Introduction to Tropicool 5
Tropicool 5 is a casino slot from ELK Studios that welcomes you on a vacation like none other. This party is yet again hosted by Tony Toucano and Fiona Flamingo, the same as the previous installments, and this time, Elmo the sloth has even learnt how to chill out a bit. This series began in 2021 with the release of Tropicool, a fun cascade-centric game known for its Feature Reel, which is now fittingly nicknamed the Cool Reel. But there is so much more than that on offer here, as just about every new installment, which we see about once a year, adds something new to spice up the hottest vacation resort off the coast of Antarctica, where we see new faces and features being brought along. This time around, we welcome Kyle the Crocodile to the mix, a frozen legend known for his ice-cracking beats and cool demeanor.
The gameplay in Tropicool 5 doesn’t stray too far away from its prequels, still being centered around Cascades and the Cool Reel, both of which are filled with Feature Symbols such as Mystery, Golden, Row Swaps, Pearls, and Big Symbols, all of which to keep the waves rolling. On top of this, we have a slew of Character Features, which are actually a bit new and include the Wild Eggs, Elmo Drops, and the Mystery Crocodile. All of this comes together and more in the bonus game with added Multiplier Symbols for non-stop fun spins in the most packed Tropicool release yet, and of course, still kicking it with a strong max win of 25,000X the bet.
Bring your snorkel as we’re going diving in Antarctica for big treasures and cool waves. If you want to play the game for yourself, then don’t miss out on the Tropicool 5 demo.
Theme, Gameplay & Payouts
Tropicool 5 is a video slot from ELK Studios with 6 Reels, 5 / 7 Rows, and 15,626 ways to win. You can choose between making a Min.bet of 0.1 and a Max.bet of 100. Tropicool 5 comes with a low RTP of 94% and high volatility, where big chain wins can happen sporadically and get you closer to the max win of 25,000X the bet.
Compared to its previous games, which are usually placed at Tony Toucano and Fiona Flamingos’ vacation resort on the beach, this time we’re actually out scuba diving in the coral reefs underneath a couple of icebergs, however, how that works, we do not know. Fruits have quickly turned into ice underneath the sea level, so it’s up to you to line up and reel them back in, and the various characters will appear from time to time to help you out. You can play the game on most notepads, desktops, and mobiles.
The lower-paying symbols are small fruits, ranging from the blue fruit, pink fruit, green fruit, and orange fruit. Creating a win with 6 of the same symbols will pay out 0.4X the bet. The higher-paying symbols are grapes, watermelons, limes, pineapples, and strawberries. Landing a win with 6 of the same symbols pays out 0.6X to 2X the bet. There are also many Special Symbols, including Wilds, Scatters, Wild Eggs, Mystery, Golden, Row Swap, and Pearls, all of which we will go over more in the next section.
Special Features & Mechanics
What is the max win in the slot Tropicool 5?
You can win up to 25,000X the bet.
What features are available in the slot Tropicool 5?
The features are Cascading & Cool Reel, Feature Symbols, Character Features, Big Symbols, Bonus Game, and Feature Buy (X-iter).
Cascading & Cool Reel
After making a winning combination, the winning symbols are removed from the playing grid, making room for the remaining symbols to drop down and for new ones to come in from above. Creating winning combinations and triggering the Cascades is also how you trigger the Cool Reel, which is a 6x2 area above the normal playing grid, which is filled with Feature Symbols and Ice Cubes. When a Feature Symbol drops into the main playing grid, its respective feature will activate.
Feature Symbols
There are several Special Symbols that can land on the reels, each with its own bonus effect, and they are as follows:
Mystery Symbols = Mystery Symbols will reveal a Paying or Feature Symbol after all wins have been resolved.
Golden Symbols = The Golden Symbol will take the form of a random paying symbol, but with a Multiplier attached to it.
Row Swap Symbols = The Row Swap Symbol selects 1 random paying symbol on its row to replace all other symbols on the same row.
Wild Symbols = Wild Symbols substitute for all paying symbols.
Locked Wild Symbols = Locked Wilds act as a normal Wild Symbol, but with a number next to it that indicates for how many wins it can be part of before disappearing.
