Calipso - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Introduction

Calipso sounds as though it is going to be filled with Caribbean beats, but that is calypso with a ‘y’. Before you imagine that this is another Carnival Queen online slot, let us put you straight! Rather than being any kind of travel themed slots game, Calipso is based, very loosely, on an Ancient Greek legend.

Theme, graphics & soundtrack

Calipso was a minor immortal amongst the Greek gods. Like the sirens who called sailors to their doom, Calipso lived on a remote island. She could also sing an enchanting song, which was lovely enough to captivate Odysseus as he returned from the Trojan War. She tried to tempt him to stay with her forever by offering him immortality, but he refused and returned to his wife after seven years on Calipso’s island.

Thunderspin has gone for a rather different approach; in fact, this game is more Little Mermaid than Greek Odyssey, particularly once the soundtrack starts. There is no Odysseus, Calipso has morphed into a mermaid, and the other symbols are based around aquatic creatures and treasure; however, we were more than ready to dive in when the game launched.

Calipso RTP & volatility

The RTP is a very low 94.8 per cent, which falls well below our preferred cut-off point of 95 per cent. A house edge higher than five per cent is simply unacceptable in our opinion; however, this is a low-volatility game, so even a modest bankroll should generate a good number of spins.

The game is governed by random number mechanics, so you can’t do anything to encourage symbols to land in your favour; however, you can play Calipso and other Thunderspin demo slots completely free of charge right here at Slots Temple. This lets you explore the game risk-free so that you can make an informed judgement about playing it for real money.

How to play Calipso

The game controls are clearly laid out within a shell, so playing Calipso is very simple:

1. With 21 fixed paylines, your only decision is how much to wager on each one. Select your coin value to the right of the spin button, then choose your bet level to the left. Your total stake is displayed to the far left of your controls.

2. Press the spin button once to start your game. Multiple spins can be activated via the autoplay button, which gives up to 100 automatic spins. Cancel this feature by tapping spin again.

3. Review the game’s rules and paytable by tapping the small ‘i’ bubble to the far left of the reels. You can also view the payline configurations from here.

4. Mute the game sounds using the speaker icon under the reels.

Bet sizes & paytable wins

The 21 paylines in Calipso are fixed and it costs from as little as 0.01 for each one; therefore, you can bet anything from 0.21 to 210 per spin. This gives just about every player a sensible betting opportunity. With low volatility, even the lower-stakes slots fans should be able to make the most of their available gaming budget: The payouts for three, four and five matches are:

- Jack = 3x, 5x, 10x
- Queen = 5x, 10x, 25x
- King = 10x, 15x, 35x
- Ace = 15x, 25x, 50x
- Mollusc = 20x, 40x, 100x
- Starfish = 25x, 50x, 200x
- Oyster = 30x, 100x, 400x
- Seahorse = 100x, 400x, 1,200x

Max-win 1,000x

Volatility Low

Top RTP 94.80%

Calipso bonus features & free spins

- Wild

The fish is the game’s wild symbol, substituting for every other icon in the game apart from the scatter. Although it can’t generate any cash prizes on its own, it can help to form winning combinations.

- Scatters

An ornate casket is the game’s scatter symbol. Land two or more scatters in any position on the reels and your bet is multiplied by the number of scatters in view. Land three or more scatters and you will also trigger the game’s Sunken Treasure bonus round. Pick underwater artefacts to reveal multipliers worth up to 5x your stake; however, once your air runs out, the game is over.

Calipso the mermaid is the game’s other scatter symbol. She appears as a fully stacked reel and wherever she lands, she activates the free spins bonus with 15 free spins. She doesn’t reappear during the feature, so you can’t retrigger the bonus. There is a special free spins scatter symbol that appears only during this feature round. Every fish and pearl awards three extra free spins and adds one pearl to the collection to the right of the reels. Free spins start with a 2x multiplier - the more pearls you collect, the higher the multiplier will climb:

- 5 pearls = 4x multiplier
- 10 pearls = 6x multiplier
- 15 pearls = 8x multiplier

Overall review

Fans of The Little Mermaid will definitely love playing Calipso, as it has a cartoon vibe and an upbeat soundtrack that could be straight out of the Disney movie. It is certainly a fun game with some decent bonus features and the low volatility makes it accessible to low-risk slots fans; however, the woeful RTP would deter us from playing Calipso at an online casino, so we can’t recommend playing with real cash.

Disclaimer: Calipso trademark / license is owned by Thunderspin. This site is not endorsed by Thunderspin.