Shark & Spark Hold & Win Slot Review

If you have kids, then at some point you had 'Baby Shark' 🎵 bouncing around in your skull. That doo-doo-doo singalong from Korea's Pinkfong is the most-watched YouTube clip ever: 10 billion views!.

So, why do I bring up this annoying earworm? Well, firstly because I don't have kids, so I like to torment people who do — because I think they deserve it.

But secondly, because there's an annoying, vexatious (how do you like that vocabulary flex?) baby shark to the right of the reels in Shark & Spark Hold & Win slot from BGAMING.

Gameplay

BGaming went full Saturday-morning cartoon. I think I'm going to be sick. I really, really don't like children, and I really don't appreciate parents telling me about the colour of their poo and every single detail about what they ate for breakfast that morning.

Luckily, there's not an ankle biter in sight, so we can happily move on to how this game works.

Shark & Spark Hold & Win slot runs on a 6x5 grid with a Pays Anywhere engine, so you don't chase paylines, you only need 8 or more of the same symbol to splash down anywhere on the screen.

The RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.

RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate. is 96% and the volatility is medium to high. The max multiplier tops out at a hefty 5,000x, good for a max win of $300,000, and bets run from a thin $0.20 up to $60.

Wins don't hang around after they land. They blow up and vanish (it’s known as a CascadeOtherwise known as a Tumble, Avalanche, or whatever a studio sees fit to name it. The idea is the same, though; winning symbols get removed, and new ones take their place. This action could result in additional wins, in which case the action continues. in the trade. Or a Tumble, or whatever other creative name a studio has seen fit to baptize it as).

The surviving symbols tumble down to plug the holes, fresh symbols rain in from up top, and it keeps refilling with no cap as long as you keep stringing wins together.

The paytable's headlined by 3 chunky tropical fish. The Duel Tone Fish symbol is the big cheese at 20x for a school of 12 or more, with the Pink Fish and Green Fish swimming behind at 15x and 10x, respectively.

The A symbol leads the low-paying pack at 8x once 12 or more pile up, the K trails at 6x, and the Q, J, and 10 bring up the rear at 5x, 4x, and 3x, respectively.

The golden shell is your Scatter symbol, stamped with a purple S, and rounding up 4 or more of them kicks open one of the game's two Bonus games. Which one? That's up to the game, not you.

Pearls also wash up in the base game, some wearing plain numbers and others carrying a multiplier. Line up a win made of Pearls and their numbers get added together, and if a multiplier Pearl's in the mix, it juices the whole pile.

Pearl values reach up to 20, plus multipliers of 2x, 3x, 5x, and 10x.

Features

BONUS GAMES:

Round up 4 or more Scatters and you're into a Bonus game, and there are two of 'em waiting, Coin Spin and Shark & Ladders, dealt out at random. However many Scatters kicked the door in decides how long you get to stay.

Coin Spin:

Coin Spin is a coin grab. Empty cells fill up with coins every spin, and 4, 5, or 6 Scatters hand you 3, 4, or 5 spins, respectively. Land at least 1 coin and the counter resets.

When the spins run dry, every coin value on the board gets tallied into a multiplier slapped on your bet, and any coin toting a multiplier cranks that total higher. Coin values reach up to 20, plus multipliers of 2x, 3x, 5x, and 10x.

Shark & Ladders:

Shark & Ladders is exactly what it sounds like, snakes and ladders with a shark for a game piece. You roll the dice, the Shark scoots forward by the pips you throw, and 4, 5, or 6 Scatters buy you 4, 5, or 6 rolls, respectively.

The Shark always launches from the same square and swims the same route - out to the end of a row, down a notch, then back the other way.

Whatever square it parks on either pads the multiplier or shoves it along. Number Pearls add to the tally, and multiplier Pearls multiply it.

A down arrow drops the Shark 1 cell, the side arrows blast it 3 positions forward and sweep up everything on the way, and a dice tile gifts you an extra roll.

Parked at the tail end of the route sits a Fortune Wheel. Reach it and the wheel spins for a bonus multiplier anywhere from 100x to a jaw-dropping 5,000x, then the whole stack you've built pays out at once.

BUY BONUS:

The Buy Bonus runs 50x for either round, Coin Spin or Shark & Ladders, and the next spin drops you into the one you picked.

Performance

This game never belly-flopped, it had no stutters and no crashes… well, other than Cascades, but that’s a good thing.

Maximum Win

That max multiplier we mentioned, the 5,000x, needs the top bet of $60 riding on it, and that's the combo that lands the max win of $300,000. Bottom of the range is a measly $0.20.

Conclusion

The game's real money is bottled up in those two Bonus games. The base spins tick over on fish and low-payers, with the Pearl multipliers the only thing keeping you awake between shell drops.

Coin Spin totals your coins, while Shark & Ladders marches the Shark toward that Fortune Wheel at the finish. Smashing the top prize means dragging the Shark the whole way, then sticking the wheel's fattest slice, a long swim.

The RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.

RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate. points you toward longer sessions than a quick smash-and-grab, so there's room to settle in and wait on the Scatters.

Expect the swings to run high, but the top multiplier's built to match, so the reward scales to the risk in a way you don't see every day.

With no Ante BetAn Ante Bet is an option that costs a percentage of your bet but increases your chances of landing triggering symbols that initiate a feature. on offer, the Buy Bonus is your only shortcut, and at 50x for either round it's a bargain next to the usual 100x that games charge. The base game does diddly alone, so the buy-in earns its keep.

Shark & Spark Hold & Win slot suits players who dig coin-collect and board-game bonuses and can wait out the dead-quiet base spins. Anyone after steady rent-paying wins will leave hungry.

Slot Details

Game Provider: BGAMING
Game Type: Video Slots
PaylinesPaylines are preset lines that run across the reels, and when you land matching symbols on them, that will result in a payout. The more paylines, the more ways you can win, but also the higher your bet per spin.: Pays Anywhere
RTPRTP stands for “Return to Player.” The RTP describes the total bet amount that a game returns to players over millions of spins, and that figure is represented by a percentage. Table games, such as Roulette, typically have higher RTPs than many slots.

RTP needs to be considered in conjunction with a game’s volatility rate.: 96%
Volatility RateSlot games can have low, medium, high, or extremely high volatility rates (or a combination thereof).

The less volatile the game, the more often it should pay out, but the lower the amount, the less the payout, as this is in keeping with the risk you’re taking. Volatility rate should be considered in conjunction with a game’s RTP.: Medium/High
Bonus Round: Yes
Progressive: No
Free Rounds: Re-spins
Max Multiplier: 5,000x
Max Win: $300,000
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