Pirate slots

What pirate slots are

Pirate slots borrow the look of the golden age of piracy: wooden ships, cutlasses, compasses, spyglasses, pieces of eight, parrots and the Jolly Roger. Some add sea monsters or ghost crews. The theme is a natural fit for slots because it is about hunting for hidden treasure, and studios lean into that with features that reveal, collect or unlock.

Pirate games sit next to adventure slots and ocean and underwater slots in most lobbies, and the boundaries blur: a game about a kraken attacking a ship could go on any of the three shelves.

Three crews: the main styles of pirate slot

Treasure-hunt pirate slots

The traditional style: a captain, a map and a chest at the end of it. Pragmatic Play's Pirate Gold, released in May 2019, is a straightforward example. It uses a 5×4 grid where pirates act as wilds, three compass symbols trigger free spins that move the action to a stormy sea, and bags of treasure start a respin feature. Pragmatic later added Pirate Gold Deluxe. Play'n GO's Jolly Roger 2 is another long-running name in this group.

Ghost and cursed pirate slots

Darker, more atmospheric games about cursed crews and phantom ships. NetEnt's Ghost Pirates is a well-known example. If you prefer this mood, our horror slots page covers the spookier end of slot themes generally.

Cartoon and sci-fi pirates

ELK Studios' Pirots series swaps human pirates for a crew of birds collecting gems on a growing grid. Games in this style are usually the most mechanically inventive in the theme.

Pirate slots compared: RTP, volatility and max win

The table includes the pirate and high-seas games for which we hold verified figures. The Goonies earns its place through its hunt for a pirate's treasure ship.

Other pirate titles from established studios include Pirates' Plenty Megaways (Red Tiger), Pirate Kingdom Megaways (Iron Dog Studio), Ghost Pirates and Rage of the Seas (NetEnt), Jolly Roger 2 (Play'n GO) and Skulls UP! (Quickspin). We don't hold verified figures for those, so check each game's information screen.

Growing grids and expanding reels: the pirate signature

A striking number of pirate games expand during play. Pirates' Plenty from Red Tiger runs on a 5×3 screen that can grow to 6×3, adding a sixth reel and more ways for symbols to connect. Pirots starts on a 5×5 grid and can expand to 8×8, while Pirots 2 starts at 6×6. Release the Kraken doubles its lines from 20 to 40 in free spins.

Why does expansion matter? Because the number of possible winning combinations rises sharply with each added reel or row. A 5×5 grid has 25 positions; an 8×8 grid has 64, more than two and a half times as many places for a collecting bird to find gems. Expansion is usually where a pirate game's larger results come from, so it is also the main source of its volatility: rounds that expand early can pay far more than rounds that never grow.

How Pirots works: collecting instead of lines

Pirots has no paylines at all. ELK Studios calls the system CollectR: gems fill the grid and four coloured birds move around collecting gems of their own colour. Each collected gem pays and moves a feature meter along. When the meter fills, three chests open and add feature symbols, such as wilds, coin wins, grid expansions and gem upgrades, which in turn create more collecting.

Three bonus symbols collected in one round trigger the bonus game, and this is the unusual part: according to ELK, grid size, gem level and feature meter progress carry over into the bonus. A bonus that triggers on an expanded, upgraded board starts in a much stronger position than one that triggers on the basic grid. Pirots 2 adds extra carry-over for rounds that collect more than three bonus symbols.

Outside Great Britain, Pirots 2 offers paid X-iter modes, including a Super Bonus. Feature buys are not offered to British players, so these modes do not appear in UK lobbies.

Why pirate slot RTPs need checking

Pirate games show an unusually wide spread of published RTP. Pirots and Pirots 2 are listed at 94% and Pirates' Plenty at 95.07%, while Release the Kraken defaults to 96.50%. Here is what that means for the same plan of 500 spins at 20p, or £100 staked.

Lower RTP doesn't make a game unfair or dishonest; it is the stated price of that design. But if two pirate games appeal equally, the higher-RTP one costs less to play over time. Casinos may also run lower versions than these defaults, so the game info screen is the final word.

Volatility in pirate slots, with a budget example

Every pirate game in our table is rated medium-to-high or high. That suits a theme about rare treasure, but it affects how far a budget goes. With £25 at 25p a spin you have 100 spins; on a high-volatility game, those 100 spins could easily pass with no expansion or bonus at all, and the balance may fall steadily before any larger result arrives, if one arrives.

Dropping to 10p gives 250 spins from the same £25, which gives features more chances to land within the session. The long-run cost per pound staked is the same; the session simply lasts longer. Our guide to playing high volatility slots explains how to plan for the swings.

UK rules for pirate slots

In Great Britain every slot spin lasts at least 2.5 seconds, autoplay and turbo are off, and your net position is shown on screen. Stakes are capped at £5 a spin at 25 and over and £2 at 18 to 24. A bonus buy is not offered, so pirate bonuses are reached only through normal play. Demo versions need age verification first.

Reading a pirate slot's info screen: a step-by-step

1. Find the RTP and note whether the screen mentions other versions.
2. Check how wins are formed: lines, ways or collection, as in Pirots.
3. Read what can expand (reels, rows or lines) and whether expansion carries into the bonus.
4. Note the max win and the volatility rating, then set a stake that gives your budget enough spins.
5. Confirm there is no paid mode in the UK version, and set a session budget before playing.

Where to play pirate slots in the UK

Our five partner casinos are licensed by the Gambling Commission; search each lobby by title, as stock changes. Coral gives 100 spins at 10p (selected games, valid 7 days) after a £10 slots stake, with no wagering on winnings. 10bet gives a 100% match up to £25, wagered 10x on slots within 3 days, with bonus winnings capped at £1,000. PlayOJO gives 80 no-wagering spins at 10p on Big Bass Bonanza after a first deposit of at least £10; Northern Ireland is excluded. 18+, payment exclusions and full T&Cs apply.

18+. Gambling should be entertainment that costs money, not a way to make it. Set a deposit limit before you play: how to set limits. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.