An innovative challenger brand in the competitive digital slots market, developer Saucify designed the game Pieces of Eight to appeal to online and mobile slots players who enjoy a pirate theme. The reel frame is an old-fashioned map of the world and its semi-explored oceans, hanging against an idyllic beach view of a tropical lagoon, a pirate ship at anchor in the shallows. An insistent pirate shanty played on a fiddle and a harpsichord accompanies the action, with a snatch of recorder music to salute wins.
The three live characters among the icons, the Parrot, Mate and Captain, also animate when included on a winning line, with appropriately cartoon-pirate catchphrases. Pieces of Eight plays on five reels over three rows, with 25 bet lines and a range of 1-10 coins per line bet. The number of bet lines played and the size of the bet per line are both variable, so players can bet from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 250 coins per spin.
Pirate and Nautical Theme Throughout
Pieces of Eight slot avoids the low-value poker icons common in so many slots or other countries and instead uses theme-appropriate symbols for both high- and low-value characters. In addition, while all winning combinations must as usual start on Reel 1, only 2 matching consecutive high-value symbols are required on a bet line to trigger a win. Low-value scores are still triggered by the more familiar 3-or-more matching symbols. The reels are transparent, causing the Pieces of Eight icons to stand out effectively against the background map.
Low-value symbols, in ascending order, are an Anchor, a Ship’s Wheel, a Telescope, a Compass and Crossed Cutlasses. Low-value wins range from 5X the line bet (3 Anchors or Wheels) to 300X (5 Crossed Cutlasses). The high-value icons, from lowest to highest, are Crossed Pistols, a Ship’s Parrot, a Jolly Roger Flag and a Ship’s Mate. For combinations of 2 of a kind, the Pistols, Parrot and Flag all score 2X the line bet, increasing to 400X, 500X and 2,000X, respectively, for 5 of a kind. The Mate pays 10X, 100X, 1,000X and 10,000X the line bet for combinations of 2, 3, 4 and 5 of a kind, respectively.
Pieces of Eight Wild and Bonus Features
Captain Blackbeard himself is the Pieces of Eight Wild icon, leering around with an “Arrr!” whenever he features on a winning bet line. The Captain substitutes for all symbols, except for the Cannon and the Treasure Chest.
Although consecutive Captain icons on a bet line do not score in their own right, they do make many other winning combinations possible. The free spins bonus is triggered by the Cannon icon; 3 Cannons are rewarded with 10 free spins, 4 Cannons with 20 and 5 Cannons with 30. Additional free spins and the Treasure Chest bonus can both be triggered during a free spins round, which plays against a backdrop bathed in sunset. The Treasure Chest bonus is triggered by three or more Treasure Chest icons appearing on any bet line (but not necessarily starting on Reel 1). The Treasure Chest bonus consists of a “Pick a Chest” game; the Chest the player chooses determines the number of bonus coins won.
