Kalamba Games’ Pearls of Aphrodite is a slot machine inspired by the aquatic adventures of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, fertility, and beauty. Aphrodite is not always someone you think of when you picture the ocean floor. However, the goddess might be linked to it in more than one manner. For one, it’s where she came into the world, emerging from the froth made when Chronos hurled his father Uranus’s genitalia into the ocean. There is also the possibility of a link to the legendary city of Atlantis, home to a Temple of Aphrodite frequented by notable figures including Hercules.
Kalamba appears to be approaching Pearls of Aphrodite from the fact that Atlantis was lost at sea. Despite this type of artwork in slots often being allocated for Poseidon/Neptune, it is a gorgeous picture nonetheless. The game features two stunning women who appear to be living under the sea; one of them is obviously Aphrodite, while the other’s identity remains a mystery. Whoever this woman/goddess is, she and her sister appear on the 6-reel, 40-payline game grid in a variety of forms, including standard wilds, full reel wilds, and occasionally even multipliers. With the addition of a soothing aquatic soundtrack, the sight becomes fairly nice, albeit not exactly how Aphrodite is often shown in a slot machine.
As is so frequently the case, the quiet ambience has little in common with the humming mathematical model in the backdrop. Pearls of Aphrodite has a volatility level that is, according to Kalamba, a perfect 10. If you play at HyperBet Level 1, you may expect a return of 96.04%, while HyperBet Level 2 players can expect a return of 96.54%. In HyperBet Level 1, the standard betting range is 50 p/c to £/€60 per spin. If you’re looking for bigger wild multiplier values and more free spins, HyperBet Level 2 is for you.
The lowest-paying symbols are the playing card values 9 through A, while the highest-paying symbols are jugs, helmets, tridents, and harps. Keep in mind that HyperBet Level 2 does not raise the value of picture symbols; a payout of 8–10 times the initial wager for a full house is standard. When substituting for other symbols in a winning combination, wilds can increase the payout by as much as 40 times the initial wager for a full house. In most cases, they won’t, but when they do, you may utilize them to complete a winning line by swapping in any pay symbol. As we’ll see later, they frequently come with a multiplier as well.
Aphrodite’s Pearls Slot Machine Bonus Rounds
Here in the ocean floor, the two most common bonuses are re-spins and free games. Both may be activated by collecting or hitting a certain combination of symbols. Look out for pearl-bearing oyster shell symbols. When they go off, the pearl is shot into the air and lands in a meter above the reels, where it can be used to activate expanding multiplier wild symbols. One, two, or all three can be obtained after collecting 0, 1, 2, 4, 7, or 8 pearls, respectively.
The next step is to have a coin symbol come up. One Ocean Respin is awarded for every silver coin, and two for every gold coin. During Ocean Respins, the multiplier wilds you’ve acquired will be put to the reels and extend to cover any open spot. The money tally is refreshed after the respins are finished.
If you get 3 or more scatter symbols when playing at HyperBet Level 1, you’ll receive 6 free spins; if you’re playing at HyperBet Level 2, you’ll receive 8 free spins. A global multiplier is applied to all wins during free spins, and it starts at x1 and is shown above the reels. Free spins grant a +1 bonus. Sticky Wild Multiplier symbols that appear during free spins retain their multiplier value and stay in place for the length of the bonus. The maximum multiplier is x6 at HyperBet Level 1, and x8 at Level 2. When the free spins symbol appears during the bonus round, you will receive an additional free spin.
In some jurisdictions, Pearls of Aphrodite may additionally provide up to three HyperBonus feature purchase choices. You may opt for 40.96x, 98.44x, or 227.04x your wager for 6, 8, or 10 free games with win multipliers of up to x6, x8, or x10. An RTP of 96.61%, 96.72%, or 96.81% is possible for each.
The Slots of Aphrodite’s Pearls: The Result
Some gamers will be interested in Pearls of Aphrodite for as long as they can keep winning. During the bonus round, sticky multipliers can increase the potential payout to 5,217 times the initial wager. It’s tightly managed, though, so despite the high multiplier wild accumulation that’s possible, the game doesn’t go berserk like some larger slots with comparable elements.
One of Pearls of Aphrodite’s most noteworthy numbers is its hit frequency of 50.63%, indicating you theoretically earn more winning spins than non-winning spins over time. Unfortunately, this statistic does not apply to bonus spins, where you get a less chance of winning. Since the value of the wild multiplier increases with each free spin, this change makes sense; otherwise, they would be giving away free cash. Getting a few sticky multiplier wilds in strategic spots might be exciting, but if you aren’t playing at HyperBet Level 2 or haven’t purchased the x10, ten spin option, it can feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle.
Although it wasn’t quite obvious from the rules, it seems that if there is more than one sticky multiplier wild in a winning line, their values are not added together. For this reason, it appears that a win multiplied by two (or more) x6 multipliers in a winning line will still only multiply by x6. Having a high number of fixed wild multipliers may explain why the final product is OK but falls short of expectations. Top Dawg$ shows how much of an impact even a small number of locked wild multipliers multiplying each other can make.
It’s easy to understand how the high hit rate and attractiveness of sticky wild multipliers may entice some gamers. However, Pearls of Aphrodite often feels like it’s just treading water, and it would have been more engaging if Kalamba had decreased the hit rate and redirected the value into the less frequent victories.