Pirots 2

Theme and Design

While the original Pirots game looked out onto the ocean at sunset, Pirots 2 has had a significant revamp in the graphics department. It’s murkier and spookier, set at first as though it’s in the rainforest, but as you move through the game you realise there’s something else at foot, dinosaurs. Think Jurassic Park meets Pirates of the Caribbean, but with parrots.

A roller coaster snakes its way between the overgrown branches and some of the symbols hint at the theme park nature of Jurassic Park, like popcorn. It’s great to see a much anticipated sequel that’s not just a carbon copy of the original and Pirots 2 definitely isn’t. It has the same crisp, clean, three dimensional graphics that you’d expect from ELK Studios, but with a whole new vibe to explore.

RTP and Variance

If there’s anywhere that Pirots 2 falls down then its definitely in this category. It features the same low RTP of 94% that so many Elk Studios games do. Plus, the volatility is slightly higher than its predecessor. Overall, it’s probably not a wise choice for those on a tighter budget.

If you’re looking for something with a better RTP then Pirate Bonanza offers the same max payout, but with a friendlier rate of 96.31%.

Maximum Win

The top payout hasn’t changed from the original and still sits at 10,000x your bet. This would certainly be a great win to net, but with that high volatility, we think ELK Studios could have been a little more generous!

Symbols and Paytable

The CollectR mechanic is carried over from the original, a unique system of payouts developed by ELK Studios for these games. 

You start with a 6x6 grid. There you will see a bunch of gems in red, blue, green and purple, as well as some feature symbols and your four Pirots, also in red, blue, green and purple. Pirots then move to adjacent positions if by doing so they can pick up a gem or feature symbol of the same color as themelves. The value of each gem collected adds to your payout for that spin. The Pirots can also switch places with birds directly next to them if that allows them to collect more symbols.

If three or four birds happen to line up horizontally or vertically then they remove all gems, and collect all scatters, coins, eggs, and red buttons. When this ends, the birds are dropped onto the reels (in a different formation) and the symbols are refilled. 

Finally, birds collect symbols in descending order of payout, meaning they start with the highest level gems first. The gems can be upgraded to higher payout levels (up to level 7), but all start at level 1.

The low paying symbols are the blue and green gems, when fully upgraded they are worth 10x the bet and 15x the bet respectively. The higher paying are purple and red gems, paying 20x and 50x the bet respectively once fully upgraded.

Features and Gameplay

The CollectR mechanic is an ingenious invention. But there is plenty more to this game. Here is how it works.

Collection Meter

The collection meter can be found just above the game grid. It gets a little fuller every time the birds collect a feature symbol on the grid. Once its full, one feature release symbol is added, with a total of three as the max that the meter can hold. These are all released at the same time and they turn the gems into random feature symbols (that we’ll cover below). 

The release can occur only at specific times:

• Before an egg symbol hatches
• Before a meteor strikes
• On the first free drop
• When no more symbols can be collected by birds
• At random, regardless of the condition of the collection meter

Feature Symbols

There are a lot of feature symbols in this slot, each with its own unique purpose. Let’s take a look at what they all do:

Upgrades: these symbols upgrade the level of any one gem by between 1 and 3 levels.

Upgrade All: these symbols upgrade all of the gems by between 1 and 3 levels.

Coins: these work like instant wins, paying a value of up to 1,000x the bet when collected. 

Max Win Coin: this bumps up whatever payout you were expecting to reach the maximum of 10,000x  

Wild: these can substitute for any gem symbol at the win level shown on the symbol.

Red Button: this triggers a meteor strike and explodes all symbols except feature symbols, it also increases the grid size. 

Egg: once it’s collected it hatches at the end of the round, revealing a dinosaur. This scares away the birds, which land in new positions. 

Popcorn: when collected, this fills any empty spaces with popcorn. The birds can eat the popcorn allowing them to cross empty spaces and reach winning pay symbols . 

Mushroom: when collected by a bird it can either transform all adjacent clusters to the same colour as the bird, forming a win, or it can convert gems into other feature symbols. 

Free Spins 

If you collect three dino skulls (scatters) in the base game then this triggers the free spins round. You begin with five free spins which begin on whatever the current grid size is. Your progress on the feature meter stays the same. If there are any releases that are due to drop then they’ll drop on the first free spin. 

Your payout levels on gems also remain the same and you can still collect scatter symbols. If you collect an additional three then you’re awarded more spins. You can still trigger any of the features discussed above.