Description
Avast ye and ahoy there me hearties! Skulls UP Slot from Swedish studio Quickspin is a swashbuckling adventure involving a gang of cheery pirates and their cheeky monkeys. It presents five reels over three rows (a classic format but one which can change during the features) plus a whopping 244 Paylines, which can increase to as many as 1,944.
Set on a tropical island, it’s packed with sizzling features as you set sail for lost treasure. A gorgeous palm-fringed beach is your backdrop, complete with a chilled-out soundtrack and cartoon-style visuals, not to mention plenty of bright colours and the chance to bag up to 3,650x stake on each spin, free or otherwise.
How to play
As ever, set your bets and play on your device of choice, from just 10p to up to £100 a spin.
The lower-paying 10 through A playing-card royals are depicted on wooden coins. Also among the symbols are Wrench the monkey, Biscuit the parrot and buccaneers Biggie, Smelly and No-Beard. The latter is the most lucrative icon, shelling out up to 20x wager for a full five in a row.
Create winning combos by landing matching emblems anywhere on neighbouring reels, kicking off from Reel 1.
Skulls UP Slot special features
Special symbols
You’ll find two kinds of Wild in this game, the regular skull Wild and the flaming skull one. The regular version, as usually happens, replaces all the game’s icons bar the Scatter (a chest) and the flaming skull Wild.
The flaming skull Wild activates the respins feature, while again also replacing all symbols save the Scatter.
Bonus features
Flaming respins feature
As mentioned, it’s the flaming skull Wild that launches this perk, which lasts for as long as any of these icons remain on the reels. Should any Wild arrive while the round is ongoing, a new position opens up above the reels, creating more Paylines all the way up to 1,944.
However, any flaming skull Wild forming part of a win is extinguished before the next respin, although any new symbols like this aren’t put out.
Flaming free spins feature
Land three treasure chest Scatters wherever you like on the reels to activate this and enjoy six free spins. Any reel positions which are unlocked during the feature will stay open throughout the round.
Flaming skull Wilds still raise reel height, even here. Every time you get a reel to max height, two free whirls are yours, meaning that in all you can enjoy 10 further free spins, taking your potential total tally to 16.
Return to Player (RTP)
Skulls UP Slot is a rather volatile game, despite the pirates’ apparent friendliness, with an RTP or Return to Player of 96.26%. So expect long lulls and still waters in between the wins.
Verdict
As we’ve come to expect with Quickspin offerings, this is a good-looking game that doesn’t stint on entertainment value or providing an enjoyable gaming experience.
It’s certainly not the first pirate-themed slot, and we very much doubt that it will be the last. Yet there’s something really likeable about Skulls UP! There’s also the fact that you can enjoy a perk each time you land a flaming skull Wild, leading to more ways of winning and (hopefully) ever larger payouts.
Only you will know if it lights your fire! Give it a go and try it out for yourself.
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