Introduction to Dark Waters 3 Power Combo: The Cursed Voyage
Dark Waters 3 Power Combo: The Cursed Voyage is a casino slot from Just For The Win, following up on the pirate adventures of Dark Waters Power Combo and Dark Waters 2 Power Combo. We’re back in the same stormy seas as the forerunners, trying not to fall overboard. A lot looks the same, and the features feel very similar. Just as in all Power Combo games, there are three different versions of the bonus game, and if you’re lucky, you can combine two or even all three into a very powerful bonus game.
If you want to get a better understanding of how to control the stormy seas, you can play the free demo at the top of this review.
Theme, Gameplay, and Payouts
Dark Waters 3 Power Combo: The Cursed Voyage is a video slot from Just For The Win featuring 6 reels with 4 rows and 4,096 ways to win. The Min.bet is 0.2 and the Max.bet is 50. Dark Waters 3 Power Combo: The Cursed Voyage has high volatility and a max win of 5,000x the bet. The hit frequency of 30.39% means that almost 1 spin in 3 is a winner, on average.
The game takes us to a pretty spooky place at sea. We’re watching a pirate ship in the middle of a misty sea. There’s a green misty fog and adventurous music. Above the six reels are three treasure chests, representing the three bonus games. To the left of the reels is the game’s logo, and below it is a display of the Jackpots with the 5,000x Mega prize at the top. To make a win, you need to land at least 3 matching symbols on adjacent reels, starting on the first reel to the left. The game is available on mobile phones, tablets, and desktop computers.
The lower-paying symbols are 10, J, Q, K, and A. They pay 1x the bet for a 6-of-a-kind win. The higher-paying symbols are bottles, knives, hats, guns, and anchors. These symbols pay between 1.5x and 2.5x the bet for a win containing 6 symbols. The Wild Symbol, depicted by a scroll, substitutes all mentioned symbols but not the Money, Token, and Collect Symbols.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Dark Waters 3 Power Combo: The Cursed Voyage?
You can win up to 5,000x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Dark Waters 3 Power Combo: The Cursed Voyage?
The features are Wild Symbol, Money Symbols, Collect Symbols, Base Game Progression Meter, Progressions Token, Bonus Spins Trigger, Bonus Spins, and Feature Buy (Diamond Menu).
Wild Symbol
The Wild Symbol substitutes regular-paying symbols in making winning combinations. It doesn’t substitute the Money, Token, and Collect Symbols.
Money Symbols
In the base game and during bonus spins, money symbols can land anywhere on the reels. Each money symbol comes with a randomly assigned value between 0.5x and 10x, or one of the Jackpots: Mini (15x), Minor (40x), Major (200x), or Mega (5,000x). The Mega prize can only be won once per game round.
Collect Symbols
During the first 150 spins in the base game, the Collect symbol can only appear on reel 6. After 150 spins, Collect symbols can appear on both reel 1 and reel 6. When a Collect symbol lands, all money symbols from that same spin are added together and paid out. If more than one Collect symbol lands in the same spin, the total value of all money symbols is paid once for each Collect symbol.
Base Game Progression Meter
The base game progression meter has six stages and advances based on how many spins are played. Progression is only possible during the base game.
Stage 1, Phantom Expansion, activates after 50 spins and unlocks a chance for Giant Reels with 46,656 ways to win to trigger randomly in the base game.
Stage 2, Ghostly Gold, activates after 100 spins and unlocks a chance for one Golden Reel to randomly appear on reels 2 to 5.
Stage 3, Cursed Collector, activates after 150 spins and allows Collect symbols to appear on both reel 1 and reel 6.
Stage 4, Empowered Expansion, activates after 200 spins and ensures that during bonus spins, the Giant Reels feature always starts at a minimum of level 2 and resets to level 2 when the feature ends.
Stage 5, Gold Awakened, activates after 250 spins and ensures that during bonus spins, the Golden Reels feature always starts at a minimum of level 2 and resets to level 2 when it ends.
Stage 6, Stacked Greed, activates after 300 spins and ensures that during bonus spins, the Stack Collect feature always starts at a minimum of level 2 and resets to level 2 when it ends.
Progression Token
Each of the Giant Reels, Stack Collect, and Golden Reels features has its own progression meter with four levels. Progression tokens can only land on reels 2 to 5 during the base game, and only one progression token can appear per spin.
