Pirate Bonanza

Pirate Bonanza Slot Review

Slot Provider: Hacksaw Gaming

RTP: 96.31% | Variance: High | Maximum Win: 10,000x

Our Score: 7.6

Play at Grand Ivy Casino
QUICK LINKS: Game Information | Where To Play | Full Review | Testing Notes | Tips For Players | About The Developer

WHY YOU CAN TRUST THIS REVIEW: The information and opinions on this page are the result of an comprehensive process of information gathering and live game testing by the gambling experts who work at allslotsites.com. Find out more here.

About Pirate Bonanza

Reviewed by:

Published Date: 26th July 2024

How We Review Slot Games

We test and rate all slot games across 5 criteria, assigning a score out of 10 for each and an overall score that is an average of the 5. To build an accurate assessment of each game we gather information from the supplier and play in real play or demo mode. Find out more.

Pirate Bonanza by Hacksaw Gaming (in partnership with Backseat Gaming) distills ‘pirate’ to its very essence. The graphics capture an image of swashbuckling on the Caribbean Sea, whilst the numerous features make use of typical pirate tropes. Highlights include the Fire at Will bonus round which gives you free spins and a better chance of landing Cannon symbols which are used to create multipliers (of up to 100x the win). Played on 6 reels and 5 rows, this slot uses a scatter pays mechanic and pays out up to 10,000x your bet.

Pirate Bonanza Game Information

  • Release Date: 09.07.24
  • RTP: 96.31% | 94.26%
  • Variance: High
  • Maximum Win: 10,000x
  • Progressive Jackpot: No
  • Reels: 6
  • Rows: 5
  • Minimum Stake: £0.10
  • Theme: Pirate
  • Features: Cascading WinsFree SpinsMultipliers
  • Format: 6-ReelScatter Pays

Testing Notes: Here’s What Happened When We Played Pirate Bonanza

IMPORTANT: To give you an accurate assessment of the games we review our writers play 200 spins. Whilst this is a useful tool to help us review games and to give an example of what might happen when you play, keep in mind that 200 spins is only a very small sample and cannot be used to accurately predict what might happen over another 200 spins. The outcome of all slots play is always random.

Boom Or Bust? Our Session By The Numbers

Test spins and results analysis by Mark Wadie.

Results from 200 spins for free on Pirate Bonanza on Hacksaw Gaming’s test servers.

  • Stake Size: £1
  • Start balance: £5,000
  • End balance: £4,912.40
  • Hit Rate: 18.5% (37 winning spins in 200)
  • Biggest Win: 46.8x
  • Bonus Round: 0

Playing Pirate Bonanza is about long waits for those big moments to arrive. And to be fair, when they do drop, they can be dramatic. The only feature to look out for is the cannons and you need one of these symbols to be present on your final cascade in a game round. That means cannonballs that reveal multipliers will appear on every winning position. And if there are a lot of winning positions and you start with a good win value, you can end up with a huge payout. I maxed out at 46.8x which is small in comparison to the 10,000x potential advertised, but it was fun watching a 90p win turn into a £46.8 win thanks to 52x worth of multipliers as shown in this screenshot.

Pirate Bonanza Big Win
90p x a 52x multiplier

That is all there is to this game – aside from free spins of course – and it feels very same-y after a while. Also, the hit rate of 18.5% is a little under what you might expect. But, still if you enjoy pirate games and multipliers it has its thrills.

What We Liked

  • Up to 100x multipliers via the cannonball feature
  • Classic pirate graphics and theme
  • Scatter pays format is easy to score wins with
  • Two free spins rounds

What We Didn't like

  • Lower RTP at some slot sites

Pirate Bonanza Review Scores

  • Theme and Design 7
  • RTP and Variance 8
  • Maximum Win 7
  • Symbols and Paytable 8
  • Features and Gameplay 8

What Our Reviewer Says ...

"A simple pirate slot with just one powerful cannonball multiplier feature to carry it"

Overall Score: 7.6

Theme & Design

Our Score 7

The pirate theme is perhaps a little tried and tested, with some great slots that use this theme including the ever-popular Pirots game. However, Pirate Bonanza manages to stand on its own two feet with some truly stunning graphics. The background is a deserted and beautiful beach with inviting teal seas, red cliff formations and the fronds of palm trees.

Pirate Bonanza by Hacksaw Gaming
Pirate Bonanza by Hacksaw Gaming

A stern pirate stands guard over the reels with a highly decorated cannon, and a chest overflowing with treasure flanks the other side. It’s classic, right down to the pay symbols, but if you’re after a quintessentially ‘pirate’ flavoured slot, then you can’t do much better.

RTP and Variance

Our Score 8

What is RTP?

RTP (Return to Player) refers to the amount a game will pay out in cash prizes expressed as a percentage of all the money wagered on that game. For example, a 96% RTP means a game will pay out £96 for every £100 wagered. This is an average number and will vary from one session to the next.  Read more here.

What is Variance?

Variance refers to how far a game will deviate from its RTP over time. High variance games deviate a lot and produce uneven win distributions and unexpected windfalls. Low variance games provide a more stable and even distribution of wins. Read more here.

