Pearls of the Ocean

Pearls of the Ocean Overview

Created by the Platipus Gaming studio, Pearls of the Ocean takes players on an exciting adventure to the depths of the sea, where they are tasked with finding precious pearls. Along the way, players will encounter mermaids, clown fish and a dazzling array of corals. In terms of the mechanics of this slot, it is a five-reel, four-row game with 40 pay lines. However, this game's RTP is disappointingly low at 95.04%. The volatility is also rated at the high end of the spectrum.

The bonus features for this game begin with the wild bonus. The wild icon in this game is the gorgeous mermaid. She can replace any regular icon to help form more wins. She can also appear as an extended icon and doubles as this game's scatter. Landing two or more partially visible wilds will activate the nudging feature, which will nudge the wilds into full view by moving the reel up or down one more position. Find three wilds and the re-spin feature will be triggered, re-spinning all of the non-wild reels to help find more wins. Land three or more scatters on the reels, however, and the free spin feature will be triggered, giving players several free spins to play with. This game also has a bonus buy option.

Theme and Symbols

This game has an under-the-sea theme which is of a decent standard but is not going to blow anyone away. The game introduces you to a world dominated by corals, fish, seaweed, and the calming tides of the open ocean. Ocean themes, for some reason, always look a little hackneyed and cheap. However, Platipus Gaming has somehow prevented this, perhaps by designing a cohesive theme with no elements that have been bodged together from previously published content. Still, there is nothing to get too excited about regarding this game's aesthetics.

The background shows a typical underwater ocean scene. The sun shines brightly overhead, casting a sparkly glow on the water's surface. Below the surface, the water is a deep blue, and schools of fish swim lazily around. Seaweed and coral provide homes for smaller creatures, and the occasional turtle or dolphin swims by. Everything is calm and peaceful, and the only sound is the gentle bubbling of the water, plus this game's appropriately sea shanty-like soundtrack.
The playing board for this game is a golden rectangle with a deep blue interior.

The symbols for this game are split into low-paying, high-paying and special symbols. The low-paying icons are the J, Q, K and A in playing card royals. The A is the most valuable of these paying out at 1.25x the stake for the top combination. The higher-paying symbols comprise the starfish, jellyfish, crabs, goldfish, and dolphins. The dolphin is the most valuable of these symbols worth 10x the stake for the top combination. The special symbols finally are the mermaid wild which sometimes comes in an expanded format, and the pearl scatter icon, which triggers the free spins.

Game Play

Pearls of the Ocean is played on a 5-reel, 4-row machine with 40 fixed pay lines. To win combinations, players must land three or more matching symbols on pay lines moving from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel.

The betting range for Pearls of the Ocean is 40p to £80 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stake up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen.
Volatility for this slot is rated in the high range. The return to player percentage for Pearls of the Ocean is 95.04%, which is below average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 1,234x your stake.

Features

As briefly discussed, this game's bonus content relies heavily on the influence of the wild symbol, which in this game is the mermaid. Their first ability is that they can substitute for any other regular symbol on the board to help score more wins. Additionally, these icons can also appear on the board in expanded formats, covering the reel on which they land completely.
Players will receive two or three re-spins when two or three of these wilds land on the reels simultaneously. During these re-spins, the wilds are held in place while the rest of the board spins. And new wilds found during these re-spins add more re-spins.
If two or more partially viable wilds land on the board, they activate the nudge feature, which will push the reels to reveal the wild in full, which will then help trigger the re-spin feature.
Finally, this game also has a free spins game, activated when players land three or more of the pearl bonus scatters on the reels at the same time. The more scatters you land, the more free spins you will be granted.
During this feature, all wild icons will nudge up or down to cover the reel completely, after which they will become sticky for the duration of the feature. Each new wild landed will also add an extra spin to your tally.
This game also offers a bonus buy option that allows players to purchase access to the free spins round. However, this is not available in the UK.

Conclusion

With much more to offer than you might think, this is a surprisingly fun game with a rich array of bonus features and an exciting theme. However, things are a little less promising regarding how well you might do in finding wins. This is due mainly to the fact that the game has a poor RTP, and its maximum win isn't very promising either. Play this game for a laugh but don't bank on making much money.