When a progression token lands, it randomly increases the progression level of either the Giant Reels, Stack Collect, or Golden Reels feature by one level. Each feature can reach a maximum level of 4.
Bonus Spins Trigger
The game includes three different bonus tokens, representing the Giant Reels, Stack Collect, and Golden Reels features. These tokens can appear on all reels in both the base game and during bonus spins. Every time a bonus token lands, there is a chance to trigger the bonus spins feature, but the collection pots on top of the reels don’t affect the chances of triggering bonus spins.
If two different bonus tokens land together and trigger bonus spins, both related features will be active. If all three different bonus tokens land together and trigger bonus spins, all three features will be active at the same time.
Bonus Spins
Bonus spins always begin with 10 free spins, and Collect Symbols appear on both reels 1 and 6. If a bonus token for a feature that is not currently active lands, there is a chance to activate that feature at its current progression level. Activating a new feature during bonus spins awards an extra 3 spins, and only one new feature can be activated per spin. If a bonus token for an already active feature lands, there is a chance to gain an additional 3 spins.
When bonus spins end, the bonus progression meters reset to level 1 for the triggered features unless stages 4, 5, or 6 of the base game progression meter have been unlocked.
Bonus Spins With Giant Reels Feature
Depending on the level at which bonus spins are triggered, the reel grid can expand from 6x4 up to 6x8. This increases the number of ways to win from 4,096 up to 262,144.
At level 1, the reel area becomes 6x5 with 15,625 ways to win. At level 2, the reel area becomes 6x6 with 46,656 ways. At level 3, the reel area becomes 6x7 with 117,649 ways, and at level 4, the reel area becomes 6x8 with 262,144 ways.
Bonus Spins With Stack Collect Feature
In this feature, Collect symbols appear as stacked symbols. At level 1, reel 1 has one Collect symbol and reel 6 has two stacked Collect symbols. At level 2, both reel 1 and reel 6 have two stacked Collect symbols. At level 3, reel 1 has two stacked Collect symbols while reel 6 has three. At level 4, both reel 1 and reel 6 have three stacked Collect symbols.
When multiple Collect symbols land, all money symbols from that spin are added together and paid out once for each Collect symbol.
Bonus Spins With Golden Reels Feature
When you’re playing the Bonus Spins with Golden Reels, one or more randomly selected reels from 2-5 will contain only money symbols. The number of Golden Reels depends on the progression level when bonus spins are triggered.
Level 1 includes one Golden Reel, level 2 includes two Golden Reels, level 3 includes three Golden Reels, and level 4 includes four Golden Reels.
Feature Buy (Diamond Menu)
The Diamond Menu shows the available features for sale. The Bonus Hunt feature costs 1.5x the bet and more than doubles the chance of triggering the bonus spins. The Coin Burst feature costs 15x the bet and triggers a base game spin with a higher chance of landing money symbols and a Collect symbol.
Crew's Choice costs 70x and triggers bonus spins with one to three random features at random levels. Captain's Choice costs 100x the bet and triggers bonus spins with two to three random features at random levels.
Final Thoughts on Dark Waters 3 Power Combo: The Cursed Voyage
Dark Waters 3 Power Combo: The Cursed Voyage sails straight back into the same stormy waters we’ve already crossed in the previous games, and sadly, it brings very little new cargo with it. The theme is still spooky and piratey, the music still growls in the background, and the features still pile on top of each other like barrels on a rolling deck. If you enjoyed Dark Waters 2 Power Combo, you’ll feel right at home here. If you were hoping for something fresh, you might start checking the horizon for land pretty quickly, because this is almost the same game.
Everything works smoothly, and the mechanics are packed with moving parts, meters, tokens, and shiny symbols. That sounds exciting on paper, but in practice, it often feels like busywork rather than innovation. The progression system demands patience, the volatility can be unforgiving, and the big moments don’t always feel as big as the feature list suggests.
The game looks fine without ever truly impressing, and the pirate theme is starting to feel a bit cursed itself after the third visit. Most of the fun depends on landing the right bonus combinations, and when that doesn’t happen, the base game can drag on like a voyage with no wind.
Dark Waters 3 Power Combo: The Cursed Voyage from Just For The Win plays it very safe and ends up feeling almost identical to its predecessor. It’s hard not to be disappointed by how little it dares to change course.
