Introduction to Pirots 5
Pirots 5 is a casino slot from ELK Studios, presenting another daring adventure featuring the symbol-collecting birds. Their escapades are already known far and wide in the iGaming industry, and if you followed them from the start, you had a chance to see them in various roles throughout the series. From rogue sailors in the original Pirots, through gunslinging cowboys in Pirots 3, to space conquerors in Pirots 4. The fifth chapter brings the feathery quartet back to Earth and sets them off on another treasure hunt after a spectacularly failed landing. The path to another lucrative bounty worth 10,000x the bet leads through Egyptian sands, where the ghost of Captain Blackfeather roams the corridors of ancient tombs. To reach the gold-filled chamber, the birds will once again need to follow the trail of shimmering gems while using portals, tunnels, and various features and avoiding deadly traps at the same time. Let's follow the sound of flapping wings and see how they handle themselves this time.
Pirots 5 is one of the most complex and feature-rich games out there, so you may want to test its possibilities without risk first, which you can do in the free demo mode at the top of the page.
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Pirots 5 is a video slot from ELK Studios with 6-8 reels, 6-8 rows and a CollectR win system, where birds gather adjacent gems matching their colour. The available stake range starts from a Min.bet of 0.20 and goes up to a Max.bet of 100. Behind the reels, a default RTP of 96.00% runs the game's engine, being just on the verge of the industry average, typically ranging from 96.00% to 96.5%. A few lower variants between 87% and 96% were also released, so make sure to check the version before playing. The win value distribution is pushed slightly toward the less frequent but more substantial wins due to a medium-high volatility rating, while the maximum win you can land within a single game round is 10,000x the bet. The base hit frequency sits at 25.1%.
When a game takes on Ancient Egypt as its leading motif, there's usually little room to manoeuvre when it comes to the main setting. You either land among the endless sands of the desert or inside a pyramid. In the case of Pirots 5, it's the latter, and, after watching a quick intro of birds being betrayed by their former captain and crash-landing back on Earth, you stand before a symmetrical grid fitted into a limestone frame. Behind, a massive wall adorned with two bird-shaped hieroglyphs serves as a backdrop, with two flaming torches illuminating the surroundings. The theme bears all the marks of a classic Egyptian scene, sporting a brown-dominated colour palette with lots of gold trims and decorations all around. As usual, the design is fully responsive, making the game adapt seamlessly to most modern devices, from desktops to smartphones and tablets.
The regular paytable consists of four symbols represented by blue, green, purple, and red gems. Each one has seven payout levels indicated by the size and additional ornaments. Blue awards between 0.05x and 7.5x the bet. Green from 0.05x to 10x. Purple from 0.1x to 15x, and red from 0.1x to 25x the bet. Multiple special symbols may also randomly appear on the reels, from Coins with cash prizes and various Feature symbols to treacherous Traps and Bonus symbols represented by a stone scarab.
Special Features & Slot Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Pirots 5?
You can win up to 10,000x the bet.
What features are available in the slot Pirots 5?
The features are CollectR & Collection Meter, Feature Symbols, Switcheroo & Labyrinth, Traps, Tokens, Portals & Catacombs, Cursed Temple Coin Game, Bonus & Super Bonus Game, and Feature Buy (X-iter).
CollectR & Collection Meter
Each bird can only collect symbols that are directly horizontally or vertically adjacent to it. All birds can collect special symbols, while gems can only be collected by the bird of the matching colour. After all collections are executed, the remaining symbols drop down, and a refill occurs. Every collected gem and Wild contributes to the Collection Meter progress. Once the meter is full, it waits until all possible movements on the grid are executed and then releases a random number of feature symbols.
Feature Symbols
Feature symbols can be awarded through the Collection Meter trigger, but they can also land organically on the reels during any spin.
Coin = awards an instant cash prize, with the possibility of hitting the max win.
Wild Symbol = substitutes for all regular symbols during collection.
Upgrade = upgrades gems in the colour of the bird that collected it by 1, 2, or 3 steps.
Upgrade All = upgrades all gems by 1, 2, or 3 steps.
Captain Blackfeather = triggers if positioned directly adjacent to any of the birds. It turns the bird into a ghost and takes over its win counter as well as any collectable symbols in view. Gems are converted into Blackfeather gems with increased payouts, ranging from 0.15x to 30x the bet.
Transform = converts a cluster of gems next to the bird that collected it into gems matching its colour. Some symbols may turn into feature symbols.
Super Transform = behaves like Transform but converts 2 or 3 clusters.
Switcheroo & Labyrinth
Birds ending up next to each other can trigger a Switcheroo or Super Switcheroo, making them swap positions or even move further to reach the next collectable symbol. Labyrinth can trigger if 3 or more birds are adjacent. It removes all gems from a random number of rows and columns and moves birds along them so that they end up separated.
