Ghost Pirates is a revolutionary video slot from NetEnt. With compelling graphics and a dark, mysterious atmosphere, this free version of Ghost Pirates gives players a truly immersive gaming experience. In addition, players won't have to worry about near hits. The slot allows players to win 243 ways, rather than using set paylines. As long as symbols are in succession from left to right at any position on the reel, the payline wins. Ghost Pirates simply gives slot lovers something different to try.
To set your bet, first choose your coin value in the bottom-left. Players may select any value from just €0.01 up to €0.50 per reel. Since Ghost Pirates does not use a conventional payline system, players are able to get a massive amount of ways for significantly less. Once you've selected your coin amount, choose how many full reels to play (the Bet Level). The paytable illustrates how many ways each Bet Level offers players to win.
Spin either by using the green circle button with arrows, or by using the Max Bet button to spin all five reels at the selected coin amount. As anchors, legendary pirates, and mystical treasures fill the reels, you can expect to see a massive number of wins compared to most other slots. Ghost Pirates's adventurous theme and unique set-up make it a slot worth trying out.
Game Play
Coin Value: Choose your bet denomination.
Bet Level: Choose how many full reels to play.
Green arrow button: Spin the reels at the selected bet.
Max Bet: Spin all five reels fully at the selected coin denomination.
The attention to detail this game is fantastic and makes the graphics look beautifully sharp and crisp - on my tablet the effect is truly stunning. I like the eery background sounds too which definitely add to the ghostly feel. The games logo does look attractive though I get the feeling it might possibly have been "inspired" by a certain popular pirate themed movie series!
It's good that the presentation is so slick because Ghost Pirates doesn't have a great many surprises during play. Three to five scatters starts a typical free spins round, with extra spins for four or five scatters (the exact number varies depending on the number of ways activated) and all wins during free spins receive a 3x multiplier. Most of the paytable wins remain the same regardless of the number of ways played but there are some small differences at the very bottom end of the table.
Payouts are fairly typical for a 243 ways game but may seem a little low if you are new to this type of slot. I would have liked to have seen a win on the paytable for five scatters or five wilds but NetEnt often don't bother with such things. I don't know why! Microgaming almost always make these two highly unlikely combinations return a prize befitting of their rarity and I can't see any good reason for a game not to offer this. Also, I always feel that 243 ways games work best with stacked wild symbols, afterall that is the only way to win on a large number of ways simultaneously, but those are not offered here.
The spin sound effect doesn't quite fit with the game which might sound like a minor thing but whilst the effects are enabled you will be hearing it every couple of seconds so I do think it worthy of a mention.
Pretty much every 243 ways game I can ever remember having played has a fixed minimum bet size, usually between 0.25 and 0.50 per spin, so I was both intrigued and confused to see the option in Ghost Pirates allowing selection of various numbers of active ways. My guess is that in the early days of ways-to-win games some players found the concept difficult to understand or didn't like being restricted as to how many lines they wished to play so NetEnt tried to come up with a compromise. It's a nice idea but does make the game quite difficult to understand and I recommend just playing the full 243 ways - you may well get a dramatically reduced RTP if you do not.
I've said quite a few negative things about Ghost Pirates which is a shame because I do feel positive about the game overall - it's just that there is so little original or unique here, it really is a very standard slot game. It looks great and is enjoyable to play, plus I've had reasonable luck playing the game with a couple of hugely profitable sessions. I guess what all the negative points say is that it really could have been a lot better with a few simple tweaks and I really wish NetEnt would pay more attention to what is great about their competitors games and implement those features themselves, they definitely have the potential to be the best.