Pirots 4: Slot Overview

Unless you’re one of the select few who knows the real, inside story of how an online slot originated, speculation is as good as it gets. In the case of developer ELK Studios‘ Pirots range of slots, one can maybe picture the ideas team deciding to mash together the consumption elements of Pac-Man with the thrills, chills, and spills of online gambling. The original result was Pirots (2023), and watching four birds gobbling symbols proved to be so popular that the studio returned with the dino-themed Pirots 2 before heading out west in the mega smash hit release Pirots 3. Following a cluster pays diversion in the form of Pirots X, Pirots 4 shrugs off the gravity of our precious blue world for the near infinite of outer space, dropping a near infinite number of features into the game in the process.

Players who have been following the Pirots series might be wondering how the parrots went from the Wild West to the current outer space location of Pirots 4. Glad you asked. What happened is that a space monster popped out of a black hole (defying all sorts of laws of physics there, but we digress) and snatched the birds’ treasure. Instead of cawing into the wind, the gang jumped into the vortex before it closed with a clear mission – reclaim their loot from across the stars and, apparently, beyond. This explains why players find themselves trying their luck alongside four parrots in space suits, a space station, black holes, alien invasions, and the cold, dark void of an emotionless space.

Before watching the cute little birds scoot around the grid collecting things, players must first decide how much they would like to stake from 20 c to $/€100. The math model has been tuned to be highly volatile, and no matter how players tackle Pirots 4, betting 20 c to $/€100 per spin, or choosing feature buys from the X-iter, the RTP is the same at 94%.

Each base game round sees symbols drop into a 6×6 grid where four birds move around to collect gems that are the same colour as they are, as well as feature symbols. Birds continue to move until they aren’t able to collect more symbols, and they are able to move more than once before a symbol refill occurs. Collected symbols and activated feature symbols are removed, then birds and symbols drop down to replace them. This continues as long as at least one bird is able to move. The four gem symbols pay 0.05x to 0.1x at level 1 or 7.5x to 30x at level 7. Wild symbols substitute for any gem at their current payout level.

Pirots 4: Slot Features

Don’t hold your breath; this section is long and deals with the collection meter, Switcheroo, Power Clash, corner bombs, feature symbols, Lost In Space, Alien Invasion, Charlie’s second chance, free spins, super free spins, and X-iter feature buys.

Collection Meter

A collection meter keeps track of all gems and wild symbols collected by birds, though not during the Alien Invasion. When the meter is full, one pending feature symbol release is added. Up to 3 feature symbol releases can be kept pending, and all are awarded simultaneously.

Switcheroo and Power Clash

Two adjacent birds perform a Switcheroo when they can’t collect any more symbols, or a space Switcheroo, which moves one of the birds to the edge of the grid or to the next symbol it can collect in its trajectory. When 3 or more birds are adjacent and can collect no more, the Power Clash triggers. During Power Clash, gems are removed in a 5×5 area around the position where the clash is taking place. Birds fly away from the clash, collecting or activating any corner bombs, Alien Invasion, Black Holes, coins, or scatter/super scatters in their path.

Corner Bombs

Bombs are located at each corner of the space station (the gaming area). They are assigned a random bird’s colour. If a bird collects a symbol on top of a corner bomb of the same colour, the bomb activates and detonates when birds are unable to collect more symbols. It removes all birds from the grid and removes all gems in a 3×3 area originating from the corner bomb. The detonated bomb also removes the connected space station, meaning it expands the game area up to 8×8.

The space station surrounding the game grid has four sections. When a section is removed by a corner bomb, a bird can move through the resulting tunnel if the entrance and end have collectable symbols. Each tunnel may reveal up to 2 collectable feature symbols. A space portal becomes available in a corner when the game grid has expanded to full size, and the space station section in the corner has been removed, allowing birds to teleport between them if collectable symbols are on top of two or more portals.

