The Best Pirate-Themed Slots to Play Online

Remember that phase in the early 2000s when everyone was totally obsessed with pirates? This was partly due to the phenomenon that was the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise.

While much of that hype has died down, pirates are still hugely popular in entertainment like movies, books, and TV series, so it makes sense that they have their place in casino games, too.

There are plenty of pirate-themed slots, and you’ll find them at all the top Australian online casinos. Most platforms have a range of pirate slots, but we must admit that some are much better than others, featuring better graphics and more chances to win.

Our Betsquare team tests all the top pirate games, so we’ve compiled a list of the ones you absolutely have to try next time you’re looking for some gaming inspiration. 

The Allure of Pirate-Themed Slots

While playing games based on everyday items (like fruit, sweets, or pets) can be fun, most people tend to gravitate towards slot game themes that offer some escapism. Pirate ship slots do precisely that. You won’t get to go on your seafaring adventure every day, so playing one of these might be the closest you get. 

The games all come with themed symbols like parrots, Kraken, ships, treasure chests, and gold coins, and you’ll even get to meet pirate characters as you join them on their adventures. Few things are more thrilling than seeing overflowing treasure chests landing on the reels to award you generous wins. 

Most pirate-themed casino games work the same way as other pokies. When you click the spin button, the reels will move, and Random Number Generator technology will determine which symbols land in each position.

The games are fair, and everyone has a chance of winning. Most pirate slots online use paylines, so you’ll need to get enough of the same symbols on adjacent reels from left to right on one of the paylines to trigger a win. Some games have alternative mechanisms like cluster pays and Megaways, which can be even more fun.

All of the best online pokies providers make pirate slots. There’s no way you’ll be able to try them all for yourself, so we’ve put together a handy list of the top 10 best online pokies with a pirate theme. We’ve looked at everything from game graphics and special features to RTP to come up with the definitive list of games you simply need to try right now.

The great thing about these pirate games is that they’re readily available at the best Australian online casinos, so you’ll have no trouble finding a place to play. Some gambling sites will even allow you to try the games for free before you spend any real money. 

Without further ado, here’s our list of the best pirate pokies in the world.

Adventures of Doubloon Island

Adventures of Doubloon Island by Triple Edge Studios is one of the most popular pirate slots. It’s played on a 5×3 grid, with many pirate characters and other symbols like overflowing treasure chests and the pirate’s best friend – the parrot. The game has 20 paylines and an RTP of 96.01%.

Get enough of the doubloon symbols on the reels, and you’ll open up the special Link & Win round, where doubloons are locked on the reel, and more of them can land as you work your way through three free spins. Each time a new doubloon lands, the three spins reset. There are also four different jackpots awarded by the golden skull doubloon symbols. Look out for win booster symbols, which can increase your wins by 1.5x.

The game also comes with a free spins round, which triggers when you land 3, 4, or 5 scatters. You’ll be given up to 20 free spins depending on the number of scatters. 

Sails of Fortune

With an RTP of 96.17%, a chance to win up to 25,000x your stake, and high volatility, this Relax Gaming title will transport you on a thrilling adventure. The game is set on board a pirate ship, with the grid appearing on the deck.

The game has five reels and three rows, and some of the symbols to look out for include a message in a bottle and a set of fish bones. There’s also a mystery symbol (a treasure map) that awards a series of respins, during which mystery symbols all convert into the same symbol to give you more chances of winning. 

Land three or more of the scatter symbols anywhere on the reels, and you’ll open up the free spins round, which awards you eight bonus games. During free spins, mystery symbols expand, and a special treasure chest symbol increases the size of the game grid, resulting in up to 7,776 ways to win. If you can’t wait for the free spins round to trigger, you can buy your way in for 70x your stake.

Skulls Up!

Quickspin’s Skulls Up! slot is set against a bright, tropical beach background, and it comes with a host of quirky characters like pirates (with names like Biggie and Smelly), monkeys, and parrots. You’ll need to match at least three of the same symbols on adjacent reels from left to right (starting with the leftmost reel) to trigger a win. 

