The design here is simple but rather nicely done. The reels are set against the flora, fauna and treasure chests of the sea bed. You’ll see 4 different lower value pearl shells as well as sea horses, goldfish, crabs and octopuses. Land 5 octopus symbols on a payline and you’ll receive 37.5 times stake. The purple gemstone is the wild - land 3, 4 or 5 of these on a line and you’ll receive 2, 37.5 or 500 times stake.
The other symbol to keep a special eye out for is the mermaid - if the mermaid lands within a silver or gold frame alongside, she can expand into 2x1 and 2x2 symbols. Better still is if you land 4 mermaids on adjacent reels and 2 of them are edged in gold - the mermaid then expands to a 5x3 symbol, fills the reels and pays 250 times your stake. The Mermaid Expansion feature isn’t the only extra on offer here. There are plenty of wild goodies on offer too:
- Stacked Wilds feature - when this is triggered a ray of light moves across the top of the reels. It will stop over reel 2, 3 or 4 and turn that reel wild. A respin then follows. If you get lucky here, you could end up with all of the middle 3 reels turning totally wild.
- Wild Chunks feature - when this hits, a wheel appears on the reels. It spins and lands on a value of 2, 4, 6 or 9. That number of overlay wilds is then placed on the reels and a free spin follows. A new payout consideration is then made with all the extra wilds in place.
- Sticky Wilds feature - 3 sticky wilds are placed on the middle 3 reels and a series of respins awarded. Again, you could end up with 9 extra wilds in play. A final payout consideration is then made.
Charms of the Sea might lack a traditional Free Spins feature but all the extra wilds and respins are a more than adequate substitute. We landed them regularly and they provided a steady stream of action. It’s not the most sophisticated slot game as far as design goes but there’s a jolly feel to the visuals and the soundtrack is a nice fit.
This game is all about the wilds. Get lucky with those wild extras and Charms of the Sea can indeed be a real charmer of a slot game. The best feature is the Stacked Wilds feature as 3 fully wild reels can result in some pretty big wins – if you fill the reels set with wilds, a huge 10,000 times stake reward will be yours. If you like the theme, I highly recommend you try Siren’s Kingdom from Iron Dog Studio which also is about wilds.