Tropicool 5

Tropicool 5 Review

ELK Studios returns once again to its sub-zero paradise trope in Tropicool 5, and this time the 6x5 grid is submerged in the ocean with icebergs floating around. The main game area is surrounded by a rich, colorful underwater world, while the Cool Reel slides in right above the surface. What started with Tropicool in 2021 has become a full-blown series about the vacationing sloth Elmo and his friends, and they’re back with a bang in Tropicool 5.

You start by choosing your bet level, ranging from €0.10 to €100 per spin. The 6x5 grid comes with 15,625 ways to win, and you win by landing matching symbols on at least 3 adjacent reels, starting from the leftmost reel. The pay symbols are a mix of fruit and berries, as usual, with grapes, watermelons, limes, pineapples, and strawberries as the premium symbols. These pay 0.6x to 2x your stake for 6 of a kind wins, while the berries all pay 0.4x your stake for the same.

Tropicool 5 Slot - Reels Screen

All winning symbols are removed from the grid, making room for the feature symbols on the Cool Reel to drop down and activate. These include mystery symbols, row swap symbols, multiplier symbols, and different wilds. In addition, you’ll benefit from 4 character symbols of various sizes, and these unleash different features like the recurring Elmo feature and more. Pay symbols and certain feature symbols can land in size 2x2, and if big symbols don’t have enough room to drop from the Cool Reel, they turn into 1x1 symbols that can.

Empty positions below any big symbol will automatically be filled by matching 1x1-sized symbols, and the Cool Reel can bring in both empty space positions and empty ice cubes. Multiplier symbols are introduced in the bonus round, and these are added to the global win multiplier when they hit the main reels. The multiplier never resets for as long as the bonus round lasts, and the max win of Tropicool 5 is 25,000x your stake. This is a high volatility slot game from ELK (scoring 7 out of 10 on their scale), and the highest RTP setting is 94% (with 92%, 90%, or 87% being possible depending on the operator and region).

Tropicool 5 Features

ELK is known for their feature rich games, and there is plenty to cover here. It all comes together smoothly when you play the Tropicool 5 free play demo, which we recommend you check out after reading the review. Let’s jump in!

Avalanche Wins

Winning symbols are removed via the Avalanche mechanic, but Wild Eggs and Locked Wilds are not removed even if part of a win. This allows Cool Reel symbols to drop down to fill the gaps, activating different features. The process repeats indefinitely as long as you keep winning, and new Cool Reel symbols slide in from the right per Avalanche Win.

Cool Reel

The Cool Reel is located above the regular reels. It slides in 2 rows of special feature symbols, although some ice cubes are empty and not all positions are necessarily occupied at all. Empty ice cubes are crushed when space opens up on the main grid, allowing more feature symbols to drop down. Feature symbols only activate after they hit the regular reels, prioritized in the following order of activation:

• Mystery Symbols - reveals a random matching symbol across all instances at the end of the Avalanche sequence, and can also reveal feature symbols.
• Row Swap - all symbols on the row turn into a randomly selected pay symbol on that row. All symbols turn wild if a Wild Bird, Wild Egg, or Wild symbol is selected. Big Row Swap symbols do the same for all involved rows, and if the same symbol is affected by 2 Row Swap features, it turns wild. Scatters and Pearls return after being temporarily replaced, and wilds are never replaced.
• Golden Symbols - some pay symbols are golden with a win multiplier that starts at x2 at the top row, and increases by +1 for each row it drops down, up to x6. Multipliers in the same column are added, while multipliers in other columns are multiplied.
• Wild Symbols - substitutes for pay symbols to help create wins, and pays the same as the highest-value pay symbol in pure wild wins.
• Locked Wilds - remain in play for as many wins as the number they display, and until used in the bonus round.
• Pearls - are involved in triggering the Elmo Drop.

Character Features

There are 4 character feature symbols in Tropicool 5, and they work as follows:

• Wild Eggs - turns into a Wild Bird Toucan or Flamingo if there are empty positions on the same column, and serves as a sticky wild otherwise.
• Wild Birds - are spawned from the Wild Egg and can grow to cover the entire column, depending on how many empty positions there are.
• Elmo Drop - trigger at the end of avalanche sequences when Elmo collects a pearl symbol, removing all pay symbols from the 3 top rows on the regular grid.
• Mystery Crocodile - slides in on the Cool Reel as a 6x2-sized symbol, filling empty positions on the regular reels with Mystery symbols.