The special features here are impressive for a pretty simple online casino game. The flaming skull wild symbols trigger the respins round on this slot game, which continues as long as there are flaming skulls on the game grid.

Any new skull symbols will increase the size of the game grid, opening up more ways to win – there can be as many as 1,944 ways. Three of the treasure chest scatters will open up the free spins round, and skulls increase the height of the board here, too.

Buckaneers

The Buckaneers slot is made by a smaller provider called Genii, and you can expect an excellent experience if you play any of its casino games. The pokie has 40 fixed paylines, and you’ll have the chance to win thousands of times you stake value. 

Buckaneers is set against a simple backdrop of a stormy sea, and the game grid is displayed within an ornate gold frame. High-paying symbols include the pirate character, a bottle of rum, and a compass, while number and letter symbols award smaller wins. The pirate also acts as the wild and doubles the height of other symbols to help complete more winning combinations. 

Get three or more of the free spins symbols anywhere on the reels, and you’ll trigger up to 20 free games. Three or more scatter symbols award the Pick a Prize feature game, where you can win cash prizes. 

ARRR! 10k Ways

Featuring a vibrant and colourful game board, ARRR! 10k Ways is one of the pirate slots with the most unique gameplay. The high-paying symbols are the pirate characters, the parrot, and the giant squid, while spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds give you smaller wins.

The game has an RTP of 96.12% and 10,000 potential ways to win. ARRR! 10k Ways is played on a grid of six reels and four rows, but an additional tracked row at the top contributes to winning combinations. 

If you don’t get any winning combinations after a spin is completed, the Canon Wilds feature might trigger. During the Canon Wilds feature, the Jolly Roger symbol can appear as the wild and substitute for other symbols, plus it comes with a multiplier of between 1x and 5x. If more than one Jolly Roger appears, the multipliers are multiplied.  

When three or more treasure chest scatter symbols appear, you’ll open up the respins round, where you can be awarded random multipliers of up to 1,000x. 

Gunpowder

The Gunpowder slot comes with amazing graphics – some of the best we’ve seen on any pirate-themed game. The game occurs in tropical waters, and the symbols are animated on the grid for a truly immersive experience. Made by Peter & Sons, Gunpowder is a high-volatility game played on a 5×3 grid with 10 fixed paylines.

Land enough scatter symbols to trigger up to 15 free spins. Landing at least one wild on each reel will reward you with an extra five free spins, and wilds remain sticky for the whole bonus round.

The Phantom Power feature can randomly trigger in the base game and in free spins, and it can turn symbols into wilds, plus award you with respins. If you simply can’t wait to land the free spins round, you can buy it for 170x your stake, and the amount of spins you get will be random.

Any online slots casino worth its salt will have Gunpowder, and we couldn’t recommend it highly enough. 

Pirates Charm

Pirates Charm by Quickspin has an RTP of 96.25%, and it’s played on a grid of five reels and three rows. The backdrop is a moody port where your ship has come to dock, and you can expect to see symbols like your fellow pirates appearing on the reels to award you with wins. Like other pokies online, matching at least three symbols on one of the paylines will get you a payout.

The game comes with a few special features, such as the mystery charm symbol, which transforms into any other symbol (except bonus symbols) to help complete winning combinations, and there’s also a chance to trigger an extra mystery spin at any time during play.

Land enough of the mystery charm symbols, and you’ll open up the respins round, where mystery symbols lock in place, and you’ll be awarded more respins until no more special symbols appear on the grid. 

Many of our top Pirates Charm casinos allow you to play for free before you use real money, so we’d recommend giving it a spin.

Dead Man’s Trail

The Dead Man’s Trail slot comes with five reels and 40 paylines, and unlike some other pirate slots, it has a dark and creepy theme. The game is set in a misty, haunted town with a spooky pirate ship in the background, and the highest-paying symbols are the four baddies. 

Land three or more bonus symbols anywhere on the reels to trigger the special feature. You’ll move a certain amount of steps per turn, following the dead man’s trail, and depending on where you land, a certain action will be revealed. For example, you might get a multiplier, or a special symbol might collect cash values from the reels. If the coin symbols land on three or more reels, the cash values of all the coins will be added together and awarded to you as a win. 