Pearl Symbols = Pearl Symbols are collected by Elmo, with a chance of him dropping them after no more wins are possible, clearing the top rows for new symbols to take the empty space.
Character Features
The different characters come into the game as special features, activated either randomly or by landing a specific Special Symbol on the reels, and they are as follows:
Wild Birds = The Wild Birds feature begins by landing a Wild Egg Symbol, which acts as a Sticky Wild that will then expand into a Wild Bird Symbol, ranging from 1x2 to 1x5 in size.
Elmo Drop = Can trigger whenever Elmo picks up a Pearl Symbol, dropping them and clearing off the top rows for more space to make new symbols fall down.
Mystery Crocodile = Kyle the Crocodile is a 6x2 Special Symbol that appears on the Cool Reel and drops Mystery Symbols onto the grid whenever there is space below him.
Big Symbols
Paying Symbols and Row Swap, Wild, Locked Wild, and Mystery Symbols can land with a 2x2 size. Paying Symbols will pay out as the number of regular 1x1 symbols that they cover.
Bonus Game
By landing 3, 4, 5, or 6 Scatter Symbols, you will trigger the bonus game with 6, 9, 12, or 15 spins. During the Bonus Game, the Cool Reel also contains Extra Spin and Multiplier Symbols.
Feature Buy (X-iter)
The Feature Buy option has multiple ways to help you trigger various bonuses and features for a price based on the current bet.
3X = Activates the Bonus Hunt, making each spin more than 4 times more likely to trigger the bonus game.
10X = Activates the Mega Hunt, making each spin 15 times more likely to trigger the bonus game.
25X = Awards a spin with 3 guaranteed Locked Wilds.
100X = Triggers the Bonus Game.
500X = Triggers the Super Bonus Game with 3 guaranteed Locked Wilds per spin.
Final Thoughts on Tropicool 5
Tropicool 5 is a great fifth installment in an already beloved series, which has now been going on for half a decade. With every new release, we see the evolution of Tony Toucano and Fiona Flamingos’ vacation resort, along with a couple of new toys, but now we’re out scuba diving in Antarctica underneath some icebergs, which we feel like perfectly encapsulates the vibes that the series has had since the beginning. We love seeing these characters change and develop over the years, as in Tropicool 2, with the introduction of Elmo the Sloth, who was a bit of a troublemaker, but became a bit nicer over the years. Setting-wise, we’re quite happy with the change of scenery, and it has also introduced the latest character, Kyle the Crocodile, to the roster, which brings with him some good vibes and, hopefully, some great wins. But we’re now getting into the talk of features, so let us move over to the gameplay section.
Starting with the stats, we sadly have what has become common by ELK Studios, and that is a lower-than-average RTP of 94%, but that might just be outweighed by the max win of 25,000X the bet. If you’ve played a Tropicool game before, then this one isn’t all too different, for better or for worse, and while the Cool Reel feature has been in the series for years, it does also remind us of another feature in a recent ELK release, that being Ice Wolf 2, also being released early 2026. Over the years, the Cool Reel has only gotten more and more packed with various Feature Symbols, which can make it feel kinda chaotic, while at the same time also giving you more ways of keeping the wins going. This can be said as well for the Character Features, as with the introduction of Kyle the Crocodile, we might just be pushing the limit for random bonuses and features to land and trigger in the same spin. We’re definitely not complaining about this, but at some point, it might need a bit of balancing, and we thought that would mean that the paytable would get even smaller, but for some reason, ELK Studios has decided to nearly double some payouts. On top of all of this, we then have the Bonus Game, which adds even more Special Symbols to keep track of, but we would argue that the Multiplier Symbols are a much-wanted commodity for some bigger wins. So while Tropicool 5 continues in the footsteps of packing in more and more features, while at the same time making this game’s playing grid actually smaller, it has somehow found an okay balance of being a chaotic mess and a fun experience to hop into and spin away at. If you’re interested in checking out the game for yourself, then be sure to check out the Tropicool 5 demo.
Tropicool 5 is a slot that brings the 5th installment of the coldest summer vacation resort there is, packed with Feature Symbols in a Cool Reel and many Character Bonuses.
