X Bonus Features
ELK loves stuffing its games with features, and Pirots X is no exception here. Even the wilds get a full range of modifiers! The stars, however, are the Pirots themselves, who can trigger a unique feature on any random spin. What do these involve, you might ask? That’s why we’re here, of course!
Wilds
We’ve already mentioned how winning clusters leave a wild in a random empty space. Wilds can substitute for all symbols except scatters and the Pirots’ special symbols. If a wild makes part of multiple clusters then it will split to leave a wild for each winning cluster. In case multiple wilds are in the same cluster then they will merge to form a multiplier wild. The value of the multiplier here is equal to the number of wilds in the cluster.
Multiplier
A spin may lead to a nest symbol landing on the grid. When this happens a random Pirot will make its way towards it, collecting symbols of the same colour as it does. Each gem collected increases the round multiplier by +1 and each bird by +2. The birds cannot collect wilds or other special symbols. At the end of the spin this global multiplier will be added together with the values of any multiplier wilds in view and the total applied to the final win. At the end of the spin this multiplier resets back to 1x.
Pirot Features
There are three different features that may be randomly triggered at the beginning of a spin. This is what they involve:
- Bomb - A bomb in a random location on the grid. This explodes to remove any paying symbols in an area of up to 7x7 in size. New symbols will then drop in a cascade. Charlie the parakeet may also throw a bomb at the end of a spin.
- Feature release - a bird opens a chest and releases wilds, bombs, nests, scatters, or super scatters randomly on the grid.
- Big drop - a bird presses a red button to drop a big symbol on the grid. This crushes any regular 1x1 symbols as it makes its way to the bottom.
Free Spins
Landing 3 scatters awards you with 5 free spins. During these the global multiplier is persistent, while landing free drops symbols awards you with additional free spins. There is also a Super Bonus round that can be triggered by landing 2 regular scatters and 1 Super scatter. This round is played on a 7x7 grid and promises at least one of the above mentioned random features on each spin.
Pirots X Final Thoughts
We had our doubts that ELK would manage to bring some new ideas to the cluster slot, but we shouldn’t have worried - Pirots X combines the familiar gameplay rhythm of this style of slot with whole bevy of random features. From nest symbols that are key to the spin multiplier, to merging wilds, bombs, and more, something exciting is set to happen at least every few spins as you play!
While the RTP is admittedly low at 94%, the high volatility and promise of wins of up to 10,000x kept us going for quite a while. It’s clear that ELK has managed to about bring another success, and we hope it continues building on this formula with a Pirots X sequel.
Rating: 8.0
If you like Pirots X, then check out these other Pirate Theme slot games
Pirots X FAQ
These are some questions we’ve been asked about playing the Pirots X slot.
