Irish Crown

Irish Crown Review

9 Masks of Fire and its Irish singling 9 Pots of Gold by Gameburger Studios have been around for half a decade now (how fast time flies), but they stay as relevant as ever, up to date capturing hearts and minds of thousands, as well as continue spawning numerous makeovers from different providers. We’ve seen dozens if not hundreds already, yet slot devs don’t seem to stop. Hopping onto the bandwagon one more time is the developer Pragmatic Play with its Irish Crown slot, which incorporates similar core mechanics but adds some of its own unique twists to the formula.

The game plays out across a standard 5-reel matrix with 3 rows and 20 fixed ways to win. To achieve one, players are required to land 3 or more matching symbols on adjacent reels starting from the leftmost. Or, land 3 or more Crowns anywhere in view, but that’s a whole different story, which I will cover further in the features section of my Irish Crown slot review.

Irish Crown Slot - Base Game

Playable on any device, Irish Crown caters to any kind of punter with accepted wagers from €0.2 to €240 per spin or all the way up to €300 with the bonus bet mode on. When activated, it increased the odds of hitting a bonus feature in exchange for a 25% increase in your stake.

Powered by a highly volatile math model, the game sports a default RTP of 96.52%, which is decent at an above-average level, and playing with the bonus bet gives it a lil’ boost to 96.53%. However, you can encounter two other payback settings, namely 94.51% or 95.52% depending on where you play, so it would be wise to look through the rules when choosing a casino to play at.

Despite the variance, you should score wins quite on the Irish Crown slot machine, as far as it offers a win rate of 27.03%. That means payouts occur on an average of 1 out of 3.7 spins. Bonus features, in turn, tend to pop up at around 148 spins. Hitting a max win takes an average of 2,522,068 spins (the figure calculated from several billion test spins), and that value is 5,000x the bet.

Irish Crown Feature

As alluded to above, the Irish Crown online slot revolves around the well-established scatter jackpots gameplay formula. Not your generic one, though, but enhanced with a respins bonus, and there are also mystery symbols an free spins at your disposal.

Crown symbols

Crown symbols are the most desired out of all. They are available anywhere on the grid, and when 3 or more hits regardless of the position simultaneously, players receive a reward based on their number, as follows:

• 3 Crowns - award 1x the bet.
• 4 Crowns - award 2x the bet.
• 5 Crowns - award 5x the bet.
• 6 Crowns - award 10x the bet.
• 7 Crowns - award 20x the bet.
• 8 Crowns - award 30x the bet.
• 9 Crowns - award 40x the bet.
• 10 Crowns - activate the Big Money bonus.

Big Money bonus

When triggered, present Crown symbols on the reels lock in place and stay for the entire duration of the feature, while all other positions respin independently. Only Crown symbols can land during the Big Money bonus, and whenever a new one hits, it also turns sticky, and respins carry on. The feature ends when no new Crowns appear on a spin or the whole grid is filled up with those. In the latter case, players get a random Super Reel award, which can be either 250x, 500x, 1,000x, 2,000x, or 5,000x the bet. If the bonus ends with 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14 locked, Crown symbols, the end result will be a 50x, 75x, 100x, 150x, or 200x payout.

Irish Crown Slot - Big Money Bonus

Mystery Symbols

Both in the base game and free spins, Mystery symbols can land on any of the reels at random. After they hit, all instances in view transform into the same regular symbol or a Crown.

Free Spins

Keep an eye out for Scatter symbols - landing 3 on the same base spin triggers 10 free spins. During the bonus round, new Leprechaun symbols are added to the mix, which act in a similar way to Wild symbols in the iconic Eye of Horus game. IYKYK. Whenever one lands, it causes the lowest pay symbol to become a Crown symbol as well. Not simply turn into, but transform at the end of each spin after all initial payouts are calculated. Only royal symbols can be affected though. After the 5th leprechaun lands and performs his magic over the A symbol, they no longer become available. Finally, landing 1, 2, or 3 Scatter symbols during Irish Crown free spins adds +2, +5, or +10 spins to the total tally.

Irish Crown Slot - Free Spins

Buy Feature

If grinding for Scatters doesn't excite you, there’s a shortcut. For 100x your bet, you can gain instant access to the bonus. The default RTP for the buy feature is 96.53%.

Theme & Graphics

Just like the overall majority of games in the Irish niche, Irish Crown by Pragmatic Play follows the usual, well-trodden path when it comes to the visuals. The slot transports players to the wonderful world of leprechauns, with picturesque green hills, sumptuous meadows, and a perfect rainbow making up the backdrop to the reels. And accompanying this scenery is perhaps the most generic Irish soundtrack you can even imagine. Still, I should mention the design team has handled the ToR masterfully. Irish Crown looks absolutely gorgeous - the graphics and animations are of a top-notch level.

Pros And Cons Of Irish Crown Slot

Our Verdict

Irish Crown Pragmatic Play is a prime example of how a developer can take a tried-and-true formula and breathe new life into it with a few clever twists. It’s a smart combination of familiar mechanics with a sprinkle of something fresh.

All in all, Irish Crown is a solid addition to Pragmatic Play’s portfolio and a great choice for players who love scatter-jackpots slots and are looking for new experiences. There are enough twists to deliver one, and it’s definitely worth a spin or two.