Traps
Three types of traps may appear underneath the symbols. If a bird steps on the position with a trap, it activates.
Arrow Trap = shoots an arrow at one or more birds. If it hits, the hit birds disappear from the screen and their gems turn into one of the remaining birds' colours. If all birds were removed, the remaining gems turn into Coins. Birds can return to the grid on the next refill.
Boulder Trap = rolls a 2x2, 3x3, or 4x4 boulder horizontally or vertically through the grid, crushing all gems, walls, and birds in its path. Removed birds return on the next refill.
Secret Door = splits the initial 6x6 grid into 4 squares and rotates them 180 degrees, moving all symbols into new positions. That also enables cross-over floor tiles, allowing birds to move to already collected positions, one time each.
Tokens
There are 9 collectable tokens available in the game, three for each world: Cured Temple, The Kraken, and City of Gold. Collecting all of them permanently unlocks the Boss Castle game. Tokens are worth 5x the bet, each, and can appear on any spin except for the Cursed Temple bonus.
Portals & Catacombs
Portals may appear on the outer frame. If there's a bird on one end and a collectable symbol on the other, the bird teleports to that position to continue its move.
If a bird enters the corner position of the grid marked with its colour, it enters the catacombs. Coffins, gems, feature symbols, and hidden positions with mummies await inside. A bird winning a fight with a mummy awards a feature symbol, while losing it returns it to the regular game. If Captain Blackfeather entered the catacombs, he will automatically win all fights.
Cursed Temple Coin Game
The bonus game is triggered when the entire grid gets cleared during the Secret Door feature. The round is played on an 8x8 grid, where only Coins can land, and each one resets the initial 3 respins. Whenever a cluster of them touches the bird, they are automatically collected. In the middle, there's a 2x2 cursed treasure. Birds start from the corners of the grid. If a bird touches the cursed treasure, its win is added to the total and extra coins drop onto the grid. Activating a rotation trap symbol moves sections of the grid to potentially allow for new movements and collections.
Bonus & Super Bonus Game
Collecting 3 Bonus symbols during a single base game sequence awards 5 free drops. The grid size, progress on the symbol collection meter and gems' payout levels are persistent throughout the round. Captain Blackfeather appears on every spin. In the Super variant, a cursed treasure coin rain activates at the beginning of each drop, dropping a random number of Coins onto the grid.
Feature Buy (X-iter)
Like many other games from ELK Studios, the Pirots 5 slot comes with the X-iter menu, which contains several options for triggering features and bonuses at a set price.
3x = Bonus Hunt with a 5 times higher chance of triggering the Bonus Game.
10x = Mega Hunt with more than 20 times higher chance of triggering the Bonus Game.
50x = guaranteed Cursed Temple feature.
100x = Regular Bonus Game.
250x = Super Bonus Game, with a coin rain on every spin.
Final Thoughts on Pirots 5
Coming up on the fifth part of an already complex series loaded with a myriad of ingenious features could make you think that it's time for the creative juices to start running out. But not in the case of ELK Studios. The team has shown time and time again that even despite committing to multi-release collections, each following instalment is never a tasteless reheated dish, but more of a fresh, intriguing recipe based on familiar ingredients. Case in point, the fifth chapter of feathery friends' adventures, where the core CollectR mechanics still lead the show, but are accompanied by a mix of old and new extras to create original game loops. The feature list is as long as your arm and seeing such a wall of text when viewing the game rules can undoubtedly be overwhelming. Hence, it helps a lot if you have tried any of the previous Pirots parts, as the core of the experience remains similar to a large extent. Scooping up gems, filling up the collection meter, switcheroos, portals, grid expansions, symbol upgrades - many of you should know the drill. As for the new elements, Captain Blackfeather is definitely a crucial addition, acting as a sort of fifth character that not only offers the most valuable base prizes but also permeates all stages of the game to throw his five cents into the mix. He's a genuinely impactful twist that visibly enhances the entire setup.
On the whole, Pirots 5 is an example of immense production value, both on the technical and audiovisual side. If you know a thing or two about slot creation, you must realise how ambitious a project this must have been, from the convoluted math sheets, through coding development, to impeccable artwork and sound design, to dress everything in a spectacular package. Making a game like this look great is one thing, but crafting the sequences and effects in such a way that you can still manage to follow them on screen despite the complexity shows a whole other level of expertise. Naturally, ELK Studios has had plenty of practice on the previous instalments of the series. Still, with this fifth chapter, it shows that there are no limits to how far they can take even the seemingly maxed-out configuration like Pirots 4 and turn up the dial on it.
Pirots 5 is an impressive statement of a slot, attesting to ELK Studios' unrestricted creativity and skill to follow up on bold ideas and expertly weave them into a spectacular package.
