Stacks of Pearls Slot Review

Released in November 2019, this game can be played at online casinos such as Unibet, Guts or Maria Casino.

Theme and general information

Stacks of Pearls brings us a pretty underwater theme. We’re getting an impression of an underwater realm as we would expect to see it when going on a dive somewhere near a beautiful reef. It is colourful and there is a lot of detail in the plants surrounding the reels. When first launching the slot, we also see a mermaid and an underwater castle, giving us the idea that we might indeed be in some magical underwater realm.

The background sounds are light and magical tunes, the rush of waves on a shore and the sound of bubbling water. It fits nicely with the theme.

The symbols on the reels would confirm that. There is a mermaid queen and a merman with too many tentacles. Among the high value symbols, we also find a castle, a ship and a diving helmet as well as a group of fish and something like a sea horse. Low value symbols are the playing card symbols from J to A.

The queen is the most valuable symbol, paying out 33.3x our stake for 5 of a kind.

You can play this game from 0.40 to 120.00 per spin.

Look out for the Pearls

What gives this game its name is indeed the stacks of pearls. Pearls (or stacks of them) land on reels 2, 3 and 4. Here they can open up to reveal whether they are a wild or if they are simply blanks. The wilds are, of course, preferable as they can enable you to form a winning combination.

More importantly, however, two or three stacks of pearls can reveal a bonus symbols, which then gives us re-spins.

Stacks of multiplier wilds in the Re-spins

With 2 stacks of pearls on the reels, we would receive 5 re-spins. If we land 3 stacks of pearls, we would get 7 re-spins. Now, the pearls can still reveal wild symbols, but they may have 2x or 3x multiplier attached. These can add up to 27x multipliers, if you get enough of them along a payline.

During these re-spins, the triggering stacks of pearls will remain locked on their reels. That means you get guaranteed 2 or 3 stacks of pearls on each spin, which almost guarantees you a win with each spin. A maximum win of 2,059x your stake is possible in this game with the maximum multiplier in place.

Conclusion: A pretty but ultimately somewhat lacklustre slot

The theoretical RTP (Return to Player) of Stacks of Pearls is 95.41%, which is below average these days and therefore not that great. The slot comes with a medium variance, which means wins are not that hard to come by. However, big wins are certainly rare and only possible during the re-spins.

The game is pretty enough and playable for a little while. But it is also quite simple and doesn’t stand out in any way. The graphics contain no effects whatsoever. Where other developers would have made the ocean floor alive, it remains static here, which seems like a wasted opportunity. And the gameplay is also not exciting enough to hold our attention for long. Add to that the low RTP and the overall maximum payout that is decent but not excellent and we have a slot that we try once and will likely forget soon enough.