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Slot Review: Shaaark!

In case you didn’t catch the gist with that title, Shaaark! is not one of those online slot machines with cutesy, grinning great whites happily frolicking below the waves with a bunch of yummy guppies. No, that title refers to a creature akin to “Bruce” of the Jaws film series, a blood-thirsty beast who will turn a busy beach into an all-you-can eat chum buffet quicker than you can scream. (Get it? “Shaaark!”) One can almost hear the ominous da-da da-da score starting up when that signature fin comes coasting along the bottom of the screen. Stay out of the water, everyone – there’s a shark on the loose!

Shaaark! is a five-reel, twenty-payline online slot from PartyGaming. That’s appropriate, because this game is a lot of fun. Coin values start at one cent, and range all the way up to thirty dollars. It’s a wide range to be sure, and you might have some trepidation when you hear that the max coins value is twenty. A top bet of six hundred bucks is definitely intimidating. You can certainly play this online slot as a penny game if you would like, but you’ll be throwing away your shot of taking home a whopper of a jackpot: four thousand coins! That’s one hundred twenty thousand dollars, assuming you have gone for the gusto and played that max bet. There is a free practice mode for those who are scared of swimming with the big fish, or of you want to try out the many delights of this excellent slot machine title before busting out your bankroll.

One of the things we liked most about Shaaark!, other than the phenomenal jackpot, was how well the game’s designers set the scene for this seaside romp before we even spun the reels for the first time. There was some great, threatening music, and the graphics were very effective. The background of the reels is a funny seaside scene, with terrified swimmers running for the hills and a shark fin on the horizon. Upturned sun umbrellas litter the sand, like everyone left in a hurry. There are lots of poker symbols on the reels, but you’ll also want to pay attention to the swimmer, the sea shell, the sea, and the no-swimming sign that are all paying symbols. The shark icon is both the wild symbol and also the jackpot symbol for this title. All winning combos are multiplied by a factor of two when the shark completes the combination. The shark’s fin is the scatter symbol. Get at least three of these anywhere on the reels during a single spin to be taken to the free spin bonus round, during which you get ten free spins with a double multiplier. The best part is that this feature can be re-triggered, so you can keep winning free spins during the free spins round if you are lucky! You’ll see the shark fin sail across your screen at certain key points during the game, warning you to watch out – this killer could be coming for you next!
 

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