Tropicool 5 Free Spins Bonus Round

You need 3, 4, 5, or 6 scatter symbols in view on the main grid to trigger the Bonus Round with 6, 9, 12, or 15 free spins, respectively. The Cool Reel is upgraded with Extra Drop and Multiplier symbols during the bonus round, and Extra Drop symbols award up to 3 additional free spins. Multiplier symbols add +1 to +3 to the global win multiplier, but only if these symbols drop onto the main grid. The global win multiplier starts at x1 as the bonus round starts, and does not reset for the duration of the feature.

Tropicool 5 Slot - Free Spins

Tropicool 5 Bonus Buy (not UK)

The X-iter feature and bonus buy menu are available in certain regions, and it offers the following in the Tropicool 5 slot:

• Bonus Hunt - pay 3x your stake to be 4 times more likely to trigger the bonus round.
• Mega Hunt - pay 10x your stake to be 15 times more likely to trigger the bonus round.
• Locked Wilds - pay 25x your stake to get 3 Locked Wilds per spin.
• Bonus Round - is priced at 100x your stake.
• Super Bonus Round - costs 500x your stake, featuring 3 Locked Wilds per free spin.

Theme & Graphics

Tropicool 5 is all about mixing a tropical beach paradise with cool vibes, and this time the submerged grid reveals a water world filled with colorful coral reefs and plants. Elmo the sloth is standing on his hoverboard right above the surface, carrying a bunch of pearls, with massive icebergs towering in the background. The fruit and berry pay symbols are encapsulated in ice cubes, and these pop in relaxing and satisfying ways. The funky soundtrack adds to the playful vibe, and the special feature symbols slide in above the surface of the sun-drenched, turquoise waters.

Tropicool 5 Free Play

If you feel like taking this beauty for a spin already, simply head to the top of the page to find the free Tropicool 5 demo game. There are more than enough features to explore, and you can use the X-iter menu to purchase both features and bonus rounds. This will give you an idea about what you are up against if you decide to play for real, and after your Tropicool 5 free play session, you can check our recommended casino sites below the demo.

Pros and Cons of Tropicool 5

Our Verdict

Tropicool 5 is another chilled-out chapter in ELK's quirky saga that seemingly never ends. We have seen plenty of locations in this series, all blending tropical paradises with a frosty setting and ice-cube symbols. The characters are charming, as usual, with Elmo taking center stage on his new hoverboard. ELK has an uncanny ability to make perfectly paced slot games, and it's almost a meditation to see the winning symbols pop and be replaced by the special symbols from the Cool Reel.

Lengthy Avalanche sequences feel like pure frosty bliss in this game, even if they don’t necessarily deliver a massive win. The sheer number of moving parts allows for few dull moments, although you will hit patches of dead spins between anything significant. If you need to unwind and want to feel like you’re on a holiday yourself, Tropicool 5 delivers that in spades. I would also like to applaud the fact that ELK keeps coming up with brand new features in this series, as this helps the game feel fresh and alive.

The Cool Reel delivers all sorts of features in Tropicool 5, and it can all seem a bit overwhelming when you read about it. This is why we recommend that you test the Tropicool 5 free play demo at the top of the page, as this will help you ease into the gameplay and gain an overview. This game has no trouble holding your full attention, and time flies by fast once you get started. However, it’s a bit annoying that ELK keeps including super bonus rounds in their games that can only be purchased, as this excludes many players.

This brings us to the bonus round, which introduces multiplier symbols that build the global win multiplier. You’re probably gonna need quite a few of these to hit the main grid to get a significant boost. In my experience, this is far from easy, and the symbol values are relatively low to compensate for the lengthy cascades you often get. While theoretically possible, the 25,000x win cap seems a bit far-fetched, and the 94% RTP is another drawback it’s hard to get used to. Anyway, Tropicool 5 is still well worth playing and a solid installment in the series.