Lucky Pirate Slot Machine
There must be an unwritten rule that every slots software house has to have a pirate themed game (along with a gladiator and ancient Egypt one). Lucky Pirate is Viaden’s effort – it works on both mobile phones and computers and has some interesting quirks in the form of ‘expanding scatters’ during the free spins game. The graphics are a real mixture of different quality pieces. They are mostly quite plain – with the odd animation and extra which stands out. Like on many Viaden slots, one of the main attractions is the chance to win some big prizes from penny stakes.
The setting is the open seas, with the view of a desert island ahead which can be seen through the transparent reels. There is a ship either side and the full moon above. The spin button is a ships anchor, and the bell next to this chimes when you get a win (and gives you the opportunity to gamble). Symbols are all the clichés, rum, a map, pistols and cutlasses – and of course the obligatory chest full of treasure. There is a smiling pirate (presumably he is lucky!) and winking woman. In the background a lively tune plays. This could be from a film, and is on a long enough loop not to get too repetitive. The other sounds are synched with the symbols (cockatoo screeching, pistol firing, cutlasses clashing and so on) or are computer beeps when the reels spin.
There are some animations within the symbols – with the pirate one being the best of these. When you gamble a win or the feature starts a treasure map unfurls on top of the reels.
Setup and Play for Lucky Pirate
There are 5 reels and 3 rows of symbols on this slot, which has the common 9 pay-lines featured on many of Viaden’s slots. You can choose the lines to spin, and the coin size – which ranges from just 1c up to 5c, making this a penny slot. The gamble after win does start the scrolling treasure map animation, though once opened you’ll find the usual flip of a playing card game. Auto-play is configurable.
Settings on this slot allow you to switch of the music or sounds separately. You can also play the super-fast version which takes away the time ‘wasted’ on spinning the reels.
The pirate gives you the biggest individual prize; this is worth 5000 coins when you hit 5 on a line, and 1000 coins for 4. All of the top 4 symbols pay with just 2, which is unusual in a slot game. The female pirate has the next biggest prize at 2000 coins for 5, with the ship and treasure both worth 750 for a full house. Maps, cutlasses, pistols, rum and the cockatoo make up the smaller wins.
One symbol takes up the role of the bonus, wild and scatter. This is the skull with a cutlass in its mouth. If you hit 5 of these anywhere on the reels, you’ll get 200 times your total spin amount, with 20x for 4 and 2x for 3. This symbol also substitutes for the regular symbols to create wins and 3+ will trigger the free spins bonus game too.
Lucky Pirate Bonus Game
When you hit the free spins game the treasure map unfurls and you will see a ships wheel with different symbols around it. This spins and lands on a symbol which will become your expanding scatter for the duration of the bonus round. When you land this symbol on any reel, it will expand to cover all 3 positions – giving you extra wins. This can add up when you get 3 reels of the same symbol.
There is a counter at the top of the reels, though other than this nothing too remarkable about the free spins game other than the expanding scatters. You can retrigger with more bonus symbols. At the end of the game there is no signal – you just go back to the main game and wonder why your scatters stopped expanding all of a sudden!
Lucky Pirate – Conclusion
I have played better pirate themed slots, though this one does have some good things going for it. The mobile compatible build is a big positive, and the graphics are good on a computer too. I like the novel expanding scatters in the free spins. Like all Viaden slots, you can win big from just a few pennies in this game. This one is certainly worth a quick spin, especially if you enjoy playing on a mobile devices like iphone or blackberry.. Check it out for yourself soon.
