Pirate Bonanza 2 Demo
Pirate Bonanza 2 Slot Review
Ahoy, matey! Welcome aboard Pirate Bonanza 2 – the keel-hauling adventure on the high seas, courtesy of Backseat Gaming!
Exclusive to Hacksaw Gaming’s OpenRGS platform, Backseat Gaming returns to the briny waters and salty air of the previous Pirate Bonanza release, where even more rewarding treasure is waiting to be unearthed.
With the sheer volume of Pirate-themed slot releases constantly increasing, how will Pirate Bonanza 2 fare against PearFiction Studios’ Captain Skull & the Squidly Seas? Pirate Bonanza 2 has big boots to fill, given the success of the original release.
The original Pirate Bonanza included a Scatter Pays function, with an effective Cannon feature and multiple Free Spins modes. With a fixed RTP of 96.32% and a high (5/5) volatility score, Pirate Bonanza 2 boasts an advanced max win potential of 20,000x your bet.
Certain differences can also be noted throughout the backdrop. Instead of spinning the reels from the comfort of an abandoned beach, we’re tackling our sea-sickness upon the top deck of a ship as we sail across the open seas.
It’s not the best view, we’ll admit, but the graphics are of high quality and the sound effects are perfectly suited to the swashbuckling theme. Without further ado, let’s dive into the action and see what Backseat Gaming’s latest sequel has in store for us!
Base Game & Features
Pirate Bonanza 2 is the latest release from Backseat Gaming, featuring 6 reels, 5 rows, and an exclusive Cluster Pays mechanic. Wins are guaranteed when 5-15 matching symbols land horizontally or vertically adjacent on the grid.
The highest-paying symbol falls to the Pirate’s Hat, followed by the compass, map, bottle, and a series of coloured Gems. Payouts for each of these paytable symbols vary between 0.1x and 200x your bet, where applicable.
The Avalanche Feature causes all winning clusters to be removed from the grid, creating room for new symbols to fall from above. This enables additional winning sequences to occur within the same spin.
In addition, Wild symbols appear on all grid positions, substituting for all paytable symbols within a winning cluster. Lastly, Scatter symbols are only available in the base game and are responsible for triggering the Free Spins mode.
Cannon Feature
During gameplay, each time a winning cluster occurs, special Square Frames are revealed behind winning symbol positions. If a Cannon symbol appears on the grid, it will activate all highlighted Square Frames at the end of the avalanche event.
The cannon symbol only activates if there have been winning sequences within the current spin. Once active, the Square Frames will reveal Multiplier Bombs, with the potential to deliver the R-Bomb.
All revealed Multiplier Bombs will explode and reveal an additive or multiplicative value, which is applied to a Total Multiplier above the grid.
Multiplier Bombs
The values that each Square Frame reveals can be additive or multiplicative in nature. Each symbol can be Low, Medium, or High-Value bombs as follows:
- Low-value bombs: Award a 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x additive Multiplier
- Medium-value bombs: Award a 10x, 15x, 20x, or 25x additive Multiplier
- High-value bombs: Award a 60x, 75x, or 100x additive Multiplier
- Golden bombs: Award a x2, x3, x5, or x10 multiplicative Multiplier
Once all Multiplier Bombs have been revealed, there is a chance for the R-Bomb to be awarded. This symbol collects the value of all additive Multipliers and adds it to the total win bar before replacing them with new Multiplier Bombs.
The new bomb symbols can be multiplicative, additive, golden, or another R-bomb. Please note that the active R-Bomb is also replaced with a new bomb symbol; however, Golden Bombs are not replaced and remain in view until the end.
Once all Multiplier Bombs have been revealed, the Golden Bomb will demonstrate its value, further multiplying the total collected Multiplier. At the end of the current spin, the total Multiplier is applied to the avalanche win.
Featurespins & Bonus Buy
Players within permissible regions can voluntarily purchase up to 4 Bonus Buy options, with two dedicated to Featurespins.
- Bonushunt Featurespins: Each spin is guaranteed to be 3 times more likely to trigger a Free Spins mode for 2x your bet (RTP 96.3%)
- Bombard Featurespins: Guarantees 1 winning cluster and 1 cannon symbol in the triggering spin for 50x your bet (RTP 96.28%)
- Cannon Blast: Awards 10 Free Spins with persistent Square Frames until activated by a Cannon symbol for 100x your bet (RTP 96.27%)
- Bombs Away: Awards 10 Free Spins with persistent Square Frames until the end of the feature for 250x your bet (RTP 96.32%)
Each of the above bonus buy options incorporates an ‘Extreme’ volatility rating.
Pirate Bonanza 2 has a fixed max win potential of 20,000x your bet. If a game round exceeds this, the current mode ends, and the player returns to the base game with the qualifying amount.
Pirate Bonanza 2 Free Spins
Triggering the Cannon Blast mode requires 3 Scatter symbols to land in the base game, awarding 10 Free Spins. In this round, all Square Frames persist until they are activated by a Cannon symbol, which appears more frequently during this time.
Bombs Away
Alternatively, the Bombs Away Free Spins mode can be triggered by landing 4 Scatter symbols in the base game, awarding 10 Free Spins. In this round, the Cannon symbol appears more frequently, causing all Square Frames to activate.
Furthermore, after the Square Frames have activated, they will continue to persist throughout the feature.
Our Honest Verdict
Pirate Bonanza 2 is a great choice for players looking for a swashbuckling adventure across the briny seas, home to multiple characteristics from the original Pirate Bonanza release, but on a bigger scale.
Transforming the sequel to the Cluster-paying format, in our opinion, is a more appealing outcome, given the huge success and popularity of many Pragmatic Play titles of the same structure.
With hundreds of Pirate-themed slot releases already available to players, it’s hard to find the space to fit another into the mix; however, players with a fondness for Hacksaw Gaming’s individual Le Bandit titles should absolutely make time and space for it.
In the base game, winning clusters create highlighted Square Frames directly behind them, allowing them to reveal special Multiplier Bombs when a Cannon symbol hits. This is very indicative of the ‘Win to Win’ feature from Le Bandit and other games in the series.
In an ideal situation, the best outcome would be to have a large scale of Square Frames active, coupled with high-value Multipliers and Golden/R-Bombs. Realistically, this scenario is difficult to obtain, but not impossible – one spin is all it takes for life-changing results and rewards.
After ELK Studios got with the programme and allowed non-UK players access to their Bonus Hunt feature buys, Hacksaw Gaming and partner providers are still keeping their Featurespins options exclusive to accessible regions.
If you are within a permissible region, you will have access to both Free Spins modes, in addition to 2 Featurespin buys, all of which come with a unique price tag. Given the durability of each feature/mode, we’re confident that the 20,000x max win potential is achievable.
All in all, Pirate Bonanza 2 is a solid offering that reveals certain characteristics of the original release, while incorporating new and refreshing methods of gameplay that deliver a higher appeal than the original.
*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.
