Shamrock Saints

Shamrock Saints: Slot Overview

Leprechauns' general reputation for mischievousness has been pushed to an extreme by developer Push Gaming in the studio's online slot Shamrock Saints. In this game, the playful wee sprites aren't content getting their lols by shifting pots of gold ever further away from people chasing the end of a rainbow which doesn't exist. No, in this slot, the cheeky imps have taken over a tavern and are 'hell-bent on plundering and drinking.' Sounds like an eventful evening, and one with gameplay echoing PG releases such as Razor Shark, Wild Swarm, Big Bamboo, as well as Boss Bear.

It'll take activating free spins to enter Shamrock Saints' tavern, though. Before being granted access to the sprites' inner sanctum, players battle it out on the streets of a town, dunno where, Dublin maybe? An urban place possessing an earlier vibe, all wood framed buildings and so on. With an art style that triggered memories of slots like Fat Drac and Fat Banker, Shamrock Saints invites players with warm visuals and plenty of attitude.

Mathematically classed as medium/high volatile, the game is available in a variety of RTP versions with the default version coming in at 96.3%. Perhaps making it a more user-friendly, shall we say, way for gamblers to experience some of the features available in lethal beasts like Razor Shark. To take part, users choose a stake of 10 c to $/€100 and have several feature buy options available to them. Hitting the spin button activates the 5-reel, 4-row game grid, which has 20 paylines to land wins along.

Starting off with the low pay symbols, Shamrock Saints has a Molotov Cocktail, a green hat, a bat and horseshoe, plus a knife and knuckle dusters (these dudes mean business) paying 1 to 1.5 times the bet for a 5 symbol win. For the high pays, we come across 4 character symbols, which are the polar opposite of how leprechauns usually appear in slots. Glaring out, evil white-eyed, the 4 high-pay character symbols pay 4 to 40 times the bet for a 5 OAK hit. A barrel of beer is Shamrock Saints' wild symbol, hitting on all five reels. Wilds may be used to substitute all pay symbols and are worth a payout of 50 times the bet for a full wild win line.

Shamrock Saints: Slot Features

What we've got to cover here is mystery symbol, Nudge & Reveal, Leprechaun Reveal with various special symbols, collectable tokens, free spins, Shamrock Mode, and feature buys.

Mystery Symbols & Nudge & Reveal

Mystery symbols are present on all reels in stacks of 4, in the base game and in free spins. When mystery symbols land on a reel, the Nudge & Reveal feature is triggered. When so happens, mystery symbols open to reveal pay symbols, wilds, or Golden Leprechaun symbols. On the next spin, mystery symbols nudge down 1 position while the other positions spin normally. This process continues until there are no more mystery symbols on the grid.

Leprechaun Reveal Feature

When mystery symbols reveal Golden Leprechaun symbols, the Leprechaun Reveal feature is triggered. Each position containing a Golden Leprechaun symbol spins through different prizes:

• Instant Prizes – bet multipliers of 1x to 2,500x.
• Multipliers – multiplies the value of all Instant Prizes and Collector symbols by x2, x3, x5, or x10. The multiplier is then taken off the grid. Empty spaces respin through the prizes.
• Collectors – collects the value of all other Collectors and Instant Prizes. After the collection, Instant Prizes are removed, and those positions respin through the prizes.
• Nudge Up – only lands in free spins. Each Nudge Up causes mystery symbol stacks to nudge up 1 position.
• Scatter symbols.
• Chests – if this symbol hits, it triggers the Chest Feature. 5 Hidden Chest Prizes are displayed on the screen, and players pick one to win its contents.

Chest Feature

From the Chest feature in the base game, players can win bet multipliers, a Level Jump on the Golden Pot, free spins, instant Shamrock Mode, or Golden Reveal Prizes. The Golden Reveal Prize reveals Golden Leprechauns in all mystery symbols in view. In free spins, it is possible to win bet multipliers, Golden Reveals, Nudge Up, an Extra Mystery Reel, or an increase to the total multiplier.

Free Spins

Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatters triggers the free spins feature with a starting multiplier of x1, x5, or x10, respectively. Free spins can also be won from the Chest feature. When the round starts, reels 2 and 4 are filled with mystery symbols which nudge down 1 position on each spin, causing the total multiplier to increase by +1. The multiplier applies to all wins at the end of a spin. New mystery symbols may land, nudging down 1 on each spin, and the feature ends when no more mystery symbols are in view.

Collectable Tokens

Tokens are collected when they appear in the base game by the Golden Pot. When the Golden Pot reaches level 5 and a token lands, there is a chance the pot will explode, and Shamrock Mode is triggered. This can also be awarded by the Chest feature. Shamrock Mode initiates free spins with a 10x multiplier and mystery stacks nudged up for 3 positions.

Bonus Buy

At the bonus buy, players can buy a 3 scatter trigger for 57.5x the bet, a 4 scatter trigger for 113x the bet, a 5 scatter trigger for 184x the bet, or a random number of triggering scatters for 100x the bet. Also, players can fork out 307x the bet for a Leprechaun Reveal with a guaranteed 20 Golden Leprechaun symbols.

Shamrock Saints: Slot Verdict

It would appear that Push Gaming did not use Shamrock Saints as an excuse to blast the gambling world with the latest white-hot innovations they'd been cooking up in the studio. Instead, it's like a compilation of player favourites, brought together in one place and populated by some of the naughtiest leprechauns to be found in a slot. Sorry for stating the obvious, but there are a lot of leprechaun games, and it's a testament to Push Gaming's willingness to be different that the team didn't stick to the usual Rainbow Riches, happy sprite smiling at gamblers while they're virtual tripping through a fairy tale version of Ireland's green hills, rainbows, and mugs of Guinness.

On to the gameplay, and as stated, Shamrock Saints might be an interesting entry point for gamblers keen to mess with key Push Gaming features who don't want to be skinned alive by a bunch of sharks. For some, Shamrock Saints' (theoretically) less volatile math model might be a better fit for taking on the infamous Nudge & Reveal feature. The Chest feature, as seen in Wild Swarm, makes for an ideal accompaniment, certainly bringing more positive effects than negative. One possible trade-off for big numbers people is that Razor Shark's win potential of 'Infinite' is far in excess of what Shamrock Saints can produce since it is governed by a 10,000x the bet win cap.

But hey, 10kx is nothing to shed a tear over and fits well with everything else that Shamrock Saints has going on. Namely, a leprechaun slot with attitude, which has echoes from all over Push Gaming's impressive back catalogue. It might not be as earth-shakingly impressive as the two Razor slots, Big Bamboo or Boss Bear (which Shamrock Saints also faintly resembles), and you can get the feeling that the producers have tried to cram in as many of its tried and tested concepts as possible, but it's an interesting amalgamation nonetheless.