Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot Review

Ahoy buccaneers and welcome to a sea adventure with the merry pirate gang of Nailed It! Games. Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot is the third mission of the crew after conquering the seven seas and defeating the mighty Kraken. Four fearless sailors and their undead captain are again on their ship trying to outbomb a flotilla of ships and boats. It is a world of storms, sails, and staggering treasure, so let’s begin!

But before getting wet, let’s check who’s standing behind this awesome online slot. Nailed It! Games is surely not a new brand on the field, although it prefers to keep it boutique. The provider started in 2021 with an office in Krakow, Poland and currently, the team of experts creates content exclusively for Games Global. Nailed It! Games has already released around 40 online slots and even scooped an industry award in 2023 for the studio’s unique Supermatch mechanic.

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot follows the lead of the 2024 Riptide Pirates original title and the 2025 sequel, Riptide Pirates 2 Kraken Riches. The game features a Pot Collection mechanic with 3 pots represented by 3 cannons on top of the grid. The main event is a Hold & Win bonus minigame packed with tons of action. The provider has added several curious features as well: Bonus Recharge, Reset Counter, Boost, and Bonus Buy. Try them all in the Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot demo or continue with my complete review!

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot Slot - Game Screen

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot comes with a smaller grid compared to the original and the first sequel - 5x3. Respectively, the number of active paylines is also decreased from 25 to 20. They continue to work from left to right, starting from the far-left side of the grid. Quikspin and Autoplay are part of the mix to facilitate faster and more convenient play.

A wild symbol is active during the base game, and it appears in the form of a bomb to substitute for any regular and complete combinations. A random modifier can activate on any spin, and a number of wilds is thrown from the bonus map on random grid positions. If lined up, wilds pay the most - 1x, 2.50x, and 10x the bet.

They are followed by the undead pirate captain - 0.50x to 5x and the four buccaneers, as each of them pays from 0.40x to 2x. The low-value figures are A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9, awarding between 0.20x and 1.20x the bet. Stakes start at €0.20 per spin and go as high as €40, up to €100 via the bonus bet.

The Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot RTP ranges and the maximum is lower than in the other Riptide Pirates slots - 96.04%. However, the levels of volatility continue to be high, so I recommend avoiding the alternative versions with rates of 94.10% and 92.21%. The Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot max win is 5,000x the bet and the Hit Frequency coefficient is 29.45%.

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot Features

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot comes with mechanics and a Bonus Game that modern players will feel familiar with. Only one of the cannon features can activate at the same time, but there are plenty of modifiers, upgrades, and refills. You can buy your way into the bonus or increase the odds, but in any case, have a strategy in mind. Now, let’s take a look at what’s in, besides the sweet symbol payouts:

Bonus Game

Three cannon balls land as bonus symbols during the base phase, and once they do, they get collected in the responsive cannons over the board. Any collection can trigger the Bonus Game, but only one of the cannons can be activated. It is a Hold & Win version of the popular Battleships game with a number of respins in the form of shots. Every successful hit on a ship or boat target restores the number of shots. Here are the cannon specialities:

• Jackpot Cannon - always hits a Jackpot Ship field on the first shot during a bonus. (3 shots)
• Chest Cannon - always hits a Chest on the first shot during a bonus. (3 shots)
• 4 Shot Cannon - has an extra shot and resets back to 4 instead of 3. (4 shots)

Jackpot Ships are associated with the jackpot prizes displayed on the left side of the grid and below. Boats carry random cash prizes, which can be increased by various Chest modifiers. The shooting process is automated and quite spectacular, to be frank. In order to get a jackpot, you must hit all the areas it holds. Each hit pays 1x the bet, except for the Mini, where the hit pays the jackpot.

• Mega Jackpot - 5,000x the bet (4 fields)
• Major Jackpot - 200x the bet (3 fields)
• Midi Jackpot - 50x the bet (2 fields)
• Mini Jackpot - 15x the bet (1 fields)
• Boat Cash Prizes - 2x, 3x, 5x, or 10x the bet

Chests are placed on random positions across the 10x10 bonus map. Any shot can hit a chest, and one of the following modifiers will be selected randomly. Bonus Game ends when you run out of shots or when all the Jackpot Ships and Boats are hit. Bonus Recharge activates if there are still targets on the map. It awards a new set of shots on a randomly selected cannon for the displayed price.

• Treasure - get an instant prize of 10x, 20x, 50x, or 100x the bet.
• Prize Booster - an increment of 2x, 3x, 5x, or 10x is added to all Boats.
• Continuous Prize Booster - an increment of 2x, 3x, or 5x is added on all Boats after every respin.
• Double - a multiplier of x2 is applied to all Boats.
• Cluster Bomb - hits 3, 4, or 5 boats at once and awards their prizes.
• Jackpot Hunter - hits one field of each Jackpot Ship still in play.

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot Slot – Bonus Game WIn Screen

Reset Counter

Reset Counter unlocks and activates after the first Bonus Game trigger with 100 chances. Each chance is a paid base game spin, and for as long as there are chances on the clock, the progress of the Bonus Game will be kept. So, if you trigger it within the remaining spins, you will continue from where it stopped, with all the Chest modifiers still active and all the targets on the map. Reset Counter will increase after every Bonus Game up to 200 chances.

Boost & Bonus Buy

Boost Feature is an ante bet, and it triples the chance of activating the Battleships Bonus. However, the feature will also increase the selected bet by 2.5x without boosting the symbol payouts. If you don’t want to wait for the Battleships minigame, you can purchase it via the Bonus Buy tab. The default price is 45x the bet, but it can be higher depending on the Bonus Game's current progress!

Theme & Graphics

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot is designed to look like a sea battle, and the vibes are of such during the whole time. The Pirate theme is very well explored, but the main kicker is the audio effects, the music, and the voiceover. They keep the tension high and the feeling that every spin will get you on the battlefield again. Not a bad feeling, though, but a little exhausting.

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot has a spectacular playground of a couple of battleships shooting at each other from a close range. There are flames and blasts, and it seems that the very air is on fire. This is one of the most epic online slots I’ve ever tried in this theme category. Despite the lack of animated figures, except for the pirate monkey that appears every once in a while, the game is lively and truly makes you feel like being part of a crew of buccaneers.

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot Free Play

At the time of writing, we have 36 Nailed It! Games free slots in SlotCatalog’s library. That includes a Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot free play mode, which is linked to my review. Use it along with all the others to join the crew in this awesome adventure, but without risk. Build a strategy or just have fun while keeping the powder dry!

Pros And Cons Of Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot Slot

Our Verdict

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot extends the series in another direction, adding it to the Pot Collection category. Nailed It! Games keeps the Battleships bonus, but now it feels more natural with the cannon shots replacing the regular Hold & Win respins. The selection of special features is good, and there are plenty of modifiers that upgrade the action and keep the grid vibrant and full of potential.

Even so, the base game feels a little “empty” despite the frequency of Bonus Symbol collections and the sporadic random wilds. Moreover, the provider has decided to shrink the base game board and to get the max win back to its original size of 5,000x. So, instead of evolving the series, it just moves them in another direction. It’s not that bad, though, but the potential here is for something greater.

Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot offers one of the most epic Battleships formulas out there. It won’t bore you even if the Bonus refuses to trigger! Moreover, there are helpful tools at certain prices that can help you get there. If you unlock the Continuous Prize Booster, I highly advise you to use the Bonus Recharge even if the price exceeds your current wins. And as Nailed It! Games has written: “The call to adventure has never been louder”!