Shiver me timbers, has Playtech really chosen to use such a frequently seen theme for its new video slot? Before deciding to give it a miss, check out the design, mechanism and win potential of Bombs. The developer has produced a great looking game and incorporated a unique way to claim tempting booty, giving players multiple opportunities to detonate bombs and win explosive bonuses.

The creatively executed game screen displays a sunken reel area which consists of 5 columns and 7 rows, with game controls positioned to the right and a pirate ship armed with cannons floating on the surface. The collection of regular symbols includes a red-beard pirate, an anchor, golden doubloon, treasure map and 4 card suits in different colours. They can occupy a single reel position or appear stretched over 4 positions. Wild Treasure Chest subs for all game icons except for Scatter and pays up to 400 coins on its own.

Players are able to invest between $0.20 and $200 per spin, speed up the action by clicking on Turbo button, and use Autoplay to make reels spin on their own up to 100 times. There’s also a button with an image of a galleon which allows you to pay for an extra ship.

During any spin the ship may fire a random bonus bomb which will land to the left of the reel area and levelled with the first row. If Scatter happens to appear on the same row as the bonus bomb, it will detonate it and you’ll win its bonus. Each bonus bomb descends 1 row per spin so you’ll have 7 spins to make it explode. If you’re willing to invest an additional amount equal to 1.5x your stake, another pirate ship will sail onto the scene. More ships means more bonus bombs and consequently additional chances to claim more valuable loot or have the house pay for your spins.

Players will win 10 free games if a Free Spin bomb appears on the same line as Scatter. Free Spins come with a significantly bigger chance for a ship to drop a bonus bomb. Bombs from the base game are transferred to the bonus round and those from free games are carried over to the main game.

Each of the 7 bonus bombs awards its unique prize, either triggering a bonus bomb on the same line, paying a random cash prize worth up to 10x your total stake, adding 5-10 random Wilds, awarding a multiplier of 2x to 10x, triggering all bombs on screen, awarding 10 free games or turning into any other bomb when triggered.

The theoretical return to player is 95.63% if playing with one ship and 96.86% if you care to pay for two. As bonus bombs can be detonated in both the base game and during the free spins round, one can win decent amounts without having to trigger free games. An additional ship may cost a bit but, not only does it increase the RTP, it also betters one’s chances of hitting big wins. The Bombs slot is optimized for mobile play so feel free to sail away on your desktop, smartphone or tablet.