Star Pirates Code

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! This is a pirate-themed slot but perhaps not like any you’ve played on before…. Star Pirates Code by Pragmatic Play is an online slot that mashes up the genres as it takes you on a journey to win real cash prizes. And this means that you could be collecting up to x2500 if you manage to claim the top payout. 

Pirate themed slots typically involve boats, digging for treasure and a crew of swarthy bearded pirates. Pragmatic Play has opted for a different type of game design, setting it apart from their other pirate-themed slots, such as Smugglers Cove. In fact, regular players might feel that Star Pirates Code has more in common with Starburst than any of the pirate slots on the market. Think of it as a type of cosmic pirate slot, and you'd be closer to the mark! 

When it's time to get started, you'll be playing on a 5x3 grid that contains ten traditional paylines. Betting starts from just 0.10, making it well suited for the low rollers but increasing up to a generous 250.00 for those chasing the big wins. Volatility is medium, so you'll get a reasonable balance of smaller prizes and larger payouts. 

With a pirate slot, the design is normally fairly self-explanatory, but this game has a bit of a mixed look. Sure, you'll see the sea in the background, and there are a few vaguely piratey symbols on the reels, but the twilight sky and the prominence of the sparkly jewels make it feel much more like a gems slot - such as Starburst.  

The low pays are made up of a variety of coloured, shiny gems, while the premiums include silver and gold coins and a treasure chest. The treasure chest is the top value symbol and pays out x15 for a line of five. One interesting fact about this game is that wins pay both ways, both right to left and the more usual left to right, so you can effectively double your prizes. Once again, this is a mechanism found in Starburst. So there's more than a passing similarity to the intergalactic slot!

There aren't a lot of bonus features to be found in Star Pirates Code, but there are a few extras to switch the play up a bit.  

Wilds make up a significant part of the bonus features in this slot, and there is more than one type that can land on the reels.  

The skull and crossbones wild can appear on reels 2, 3 and 4; this is a regular wild and simply substitutes for any of the regular symbols. 

The Wild Compass also appears on the same middle three reels, but it has the ability to create more wilds. After it lands, the needle on the compass will spin, and all of the tiles in the direction in points will transform into wilds. As the Wild Compass can only appear on the middle three reels, only symbols on the middle three reels are transformed. The changes can take place either vertically, horizontally or diagonally.  

Once all the transformations have taken place, all of the wilds - including the original Wild Compass - lock into position, and the reels respin. If more wilds land on top of the existing wilds, a x1 multiplier is added. The respins will continue until no more wilds land. 

Star Pirates Code is an unusual slot as it doesn't have a clear theme, and the gameplay is relatively sparse. With no prize pot, free spins or big bonus, all of the heavy lifting is done by the wilds. If you're new to playing slots or like to play games that are simple, this is an excellent pick. However, if you prefer your slot titles to be crammed with features, you may find this pirates' adventure a little too basic.