Feature Symbols

Feature symbol release occurs before corner bombs detonate, as part of the first drop in free spins, or when birds can’t collect any more symbols. A feature symbol release converts random gems into random feature symbols:

• Scatters.
• Super scatters.
• Wilds.
• Coins – a collected coin symbol pays its value. The Max Win coin pays the remaining amount needed to hit the max win.
• Upgrade – upgrades gems of the same colour as the bird that collected it by 1 to 3 steps.
• Upgrade All – upgrades all four gems 1 to 3 steps.
• Transform – transforms a cluster of gems next to the bird into the same colour as the bird that collected the transform symbol. It may convert a random number of gems into feature symbols.
• Spacecorn – places Spacecorn in empty grid spaces when collected, allowing birds to cross empty spaces one time each to reach symbols.
• Black Hole – triggers the Black Hole feature when collected. It absorbs symbols and up to three birds on the grid and throws them back in a different order.
• Alien Invasion – is kept pending when collected and activates when birds can collect no more symbols.

Lost in Space

Clearing the whole grid of collectable symbols during the Spacecorn feature triggers the Lost in Space coin game. It triggers immediately, keeping potentially already activated features in a pending state. Lost in Space is played on an 8×8 grid with a bird in each corner – 3 spins are awarded, and landing a new coin or bridge symbol resets the count. When no spins remain, birds collect the horizontally or vertically adjacent coins they are able to, and the total is awarded. Bridges may be used to reach collectable coins.

Alien Invasion

When this feature is triggered, the Space Bandit collects symbols column by column and space duels with birds. It can collect any symbol except Black Hole, Spacecorn, and transform symbols, which are discarded by the Space Bandit. Corner bombs activate when collected. If the Bandit wins a duel against a bird, the spaceship multiplier increases, the bird is removed, and collection continues. If a bird wins the duel, the feature ends. If the Bandit beats all birds, it collects all remaining symbols, and the win is paid.

Charlie’s Extra Chance

When birds are unable to collect any more symbols, this feature may trigger activating 1 to 4 corner bombs, triggering a symbol drop.

Bonus Game

Collecting 3 scatters by birds in the base game triggers 5 free spins, starting at the grid’s current size. Each scatter collected during the bonus awards +1 free spin. The grid size, collection meter progress, and gem upgrades are all persistent in the bonus round. If one of the scatters was a super bonus symbol, the super bonus game is awarded instead and is played on an 8×8 grid, and all upgrade symbols upgrade all gems. Alien Invasion, corner bombs, or feature symbols pending for release on the triggering spin are activated on the first free spin.

X-iter

The X-iter bonus buy menu has Bonus Hunt at 3x the bet, which causes each spin to quadruple the chance of triggering a bonus game. Alien Invasion may be bought for 25x, Lost in Space for 50x, free spins cost 100x, while super free spins cost 500x.

Pirots 4: Slot Verdict

It’s no secret that developer ELK Studios enjoys making a good sequel, which it has done on numerous past occasions – Gold, Tropicool, Cygnus, etc. Still, you know that a series of slots based around parrots traversing a gaming grid gobbling symbols is doing well when it reaches four releases deep. Well, five, technically, when considering the Pirots X anomaly, though that one used a cluster pays mechanic to form winning combinations instead of the CollectR, making it the odd one of the flock. Pirots 4 is back on firm, familiar ground and sees the return of birds chomping their way around the grid, with a ton of extra features besides.

Fans of the previous Pirots slots should be intimate with a lot of the gameplay to be found in Pirots 4. The nucleus of the experience remains birds scooting around collecting gems, upgrading gems, and tripping feature symbols. Gamblers hoping for colossal strides in innovation might feel a little letdown. More so when you consider the big, main features don’t offer huge progression. Lost in Space is a fairly straightforward hit coins and collect them event, while free spins mainly just introduce a persistent element to the show. A host of more minor tweaks have been included, and on a positive note, they only complement the action, such as the corner bombs, the expanding grid sections/tunnels/portals, and the Alien Invasion. One thing which has remained oddly consistent across every single Pirot slot so far is winning potential, and Pirots 4 sticks with convention, too, so the most that can be won remains 10,000x the bet.

Even if Pirots 4 isn’t the evolutionary leap some may have been hoping for, it’s hard to fault it for what it is. The production levels are high, a slick professionalism oozes from every crevice, and watching birds flap around, collecting, fighting, and triggering a mass of features is as manically enjoyable as ever. Fans should be pleased with the outcome, and keep in mind, the universe is a big place, so who knows where the quartet of avian adventurers end up next – watch this space.