Play The Pirates Tavern for Free

Pirates are synonymous with ill-gotten gains of all kinds, from barrels of booze to chests of gold and anything else that isn’t nailed down to the frigates they’re prone to forcibly boarding and stripping bare.

What they don’t tell you about pirates, but which you probably deduced for yourself, is that they are extremely violent, dangerous and possibly mentally unhinged men – a descriptor that applies whether you’re talking about 16th century pirates or modern-day Somali pirates. Only an absolute madman then with nerves of steel would contemplate entering a pirate tavern and denuding it of its patrons’ treasure right under their hooked noses. Fail in your mission and you’ll be hung from the rigging and used as a pirate piñata; consider yourself warned.

On first glance, The Pirates Tavern looks just like any other video slot in execution: 5 reels and 15 paylines are where the action will unfold. To score a bumper payday, however, you’ll need to access the game’s special features, for this is where the lucre lies.

As you spin the reels and watch them skid to a stop, you’ll be greeted by a cornucopia of pirate-themed symbols that’ll be familiar to anyone who’s watched a Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

There’s a flaming skull, because pirates were big on skulls we’re led to believe, colourful dice, a pirate sporting a sabre and a jolly roger flag, guaranteed to strike fear into the crew of any ship that saw it raised aloft on a galleon that was steaming towards them. Other symbols of note include a parrot in a cage, a cannon, a brace of swords and the obligatory treasure chest.

When you load the game for the first time, you’ll be greeted by a neat animated intro that sets the scene for the adventure that awaits. Under stormy skies, a galleon docks at the quayside before a skeleton in pirate attire ducks into a tavern from where the sound of drinking and laughing emanate. This isn’t cheery laughter though: this is the sort of laughter certain to send a shiver down your spine and raise the hairs on the back of your neck. The door to the tavern swings open and the game begins in earnest.

Accordion and piano music wheeze and tinkle in the background while more skin-tingling laughter resonates around the bar. Spin the reels and the tavern comes to life. Every time a winning combination drops into view, the accordion music reaches a crescendo and some neat animations are triggered. Treasure chests flash open, before slamming shut and an angry one-eyed pirate (is there any other kind?) changes to an eye-patch-wearing skull in an instant. Spooky stuff.

The symbols to watch out for are wild, which is played by a one-eyed pirate whose gurning phiz is helpfully overlaid with the word ‘wild’; this symbol will serve as a substitute for any of the other regular symbols. Free spins come in the form of a treasure map. Score three or more on the reels to grab a prize of up to 10 free spins. With a triple multiplier, anything you win at this stage will receive a nice boost.

And that’s about it: hit play, steal the swag and make it back to the ship in the dead of night before the pirates can sober up and realise what’s happened. Good luck, you intrepid daredevil.