The RTP of the game is 96.29%, which is pretty high compared to some other slots online, and the maximum win amount is 50,000x your stake. 

Pirate Isle

The Pirate Isle slot has a retro theme, so it might look a little different from some of the other slots on our list. Nevertheless, it’s available at many real-money casinos. 

While many games have fixed paylines, Pirate Isle has up to nine paylines, but you can play with just one if you prefer, making it an ideal option for beginners or anyone with a smaller budget.

The game plays on a 5×3 grid, and the maximum win is unlimited, so you could stand a chance to get really lucky. The high-paying symbols include a pistol, cannon, blades, and a telescope, and the pirate character appears on the grid as the wild, substituting for other standard symbols.

A great feature of this game is the “risk” function, which gives you the option to gamble your winnings from any spin for a chance to double it by correctly predicting the outcome of a roll of the virtual dice. There’s also a bonus game where you’ll open chests to look for treasures of up to 50x your stake. 

Pirates’ Plenty Megaways

The Pirates’ Plenty Megaways online slot is one of the most popular in its genre, and it’s available almost everywhere you can play pokies. The game has an RTP of 96%, and you can stand a chance to win more than 10,000x your stake. Thanks to the Megaways mechanic, there are up to 117,649 ways to win on this online slot game.

The number of symbols landing on the reels changes every time you spin, and up to seven symbols can display on each reel. If you unlock the Wild Ways feature, even more symbols are added to some of the reels, creating over 200,000 ways to win.

The game has several special features, like the chain reaction, which removes winning symbols from the grid and replaces them with new symbols, and a Wild Monkey, which removes all low-paying symbols and replaces them with more valuable ones.

There’s also a free spins round, which can be triggered by getting enough scatter symbols. You might even get lucky enough to land some multipliers. 

Conclusion

Pirate-themed slots are popular for one main reason: they offer a sense of thrill that’s difficult to replicate in real life. While all pirate slots have a lot in common (like the cool characters and game locations), they’re all different too. Some games come with a whole host of special features like bonus rounds, multipliers, and cascading reels, and others even have the Megaways mechanism, so you can look forward to thousands of different ways to win. Other games still bring things back to basics with simple gameplay – so every type of player is catered for. 

Even better, the games we’ve recommended on this page are easy to find at the best Australian online casinos. Some sites have a category devoted to pirate pokies, but you can always search for the game by name or browse the lobby until you find the one you’re looking for.

Don’t forget that if you sign up at one of our favourite gambling sites, you’ll be able to bag yourself a welcome offer like free spins on popular online casino games or a deposit match that you can use on great pokies, including pirate-themed titles. 

FAQ

Where can I play pirate-themed slots?

There are dozens of great online slots sites where you can play the fun pokies on our list. Check out one of our top Australian online casinos, Spinjo, Crownplay, or SlotLords, and create your account now to start playing pirate games.

Do pirate slots have good odds?

The odds of pirate-themed slots vary like any other online slot game. The best way to see how good your chance of winning is to check the RTP, although even a very high RTP isn’t a guarantee of a win in a single gaming session. You can expect the RTP of pirate-themed slots to be around 96%.

Do I have to download pirate slots to play them?

At most Australian online casinos, you won’t need to download any extra software to play pirate-themed games, as you can just log into your casino account and get started immediately. The only exception is that sometimes online casinos have a downloadable app rather than a mobile site, so you might need to get it before you can play on your phone. 

Can I play pirate-themed slots for free?

Although it’s not the case everywhere, many Australian gambling sites allow you to test their games totally for free before you commit to playing for real money. This is a great way to see if you enjoy the pirate theme and to get to know the gameplay of individual slots. Look for the “demo mode” or “play for fun” options in the games lobby. 

Can I win big in pirate slots?

Depending on the pirate-themed game you’re playing, there’s a chance that you could scoop a big win. For example, some games have maximum payouts that can reach 10,000x, 20,000x, or even 50,000x your stake amount. Remember, there’s never a guarantee that you’ll win on slot games, so you should always play responsibly.