Sea of Riches: iSoftBet’s First Foray Into Cluster Pays
Sea of Riches is the newest slot from the software giants iSoftBet. The pirate-themed pokie utilises cluster pays, the latest craze sweeping the online casino world. Having the newest engine only gets you so far if the rest of the machine is not up to scratch. Has iSoftBet found the perfect combination, or does Sea of Riches make you want to walk the plank?
Sea of Riches Fundamentals
Fire up Sea of Riches, and you instantly notice it is different from other iSoftBet titles. The layout is on a 6×6 board, which is entirely out of the ordinary for iSoftBet. The lack of pay lines is another facet of this machine that is definitely not iSoftBet. The company uses cluster pays for Sea of Riches, paying out for clusters of symbols instead of the traditional method.
The game is accessible to pokies players of all bankroll sizes. Your minimum bet is only $0.20 with a $20 maximum. The 2,416x maximum payout equates to $483.20 and $48,320 at the lowest and highest stakes. Those prizes are hardly anything to write home about, but we would not say no to any of them!
Medium variance is the main reason for the relatively small payouts. There has to be a trade-off between volatility and maximum payout. iSoftBet strikes the sweet spot here, in our opinion.
Return to Player, or RTP weighs in at 96%, which is bang on average for the industry. Let us hope the rest of the game is not only average.
Sea of Riches Symbols
Sea of Riches looks good without being ground-breaking. The game is set in a cove with rich blue seas and a parrot-sporting pirate. The graphics are not anything you have not seen before, but they work.
All the symbols are made up of gems, jewels, and coins. The coins are the lower-value symbols and pay between 0.10 for a cluster of five up to 30x for clusters of 15+.
Jewels are the higher-value symbols. The red jewel pays 1x for clusters of five and 150x for clusters of 15+.
Look out for the message in a bottle symbol because it is important. Landing this symbol adds one piece of the treasure map. Complete all 25 pieces to move up a level. More on that shortly.
Wilds are present in Sea of Riches; they act like wilds in any other pokie you have ever played.
What Are The Game’s Features?
In-game features are where Sea of Riches excels and what kept us coming back for more. Landing message in bottle symbols anywhere on the board adds a piece to the treasure map. Fill the map to move up a level, with each level featuring its own random bonus. These randomly trigger after a losing spin.
| Level | Name | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wild Kraken | A Kraken jumps out of the sea and leaves 5-to-10 wilds |
| 2 | Wild Storm | A tornado sweeps across the board and leaves 3-9 wilds |
| 3 | Wild Whale | A whale splashes its tail and leave a cluster of 5 wilds |
| 4 | Wild Ghost Ship | A ghost ship appears adding 2-to-5 multiplier wilds. |
There is a captain’s compass in the top-right of the screen. This starts filling when you land winning clusters. Filling sections of it rewards you with an in-game feature.
- Rolling Rum – 1-to-3 barrels roll down the reels and transform up to 6 symbols into same randomly chosen symbol
- Musket Mayhem – The pirate randomly shoots reels and removed 5-to-12 symbols
- Cannot Blast – Shoots 1-to-3 cannonballs, which remove up to three rows
- Swam O’Parrots – A swarm of parrots fly across and remove 10-to-15 symbols
Fill the compass with 48 symbols to trigger the Stormin’ Free Spins feature. You receive from 5-to-15 free spins, while random multipliers of up to 10x are in play.
Conclusion
Sea of Riches is a brilliant pokie. The low 2,416x maximum payout is on the low side, but the ongoing features make you want to keep playing. We managed to trigger the Stormin’ Free Spins feature and won 116.8x, which is a decent win in our book.
The game is fun to play, and the medium variance means it is relatively kind to your bankroll. Sea of Riches comes highly recommended.
