Pile ‘Em Up Slot Machine – Free Play & Review

Pile ‘Em Up is a recent release from Snowborn Games and Microgaming, where we’re seeing as lot of symbols that would be considered common, such as gemstones and fruits, but they’re designed better than you might be used to. There are tubes at the bottom and the top, and the reels are placed between them, so it looks like the various symbols drop from one to the other as the game spins.

A selection of symbols includes in this case images with plums, watermelons, lemons, strawberries, and gemstones with different cuts and colors (blue, green, yellow, red).

Developer

Microgaming and Snowborn Games are not releasing their first joint title here. They’ve designed a number of excellent slot machines together, and here I’d mention Masters of Valhalla, Cat Clans, or Egyptian Tombs.

How To Play It

You will start playing the game if you have at least $0.20 which you can place a bet with. Larger bets are possible, and the highest you may go is $30 per spin.

The setup is simple, even though the game area looks unusual. There are 5×3 reels and 20 active lines there, so you’re forming winning combinations of 3+ symbols.

Special Features

One of the important features that are introduced with Pile ‘Em Up, is the Coin collection mechanic. It’s not uncommon, we’ve all seen it in other slot machines, but it’s still very profitable at times. You will get Coin symbols with values ranging from 0.2x to 50x the stake, but you may only get them in your pocket if there is a Collect symbol as well. The Collect symbol may appear on reel 5, and it pays the amount written on all visible coins, which is multiplied by the Coin Booster value.

A Coin Booster is also used, as a multiplier which can reach a max value at 10x. You get it to increase by 1x whenever a 1Up symbol appears on the reels. It goes up for as long as it can, but it resets once you collect coins once, since it applies its multiplier then.

Yellow boxes with a W logo on the side will be used for the wilds, so these are symbols that can substitute for regular symbols. They pay themselves, up to 111x the stake, if they form a combo of only wilds.

The other major feature takes the form of the Flower Free Spins, which requires 3 scatters on the reels 1, 3, and 5. 9 free spins are awarded then, with the option to retrigger them via 2-3 more scatters (3-9 more spins). You start off this feature with the triggering round’s Coin Booster multiplier. Along the way you collect the coins in a special Respin Counter, and at the end there is a chance that you will get them all as a prize (improved via the multiplier).

They also came up with a Heart Bonus, for which you can work over a number of spins. You need to get a Purple Bonus Heart from each reel, and once that happens you trigger the feature. It gets you 3 bonus spins, which will reset when you get more symbols to land on the reels. It’s a Hold & Win style respin feature, with all collected coins paying at the end. The multiplier from the Coin Booster is also going to improve the wins.

Maximum Payouts

Thanks to wilds, and other major features, Pile ‘Em Up appears capable of reaching those announced top wins of up to 7,500x thes take. Regular combinations pay at most 12x each, so don’t look for those if you want to win big.

Highly volatile, Pile ‘Em Up comes with an RTP range which has a value of 96.22% at the top position.

Summary

Pile ‘Em Up is a decent game overall, but there is a heavy emphasis on its special features, which are tasked with the delivery of all relevant prizes. The regular winning combinations don’t do much for you on their own.