Riptide Pirates 3 Cannons Hot (Nailed It! Games) – Slot Review

Riptide Pirates 3 Cannons Hot! by Nailed It! Games continues the popular pirate-themed series, returning players to a colourful world of high-seas adventure, treasure hunting and naval battles. The reels feature a cast of distinctive pirate characters, while the surrounding ocean setting, ships and cannons reinforce the game’s swashbuckling atmosphere.

The latest instalment retains the visual identity established by the previous Riptide Pirates releases, while placing greater emphasis on cannon-based gameplay. The familiar pirate setting is enhanced with treasure ships, prize-filled waters and a variety of modifiers that add further depth to the bonus experience.

Compared with its predecessors, Riptide Pirates 3: Cannons Hot! expands the series with additional bonus modifiers, including Prize Boosters, Cluster Bombs and multipliers. Despite these additions, it remains recognisable as a Riptide Pirates title, combining cartoon-style characters with an action-packed naval setting. Overall, Riptide Pirates 3 Cannons Hot! builds naturally on the series’ established pirate theme, delivering a colourful and adventurous presentation centred around cannons, ships and the search for hidden treasure.

Riptide Pirates 3 Cannons Hot features a 5-reel layout with 20 fixed pay lines. The game has high variance, an RTP of 96.04%, and stakes ranging from £0.20 to £40. The maximum win potential was not provided.

Riptide Pirates 3 Cannons Hot Symbols & Pay Table

The game includes 13 symbols, consisting of six low-paying card symbols from 9 to A and five premium Pirate character symbols with orange, purple, yellow, red and blue backgrounds. A Wild and three different Bonus Symbols—Red, Blue and Green—complete the symbol set. The Wild is the highest-paying symbol, awarding 10x for five matching symbols. Wilds substitute for all regular symbols except the Bonus Symbols and can also form their own winning combinations when appearing along a payline. Wilds are exclusive to the base game and can be highlighted with a special visual effect when contributing to a win.

Riptide Pirates 3 Cannons Hot Features & Mechanics

Bonus Symbols

There are three Bonus Symbols, each corresponding to one of the three cannons available during the Bonus Game. Whenever a Bonus Symbol lands, it is collected towards its respective cannon. Each collected Bonus Symbol increases the chance of activating that cannon when the Bonus Game is eventually triggered. The collection animation is purely visual and does not affect whether the Bonus Game is awarded. Bonus Symbols only appear during the base game.

Bonus Game

The Bonus Game takes place on a 10×10 ocean grid containing boats, treasure chests and Jackpot ships. The Bonus Symbol that triggers the feature determines which cannon is activated, with only one cannon available during each bonus. Each cannon provides a set number of shots, with every successful hit restoring the available shots to their starting amount.

Jackpot Cannon

The Jackpot Cannon begins the feature by automatically hitting a Jackpot ship and provides 3 shots. The Jackpot ships are divided into sections, with each section awarding 1x the bet when hit. Completing a ship awards the corresponding Jackpot:

• 1-section ship: 15x
• 2-section ship: 50x
• 3-section ship: 200x
• 4-section ship: 5,000x

The 1x section prize is not awarded on the shot that sinks the entire ship.

Chest Cannon

The Chest Cannon also begins by automatically hitting a treasure chest and provides 3 shots.

4 Shot Cannon

The 4 Shot Cannon provides 4 shots to hit targets during the Bonus Game.

Boats & Bonus Modifiers

The Bonus Game contains 28 boats, each awarding a random prize of 2x, 3x, 5x or 10x the bet.

There are also six treasure chests, each containing one of the following modifiers:

• Treasure: Awards an instant prize of 10x, 20x, 50x or 100x.
• Prize Booster: Increases boat prizes by 2x, 3x, 5x or 10x. Jackpot prizes are unaffected.
• Continuous Prize Booster: Increases boat prizes by 2x, 3x or 5x on every subsequent turn.
• Jackpot Hunter: Hits one section of every Jackpot ship.
• Double: Awards an instant 2x and doubles boat prizes for the remainder of the feature.
• Cluster Bomb: Hits 3–5 boats simultaneously. If all boats are already sunk, no shots are taken.

Each modifier can only be awarded once during a Bonus Game.

The feature ends when no shots remain or when all Jackpot ships and boats have been cleared. Any accumulated winnings are automatically collected when returning to the base game.

When the game is first launched, one section of both the 4-section and 3-section Jackpot ships is already cleared.

Reset Counter

The Reset Counter appears in the base game after the first Bonus Game has been completed. It counts down by one with every subsequent base-game spin.

If another Bonus Game is triggered before the counter reaches zero, the existing Bonus Game board state is retained. Once the counter reaches zero, the grid is cleared and the counter remains inactive until another Bonus Game is played.

The countdown period increases with each reset:

• 1st activation: 100 spins
• 2nd activation: 125 spins
• 3rd activation: 150 spins
• 4th activation onwards: 200 spins

Changing the bet does not reset the Bonus Game state, while the Reset Counter remains unchanged during the Bonus Game.

Bonus Buy

Players can purchase the Bonus Game for the displayed cost. The feature is triggered immediately with a randomly selected cannon active, while all Bonus Game mechanics and existing progress remain the same as a naturally triggered bonus.

The Bonus Buy is available in the base game only and may be restricted above certain bet levels.

Bonus Recharge

Bonus Recharge allows players to continue the Bonus Game rather than returning to the base game. Players can either pay the displayed cost to continue or return to the base game.

Activating the feature immediately starts the Bonus Game with a randomly selected cannon, while all existing Bonus Game mechanics and progress are retained. The feature uses the current bet and may be unavailable above certain bet thresholds.

Boost

The Boost feature increases the chance of triggering the Bonus Game by 3x while increasing the total bet by 2.5x.

When Boost is active, all payouts continue to be calculated using the base bet. It can be switched on or off during the base game but is unavailable during Free Games.

Conclusion

Overall, Riptide Pirates 3 Cannons Hot! by Nailed It! Games builds on the series with an entertaining combination of pirate-themed reels and an interactive cannon bonus. The 10×10 bonus grid provides plenty of variety, with different cannons, prize boats, jackpots and modifiers creating multiple ways to increase the final pay out.

The addition of features such as Prize Boosters, Cluster Bombs, Double Instant and Jackpot Hunter gives the bonus round more depth than the earlier releases. With high variance and a 96.04% RTP, the game offers strong potential while maintaining the familiar Riptide Pirates identity. Be sure to try out this game on launch and check out our exclusive casino offers.