Sea of Spirits  (Bigwinboard.com)

Sea of Spirits: Slot Overview

Within days of reviewing Iron Bank 2, the fifth collaboration between Relax Gaming and CasinoGrounds, we're about to set sail on a joint venture between the casino streaming community and a different software provider, this time Push Gaming. What's been produced is Sea of Spirits, a pirate-themed slot, which rolls out the studio's beloved Coin Reveal action, accompanied by a stack of other extras. Set against a backdrop of dark waters and death, adventurous gamblers are welcome to join the deep sea dive as we discover how the new partnership stacks up, and see just how fortunate the crew may or may not be.

Hopefully, your idea of a thrilling pirate slot doesn't mean skimming the waves, the sun on your face, salty sea breeze blowing through your hair. This is because Sea of Spirits takes place far beneath the ocean's surface in a Davy Jones' Locker of dank green water, skeletons floating on chains, and ruined ships. Even the music is menacing down here, where the hopes and dreams of many a pirate appear to have been dashed. Tentacles and ghostly touches reinforce the danger, but it's all been done in fun, and to a high standard, producing a heavy, yet enjoyable, Razor Shark, Razor Returns underwater type vibe, but with pirates instead of sharks.

A 6x4 matrix is where the symbols land, creating wins from the leftmost reel with the aid of a 4,096 ways to win pay system, which can technically grow as high as 2,985,984 ways in the bonus rounds. It's highly volatile, and when betting $/€0.10 to $/€100 per spin, the RTP clocks in at 96.36%.

Piratey 10-A royals are Sea of Spirits' low pay symbols, while its high pays are a compass, telescope, anchor, and pirate. Lows pay 0.5x for a 6 matching symbol win, rising to 1x to 10x for 6 matching premiums in a win. When wilds are on the grid, they substitute all regular paying symbols.

Sea of Spirits: Slot Features

Within Sea of Spirits' treasure chest of features can be found Frames, Activator symbols, a Coin Reveal feature, bonus and super bonus games, Overpowered Bonus Mode, and feature buys.

Frames

Frames are overlays that can appear on top of any symbol during any spin, provided it does not already have a Frame. Frames remain inactive until populated by an Activator symbol. In the base game, only Bronze Frames may appear. During free spins, Bronze, Silver, and Gold Frames may appear, revealing different symbols depending on the type of Frame and Activator symbol.

• Bronze Frames - May reveal wilds, random pay symbols, or any Instant Prize symbol values.
• Silver Frames - May reveal wilds split into two, pay symbols split into two, or Instant Prize values of 5x or more.
• Gold Frames - May reveal wilds split into three, pay symbols split into three, or Instant Prize values of 25x or more.

In the base game, Frames on the reels nudge down one position as the reels spin. This process continues with each spin till Frames exit the reels. Progress is locked to the bet.

Activator Symbols

The following Activator symbols may land in the base or both bonus games. Only one per spin. When activated, Activator symbols transform all Frame instances on the reels to reveal a corresponding prize. Their effects are activated after initial winning combinations have been evaluated:

• Symbol Sync Activator - The Activator position and all other positions containing a Frame are converted to a random paying symbol.
• Coin Activator - The Activator position and all other Frame positions trigger the Coin Reveal Feature.
• Wild Activator - The Activator position and all other Frame positions convert to a wild symbol.

When an Activator symbol lands in a position without a Frame, it leaves behind a Frame for the next spin.

Coin Reveal Feature

During the Coin Reveal feature, each applicable position spins to reveal a different prize:

• Instant Prize Symbols - Multipliers of the bet with values of 1x to 10,000x
• Multiplier Symbols - Multiplies all Instant Prize symbols and Collectors by x2 to x10. It is then removed, causing its empty position to spin again.
• Collector Symbols - Collects the values of all other Instant Prize symbols, removing them and causing the empty positions to spin again.
• Scatter Symbols (base game only).
• Super Scatter Symbols (base game only).
• Upgrader Symbols (Coin Reveal Feature - Bonus Buy only) - Is available in the bonus or super bonus game. It upgrades a random number of upgradable Frames in view before Activator symbols are triggered. During the Coin Reveal Feature, it upgrades the Frame in that position, before being removed and its position spinning again.

Bonus Games

• Bonus Game - Landing 3 scatters anywhere on the reels in the base game or Coin Reveal Feature awards 5 free spins. During the first spin, 3 or more Bronze Frames are added to the reels. In the bonus and super bonus rounds, frames are sticky for the duration and do not nudge. Also, in both rounds, landing an Extra Spin symbol awards +1 spin.
• Super Bonus Game - Landing 2 scatters and 1 super scatter anywhere on the reels in the base game or Coin Reveal Feature triggers 8 super free spins. On the first spin, 3 Frames of varying tier levels are added to the grid. After the first spin, only Bronze Frames can appear.
• Overpowered Bonus Mode - Overpowered Bonus Mode can activate randomly at the start of either bonus feature. When it is active, there is an increased chance of winning big.

Push Bet & Feature Buys

Two Push Bets are available. The Bonus Boost raises the stake by 50%, increasing the chance of triggering the bonus game by 2.5x and the super bonus by 2x. The Mega Bonus Boost raises the stake by 400%, increasing the chance of triggering the bonus by 9.5x and the super bonus by 55x. Players are able to buy the regular bonus round for 100x or the super bonus for 500x the bet. The Bonus Chance Wheel costs 150x, which spins to award either of the two bonus rounds or a no prize segment. Lastly, at 500x, the Coin Reveal feature on 24 positions may be bought.

Sea of Spirits: Slot Verdict

Sea of Spirits is another confident outing from Push Gaming, blending the developer's polished, tested ideas with CasinoGrounds' community-driven input. From the moment the game drops you into the eerie depths of Davy Jones' Locker, it's clear this isn't a typical sunny side up happy-go-lucky pirate voyage. The atmosphere is dense, yet full of small details that reinforce the dark nautical theme - mirroring the game's mechanical side, which builds on a familiar Push Gaming nucleus with a bunch of complementing side features.

The familiar parts of Sea of Spirits include the reveal feature, which has been used extensively in the past in such slots as Big Bamboo and Regal Knights, to name but two examples. Sea of Spirits' Frames and their triggering method provide a twist, though one that felt similar to Hacksaw Gaming's Golden Squares concept as seen in Le Bandit, Le King, and so on. There are a lot of interconnected parts here, and they're able to augment each other in potentially exciting ways. For instance, Upgrader symbols being able to upgrade Frames is a nice touch, as is the way higher-level Frames can double or even triple the number of symbols within them, and in fact, some of the best hits in the review came from Frames revealing pay symbols. Coin Reveal sequences may be every bit as tense as they are elsewhere, when potentially massive Coin values, Multipliers, and Collectors are playing their part in the drama.

One possible niggle for the salty sea dogs out there is that Sea of Spirits' 25,000x max win could have been higher to match or even exceed the figure posted by the likes of Big Bamboo, for example. Still, it's a sizable figure to chase, and Sea of Spirits lays out a set of excitingly interlocking tools with which to attempt doing so. The game might not be shockingly unique, but it delivers an engaging fusion of legacy features and newer parts.