Pile ‘Em Up 2 Slot Review
After building a name for itself within the iGaming industry, under the guidance of Games Global, Snowborn Games returns to our screens with Pile ‘Em Up 2. While the title refers to a sequel, this game technically marks the beginning of a series after the release of Pile ‘Em Up Frosty Sweets in 2023.
With the original Pile ‘Em Up release just passed its third birthday, Snowborn Games is celebrating with the release of Pile ‘Em Up 2 – a 5×3 video slot that returns the Cash Collect Feature & Coin Boosters to our screens, with the addition of Hyper Frames & Super Respins.
Snowborn Games came onto our radar during the release of Cat Clans in 2021, which not only coaxed in feline lovers everywhere but also those looking for immersive content & exciting gameplay. After this, Snowborn Games went on to release several highly-rated games, including Masters of Valhalla & Cat Clans 2: Mad Cats.
As expected, Pile ‘Em Up 2 maintains the same thematics from the original, looking like something straight out of a Super Mario game. While there are no plumbers of princesses lurking behind the scenes, there are plenty of Coins & Features floating around the reels.
With a fixed RTP of 96.22% and a medium volatility score, Pile ‘Em Up 2 can produce payouts worth up to 6,200x your bet. Although this figure is a slight downgrade to its predecessors, it comes at the cost of higher-quality graphics, updated features, & advanced mechanics, which we’re about to check out now…
Base Game & Features
Pile ‘Em Up 2 is the latest slot release from Snowborn Games, featuring 5 reels, 3 rows, and 20 fixed pay lines. Paytable symbols create winning combinations when 3 or more matching instances land on adjacent reels, starting from reel 1.
The 8 paytable symbols, consisting of A-J card suits & Fruit Icons, award payouts between 0.2x and 16x your bet, where applicable. Additionally, Wild symbols appear throughout each stage of gameplay, subsituting for all symbols except Scatters & Special symbols, awarding up to 111x your bet for 5-of-a-kind.
Coin Booster & Cash Collect Feature
In the far right corner of the screen is the Coin Booster Meter, starting at x1 for each session. In the base game, each time a 1UP symbol hits, it will increment the Coin Booster by +x1, up to a maximum of x10.
When 1 or more Coin symbols, with a fixed value between 0.2x and 20x your bet, appear on the reels, in addition to a Collect symbol on reel 5, the Cash Collect Feature activates. Once active, the Collect symbol will assign all available Coin values to itself and apply them to the total win of the session.
If the Coin Booster Meter displays a Multiplier above x1, the current Multiplier is applied to the total value of all collected Coin symbols before being paid out. After this, the Coin Booster resets to x1 at the start of the next base game spin.
Extra Collect
Alternatively, landing an Extra Collect symbol, alongside 1 or more Coin symbols on reel 5, triggers the Extra Collect Feature. Once active, the Extra Collect symbol reveals a random Cash Multiplier between 0.5x and 10x your bet, which is assigned to all Coin symbols currently in view.
Each new Coin value is then multiplied by the current Coin Booster Multiplier before each one is collected and paid out accordingly.
Hyper Frames Bonus
In addition to Free Spins, the game has a separate Hyper Frames Bonus, which triggers when a Rainbow symbol appears anywhere on the reels. Once active, 1 of 5 Bonus Features, corresponding to the triggering reel, is awarded:
- Head Start: Awards 8 Free Spins + 6-10 Twig Frames
- Extra Spins: Awards 12 Free Spins + 0 Frames
- Stacked Mushroom: Awards 6 Free Spins + stacked Mushroom symbols
- Big Mushroom: Awards 6 Free Spins + 2×2 or 3×3-sized Mushroom symbols, adding or upgrading all current Frames to all positions covered
- Gold Frames: Awards 6 Free Spins, with each Mushroom symbol awarding a Gold Frame
Each of the above features supports the Hyper Frame mechanic, of which there are 3 Progressive Levels: Twig, Leaf, & Gold. Each time a Mushroom symbol hits on an empty cell position, it will leave behind a Twig Frame, which upgrades to Leaf & Gold simultaneously.
Landing a +1 Symbol throughout the feature awards an additional +1 Free Spin. Once all spins are completed, all visible Frames will transform into Cash or Jackpot Prizes:
- Twig Frames: Reveal cash prizes between 0.5x and 2x your bet
- Leaf Frames: Reveal cash prizes between 2x and 6x your bet
- Gold Frames: Reveal cash prizes between 7x and 20x your bet + Mini (10x), Minor (25x), Major (100x), Mega (1,000x)
Pile ‘Em Up 2 Free Spins
Triggering the Free Spins mode requires 3 Scatters on reels 1, 3, & 5 in the base game, awarding 10 Free Spins and a payout of 1.5x your bet.
This mode maintains the same mechanics as found in the base game, while the Cash Collect, Coin Booster, & Extra Cash Collect features continue to activate on the reels. Finally, having 2 or 3 Scatters land in a spin will result in an additional +3 and +10 Free Spins, respectively.
Super Respin
Throughout the Free Spins mode, the value of each Coin symbol on the reels is collected into a Super Respin Meter. At the end of the final free spin, a single Super Respin is awarded. If a Collect symbol lands on reel 5, the contents of the Super Respin Meter is awarded, multiplied by the current Coin Booster Multiplier.
Our Honest Verdict
Despite the game’s title, Pile ‘Em Up 2 marks the third instalment to the series, and of them all, this one is by far the better offering. While there’s nothing wrong with the previous two, this game is bulked up to the max with Super Respins, an Extra Cash Collect feature, & a spectacular Hyper Frames Bonus.
We’ll admit, we’ve taken our eye off the ball when it comes to Snowborn Games’ new releases, but was Pile ‘Em Up 2 a good return point for us? We believe so, but can you consider it better than Cat Clans or Masters of Valhalla? Probably not, but it’s a great step in the right direction for the developer.
From a design perspective, the graphics have been buffed out to reveal sharper imagery, and the soundscapes are chipper in keeping with the game’s light-hearted theme. In the base game, there are plenty of features to feast your eyes upon, most of which have been pulled from previous instalments.
The Cash Collect Feature has appeared in hundreds of games before this, only to be manipulated in ways that set it apart from all the others. Snowborn Games has kept the Coin Booster pretty much the same from previous releases, even down to the maximum Multiplier available.
What’s different, however, is the Hyper Frames Bonus, which awards 1 of 5 individual Features and a variety of Free Spins. Having upgradable Frames that reveal random Cash or Jackpot Prizes is very reminiscent of Pragmatic Play’s Brick House Bonanza and Bigger Barn House Bonanza.
Of all the game’s differences, the one that stands out for us is the Super Respin Feature at the end of Free Spins. If the Free Spins mode wasn’t as productive as you’d liked, the game gives you a second chance at winning the entire value of Coin symbols, but it requires a single Collect symbol to land on reel 5; otherwise, the full amount is lost.
All in all, Pile ‘Em Up 2 is a credit to the series, offering a unique set of features that play nicely with previous editions. The 6,200x maximum win potential is slightly less than its predecessors, but it’s a necessary trade for the upgraded features & mechanics.
*The images found in this slot review are currently from Demo Play. On average, our reviews are written prior to the initial release date and before real play is available.
