Introduction to Shadow Pirates
Shadow Pirates is a casino slot from Just Slots that will take you out on the haunted seven seas. Just Slots is a bit of a newcomer to the scene, having been around for barely over a year at the time of writing. However, during this time, the studio has delivered some rather interesting and fun games that usually strike a good balance between casual vibes and highly volatile spins. Shadow Pirates, in this context, is quite easy to wrap your head around its Coin Collection mechanics, which come in two different colors, which can then be awarded through the 2XCoin Collectors that can come with Multipliers up to 50X. On top of this is a Coin Collecting-only Free Spins feature, which is as basic as it sounds. As we said, the game hits a nice balance, but sadly can feel a bit too simple and straightforward than it should be, which can make it seem lacking in the long run. Join us as we sail the seven seas underneath the moonlight in hunt for some treasure, and maybe dig up the max win of 10,000X the bet.
Set in the middle of the night, two rivaling captains go full mast in search of treasure, where the victors go the spoils, and you get the Coin Multipliers. If you want to try out the game for yourself, check out the Shadow Priates demo beforehand.
Theme, Gameplay, & Payouts
Shadow Pirates is a video slot from Just Slots with 6 Reels, 4 Rows, and 4,096 ways to win. You can choose between making a Min.bet of 0.1 and a Max.bet of 50. Shadow Pirates comes with a slightly higher-than-average RTP of 96.27%, but take note that there are multiple versions with lower RTPs at 94.25% and 92.26%. The game also has a hit frequency of 30%, high volatility, and a max win of 10,000X the bet.
Set on the seas, the base game shows a pirate ship cruising along the water next to some cliffs under the dark of night, while the Free Spins feature takes you underground to a mysterious, forgotten cave, filled with treasure. You can play the game on most desktops, mobiles, and notepads.
The lower-paying symbols are differently colored keys, ranging from grey, yellow, green, blue, purple, and red. Creating a win with 6 of the same symbols will pay out 1X the bet. The higher-paying symbols are a lantern, a chest, a pirate hat, a pistol, and a monkey. Landing a win with 6 of the same symbols pays out 2X to 5X the bet. The Special Symbols, and the real way to really hit wins, are the Wilds, Coins, Collectors, and Scatter Symbols, but more on those in the Feature section.
Special Features & Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Shadow Pirates?
You can win up to 10,000X the bet.
What features are available in the slot Shadow Pirates?
The features are Wild Symbols, Coin Collecting, 2XCoin, Free Spins, Ante Bet (HotSpin), and Feature Buy.
Wild Symbols
Wild Symbols help create winning combinations by being able to substitute for all symbols except Scatter, Coin, and Collector Symbols.
Coin Collecting
Coin Symbols can land on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5, with random values ranging from 0.1X to 1,000X the bet. There are two types of colored Coin Symbols, which can only be collected by the same colored Collect Symbol.
2XCoin
Collect Symbols can only land on reels 1 and 6, and a maximum of 2 Coin Collector Symbols can land in a single spin. When a Collect Symbol lands with at least 1 Coin Symbol on the playing grid, the Collect Symbol will expand into two different captains, each representing one color each with their own Multiplier value, ranging from 2X to 50X. The winning captain will take over the Collect Symbol with its respective color and Multiplier.
Free Spins
By landing 3 or 4 Scatter Symbols, you will be awarded the Free Spins feature with 10 or 12 spins. During the bonus game, only Coin and Collector Symbols appear on the reels. All Coin Symbols that land will become sticky and remain on the reels for the duration of the bonus game, and each time a Collector Symbol lands, it will collect the value of all visible Coins.
Ante Bet (HotSpin)
By turning on the Ante Bet, you increase your chances of triggering the Free Spins feature, at a cost of increasing your current bet by 5X.
Feature Buy
Through the Feature Buy, you can instantly trigger the Free Spins feature for a price based on the current bet.
100X = Awards the Free Spins feature with 3 Scatter Symbols and 10 spins.
400X = Awards the Free Spins feature with 4 Scatter Symbols and 12 spins.
Final Thoughts on Shadow Pirates
There’s no denying the Pirates of the Caribbean vibes that oozes out of Shadow Pirates, blending pirates with Aztec mysticism and cursed coins, and while cool in theory, it sadly just doesn’t hit home and feels just a bit lackluster. Even so, this isn’t even the first time we’ve had a pirate game theme like this, making the game feel rather easily forgettable. Just Slots usually try to take a theme and do some type of interesting twist on it, as seen with the samurai-themed Shogun Skylord, where everyone is a bird, or Fish Mafia, where the twist on the theme is literally in the name. Comparing that to Shadow Pirates, and it just feels like a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed game and not something very original. But enough about talking about themes and such, and let us instead turn towards the gameplay.
The game comes with a rather solid stat lineup, with an RTP of 96.27%, a hit frequency of 30%, and a max win of 10,000X the bet. However, something that isn’t very solid is the paytable, which maxes out at a measly 5X. That is to reinforce the idea that this game is all about its Coin Collecting mechanics, and we have to give points to the 2XCoin mechanic, which reminds us of Hacksaw Gaming’s VS Symbols seen in games like Eternal Duel and Phoenix DuelReels. However, while the Multipliers are nice, splitting the Coins and Collectors into two types of colors can be a bit of a hit or miss, as it can feel pretty bad having a big payout waiting for one Coin type, but only landing the other colored Collectors. This is even more apparent in the Free Spins feature, where only Coins and Collectors show up, and can feel pretty exciting, but at the same time, can lead to some pretty disappointing spins if you’re unlucky with the colors. So, as it stands, Shadow Pirates tries something interesting with its Coin Collecting mechanic, but still ends up with a rather simple gameplay loop that can lead to disappointing spins because of the two-color system. Even so, in the end, we still had some fun spins here, but we can also see where and why players might end up frustrated and even stop spinning.
Shadow Pirates is a slot about plundering coins and winning big Multiplier Collectors through duels.
