Pirate Sharky

We’ve seen our fair share of pirate slots here at Slot Gods, but this is the first one we’ve come across that features a shark in charge of a ship - let alone one that’s crewed by a puffer fish, a duck, an octopus and a lobster chef! It’s clear that Playson wants to push the fun element from the moment the game loads on your screen.

But this is a slot that also manages to pack in a great selection of fun features. And with some big cash prizes on offer, that’s something that’s sure to attract the attention of plenty of slots players.

Design

Clear blue skies and palm-fringed beaches set the scene for Pirate Sharky. The 5 x 4 reels are located within a wooden frame topped by cannons, with a cheeky seagull sitting alongside the reels watching the action. There’s nothing here that we haven’t seen before, but it’s all been well executed by the graphics team.

The soundtrack plays out a synthesised version of a sea shanty, which has the potential to become irritating after a while. But that’s all down to personal taste – and something the mute button easily takes care of, if it’s not to your liking!

Gameplay

A mobile-first design ethos places all the game’s controls within easy reach. That means you don’t have to go searching around for them, enabling you to get down to playing straight away. There’s quite a lot to take in, so a few demo spins, or at least an examination of the game’s paytable should be your first starting point.

During base gameplay, Sharky is the Scatter symbol, and you’ll need to land at least three to activate the free spins bonus. Once the bonus is activated Sharky becomes the Wild symbol, substituting for all other game symbols to award payline prizes.

Free spins bonus features

You’ll start the bonus round with between 10 – 20 free spins, depending on how many Scatters you landed. The reels sink below the waves, and a Progress Bar is added along the top. Collect Sharky Wilds, with every third symbol awarding the Treasure Hunt Bonus, as well as a win multiplier. The first multiplier is set at 2x, increasing to 3x, 10x and 100x.

Money Bags

Money bags come with a random multiplier value worth between 2x – 50x your bet, for instant cash wins. Whenever a Sharky Wild and money bags appear on the reels together, he collects the value of all money bags in the reels, adding them to your total win.

Win Potential

Low-value playing card icons pay up to 10x your stake for a five-of-a-kind match. Crew members return 50x – 100x, and money bags pay up to 20x during the base game, but can award much bigger prizes during the free spins bonus.

It’s during the free spins bonus feature that you’ll have access to the biggest prize payouts in Pirate Sharky. The steadily increasing multiplier triggered in the Progress Bar can reach 100x, and with money bags worth up to 50x your stake during the bonus, big prizes are available. This is where some lucky players will find themselves triggering the game’s max win of 20,000x their bet.

Our Verdict

When we first loaded up the reels of Pirate Sharky, we thought we were in for a so-so pirate-themed game with a couple of interesting features. But it turns out that the man-eating shark is actually quite player-friendly, particularly in terms of the bonus round.

The collection feature put us in mind of the fishing bonus in Big Bass Bonanza slots, and it works extremely well when both symbols appear on the reels.

Why not give Pirate Sharky a few demo spins and see whether you’d be prepared to wager real cash on it? There are some huge prizes available – 20,000x your bet is a significant win, so we think there’s going to be a whole lot of interest in this latest slot from Playson!