8 Golden Skulls of Holly Roger ᐈ Slot Review + Demo (RTP=96.86)

8 Golden Skulls of Holly Roger Review

Not only is 8 Golden Skulls of Holly Roger Buck Stakes Entertainment’s Megaways debut, it’s also their first slot ever. A buccaneering effort in the truest sense of the word, as the game is all about pirates. We salute the budding, indie developer for their boldness. We also applaud the fact that they have attempted to make the game “their own”, instead of resorting to a “starter kit” copycat venture like so many others do with their first attempt.

Visually, the game is pretty decent, with cartoon style graphics and nicely done animations, and the soundtrack is kind of catchy too. You will not find any brand new innovations in this game, but the collection of features are somewhat uniquely put together. The Firepot Scatter Jackpot plays a central role in making this title stick out, and overall the math model is also not too shabby. It’s a decent enough debut, but nothing too spectacular either.

8 Golden Skulls of Holly Roger Reels Screen

8 Golden Skulls of Holly Roger Features

There are no wild symbols in this game, just to get that out of the way up front. Winning symbols are removed via the Rolling Reels feature, and new potential winners are then dropped from above. The Rolling Reels (also known as Avalanche or Cascading Wins) feature goes on as long as you keep landing new winning combinations.

The Treasure Chest Mystery Symbols can land anywhere, and when they do, they transform into the same matching pay symbol. This increases your chances for larger payouts, and it also helps keep your Rolling Reels streak going.

Microgaming’s trademarked Firepot Jackpot feature is included in this game also. All 6 fixed jackpots are on display on the left-hand side, and their values are tied directly to your stake per spin. More specifically, you stand to win 1.5x, 5x, 20x, 100x, 300x or 2,000x your stake when you land 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 skull symbols on the same spin. Keep in mind that Rolling Reels don’t remove skulls, meaning they can accumulate on lengthy sequences.

8 Golden Skulls of Holly Roger Bonus Wheel

You need at least 4 diamond scatters anywhere in sight to trigger the Bonus Round. Any scatter above the minimum of 4 adds +2 extra spins to your total. That total however, will be determined by a Bonus Wheel. You will get between 10 and 30 free spins from the Wheel, in addition to a multiplier of 1x, 2x or 3x.

The multiplier is not progressive, but it will boost all your bonus round winnings, including Firepot Jackpots. You get 4 extra spins by landing 3 scatters on a free spin, and 2 extra spins are progressively added on top of that for each extra scatter above the minimum of 3. To be clear, 4 scatters award 6 free spins, 5 scatters award 8 free spins, and so forth with no upper limit.

The 200 Spins 8 Golden Skulls of Holly Roger Experience

The full title of this game, 8 Golden Skulls of Holly Roger Megaways™ Firepot™, is certainly a mouthful, and it does deviate somewhat from the regular Megaways recipe. We therefore approached this Buck Stakes debut with an open mind to see where it would lead us. We’ve edited a brief highlights video of our test session, and you can check it all out by hitting the play button.

Review Summary

At least Buck Stakes didn’t attempt some kind of blatant Bonanza spin-off, or something similar, in what’s both their first title ever, and their Megaways debut. The independent Microgaming partner does not serve up anything overly innovative or original either, but 8 Golden Skulls of Holly Roger comes across as a decent enough effort for a small studio that’s just getting started.

The Firepot scatter jackpot is not something you see too often in combination with this engine, and it ensures that payouts up to at least 6,000x are possible. The max win potential has not been disclosed officially, but it’s probably even higher. The bonus round seems hard to trigger though, and we think Buck Stakes needs to take some additional steps before they might achieve mainstream recognition.

If you enjoy 8 Golden Skulls of Holly Roger you should also try:

Pirate Kingdom Megaways - is a solid buccaneer title from Iron Dog, and you’ll benefit from multiplier wilds in the base game. Maxed out reels with 7 rows become fixed like that for the duration of the bonus round, and the progressive multiplier can dish out payouts up to 40,000x your stake.

9 Masks Of Fire - is a highly popular Gameburger title that comes with a similar scatter jackpot feature. Land up to 9 mask scatters to win the largest 2,000x jackpot, while the bonus round comes with unlimited retriggers and a global multiplier of either 2x or 3x.

Pirates Bounty Megaways - is a medium/high volatile Blueprint pirate adventure with up to 117,649 win ways, and you can win up to 10,000x your stake. You will benefit from cascading wins, mystery symbols, as well as a Bounty Wheel that hands out instant cash prizes and free spins with unlimited progressive multiplier.