Ignoring their early game Tumblin’ Treasures, Pirate Pays Megaways is Big Time Gaming’s first attempt at a pirate-themed game following their significant success. The game offers a Bonanza-like experience with a few unique features, but it falls short of the excitement and thrill expected from a pirate adventure.
The game includes a sliding reel feature with a Compass Wild, which changes additional symbols into wild symbols. The game also includes a Deal or No Deal style mini-game before the bonus round begins, with an enhanced version triggered occasionally. The game’s math model is solid, but it lacks the potential for big wins.
The symbols pay between 0.7 and 25 times your stake for six-of-a-kind wins, and winning symbols are removed via a reaction mechanic. New symbols drop down to fill the gaps, and this process continues as long as you keep winning.
The bottom sliding reel adds an extra position to the four middle reels, where the Compass Wild can slide in. The compass needle spins to determine the direction of the wild transformation, turning all symbols in that direction into Parrot Wilds.
The Kraken Bonus Round is triggered by landing three or more regular scatter symbols on reels 1 to 5. The Enhanced version of the feature is triggered by landing two or more regular scatter symbols and a purple chest Megascatter on reel 6. The Deal or No Deal-inspired pre-bonus game plays out on a different screen, where outcomes are removed randomly, and you get a new offer from the Kraken.
The game’s potential for big wins, such as the 15,500x base game potential and the un-capped 104,400x max win in the bonus round, seems unrealistic.
In conclusion, Pirate Pays Megaways is a solid effort by Big Time Gaming, but it could have been much better with additional polishing and tweaking. The game lacks the thrilling pirate vibe and could have been more exciting if the Compass Wild could land anywhere, not only on the bottom sliding reel. It also borrows elements from other games, like Hacksaw’s Cash Compass and Blueprint’s Deal or No Deal range.
Other games with similar features include Star Pirates Code by Reel Kingdom, Cash Compass by Hacksaw Gaming, and Pirates Plenty Megaways by Red Tiger.