The default RTP of 96.31% is really solid, offering a potentially good return on your wagering. However, you should watch out as there are two different RTP rates, the other being 94.26% which is less than ideal. If you head to the game rules page after loading up the game at your chosen slot site, you’ll be able to see which one applies for you. We recommend playing at MrQ where the RTP rates in Hacksaw slots are always at the highest level.

The variance is pretty high in this slot too, so the win distribution will likely be uneven when you play – expect larger wins interspersed with some dry spells.

Maximum Win

Our Score 7

What Is Maximum Win?

Maximum win refers to the maximum amount a player can win from one spin. It is expressed as a multiple of the stake. For example, where the maximum win is 100,000x, from a £1 stake, the maximum win would be £100,000.  

A top payout of 10,000x your bet is nothing to be sniffed at, especially when combined with that nice RTP rate. If you’re a player on a slightly smaller budget looking for a bigger win then this is a good slot to choose. However, there are other slots with a pirate theme that can offer a higher top payout, Dead Man’s Trail from Relax Gaming for example has a max win of 50,000x your stake.

Symbols and Paytable

Our Score 8

Pirate Bonanza is played on 6 reels and 5 rows, but does not have traditional paylines. Instead it has a scatter pays mechanic which means you just need to match at least 8 symbols anywhere on the reels to win. 

Pirate Bonanza Paytable
The paytable with 50x for 19 or more top paying symbols

There are 9 pay symbols as well as a scatter, and a cannon, which we’ll cover a bit later. The low value symbols are the gems (purple, blue, red, orange, and green). These are worth up to 50x the bet if you land 19 or more. The premium symbols are a flask (of rum we suspect), a treasure map, a compass, and a pirates hat. For 19 or more of these, expect payouts between 200x and 400x your bet.

Features and Gameplay

Our Score 8

Pirate Bonanza is positively bursting with features that help to take this gameplay more than a couple of notches above the competition. Let’s take a look at them.

Cascade

Every time a win is created it activates the cascade feature. This removes the symbols that made the win from the reels and allows new symbols to fall from above to take up their places. If the new symbols make wins then they are removed and the cascade restarts. The cascade will continue until no new wins can be made. 

Cannon Feature

If the cannon symbol is present at the end of any spin then the Cannon feature is triggered. 

Now, multiplier bombs are placed on every highlighted square (the winning positions from the last round) and all the bombs explode to reveal multipliers which are added to or multiplied by the total multiplier for the spin, depending on the bomb. After this, the value is applied to the win from the last spin and then a pay out is made.

Pirate Bonanza Cannonball feature
Cannonball feature with multipliers

Multiplier Bombs

The multipliers that can be revealed in the Cannon Feature are as follows:

  • Low Value: this bomb can be 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x the win and is added to other multipliers
  • Medium Value: this bomb can be 10x, 15x 20x, or 25x the win and is added to other multipliers
  • High Value: this bomb can be 50x, 75x or 100x the win and is added to other multipliers
  • Golden Value: this bomb can be 2x, 3x, 5x, or 10x the win and is multiplied with other multipliers

Load the Cannons

If you land four scatters during the base game then you’ll start this feature with 10 free spins. You can retrigger the feature by landing 3 scatter symbols during the game, which awards an additional 5 free spins. 

During this feature there is an increased chance of landing a Cannon Symbol, which will start the Cannon Feature explained above.  

Fire At Will

If you land five scatter symbols during the base game then you’ll start this feature with 10 free spins. If you land 3 scatter symbols during the feature then you’ll get an additional 5 free spins. 

During this feature there’s a better chance of landing a Cannon Symbol, triggering the Cannon Feature. Plus, any highlighted squares will remain highlighted throughout. 

The Final Verdict

If you’re crazy for cannons then you’re in the right place. Hacksaw Gaming and Backseat Gaming have come together to create a traditional pirate theme that ties in some non traditional mechanics. The numerous cannon-based features (Fire at Will, Load the Cannons, and the Cannon symbol itself) will delight fans of the pirate genre, and are interesting enough in their own right for players who are simply interested in exciting mechanics.

The default RTP of 96.13% is really pretty generous, especially next to the max win of 10,000x your bet. High volatility might sway some players on a slightly tighter budget, but overall, this slot offers great win potential and plenty of unique features.

Useful Tips When Playing Pirate Bonanza

Remember, online slots are games of chance, there is NO strategy that can improve your odds of winning. However, reading our review and following these tips will help you get the most out of your time playing this slot game.

1. Look For Cannons At The End Of Your Spin

These powerful symbols can trigger huge multipliers if they are present on the reels at the end of a game round.

2. Fire At Will Free Spins Are Powerful

You need FIVE scatters to trigger this but if you do then you have more chance of landing scatters AND squares highlighted for cannons are persistent.

3. Play At Low Stakes

This volatile slot can burn your balance fast. Choose low stakes – bets start at 10p – to avoid an early exit from the game.

4. Play At Our Recommended Slot Sites

We have chosen the sites on this page because they all scored high in our reviews and they are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. That makes them fair and safe places to play slots.

Who Made Pirate Bonanza?

  • Name: Hacksaw Gaming
  • Established: 2018
  • UK License: 54059
  • Total Games: 50 +
  • Known For: Dark, high variance output and bonus rounds driven by combining multipliers
  • Popular Slots: Hand of Anubis, Itero, Gladiator Legends, Break Bones
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