Launched on September 15, 2009 by developer Betsoft, Barbary Coast is a flash video slot adaption of the infamous Blackbeard and his team that includes characters modeled on real-life pirates Jack Ward and Black Caesar. The slot title “Barbary Coast” is borrowed from a term referring to the Ottoman Empire-approved North African pirates who, from 1400s to early 1800s, prowled the Mediterranean and West African coastline; the aforementioned pirates were West Indies-based pirates, although Ward later on became a Barbary Coast pirate.

Themes: piracy, naval action, sword fighting, drinking contest, hostage rescue, and treasure. Betsoft-owned Viking voyage (April 2019) and Hidden Loot (June 2009) are piracy-themed too. Barbary Coast’ rival games include Blackbeard the Golden Age (January 2017) from Gaming1, Blackbeard’s Compass (October 2019) from 1X2 Gaming, and Blackbeard (August 2019) from Bulletproof Games.

Ten symbols (Mary Ormond, skull and cross swords, treasure chest, golden coins, rifle, compass, map, cannon, wine barrel, and macaw) require three, four, or five winning combinations.

Barbary Coast Game Characteristics
Set on the deck of a pirate ship—seemingly Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge—Barbary Coast has a ropy brown 5X3 grid that is divided up by luxury black twisted ropes. There are 30 left-to-right adjustable paylines (seventeen choices), thirteen symbols, eleven coin denominations, five bet levels, 935 total bets, locked cannon reels, two bonus games, a click-and-reveal game, free games, no side game, and pays from $10.00 to $1500.00.

Barbary Coast has five special symbols and eight ordinary symbols. Special symbols: the substituting wild is a dark cannon; the free games-triggering scatter is a blue-and-yellow macaw; the click-and-reveal game-related scatter is a neckerchief-wearing dreadlocked Jack Ward-like pirate named Ben Sawyer; the Grog Challenge bonus-unlocking feature is a big bare-chested crewman resembling Black Caesar—it uses a golden coin; and the sword fight bonus-unlocking feature is pirate Captain Blackbeard.

Ordinary symbols: Blackbeard’s former wife Mary Ormond; brown skull and cross swords; an overflowing gray treasure chest; golden coins; rifle; golden magnetic compass; topographic map; and wine barrel.

The Barbary Coast coin denominations: $0.01, $0.02, $0.03, $0.04, $0.05, $0.10, $0.15, $2.00, $0.20, $0.25, and $1.00. Active payline choices: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, and 30. Minimum bet: $0.01. Maximum bet: $150.00.

The $150.00 bet has these Barbary Coast payouts for three, four, and five winning combinations. Mary Ormond pays $500.00, $1000.00, and $1500.00. Skull and cross swords pay $400.00, $875.00, and $1250.00. Treasure chest pays $250.00, $750.00, and $1250.00. Coins pay $200.00, $625.00, and $1125.00. Rifle pays $150.00, $500.00, and $875.00.

Compass pays $125.00, $400.00, and $750.00. Map pays $100.00, $300.00, and $625.00. Cannon pays $75.00, $250.00, and $500.00. Wine barrels pay $50.00, $125.00, and $250.00.

Three scattered macaws offer $300.00 and five free games. Four macaws offer $450.00 and ten free games. Five macaws offer $750.00 and 15 free games. A plank locks any wild cannon on the centermost cell before the crewman shells it, turning it into a reel-long docked “wild” ship. Click-and-reveal game: three pirate Ben Sawyers (on first, third, and fifth reels) change into “pick me”, prompting the rope-swinging Sawyer to grab and reveal their payouts.

Three Blackbeard features prompt the sword fight bonus, wherein Blackbeard and Ben Sawyer fight for the red gown-wearing Mary Ormond; players choose one of the three sword fighting styles—parry, thrust, or slash (and final blow)—while attempting to free up the kidnapped beauty.

Three crewmen prompt the Grog challenge bonus game, where the player tries to outdo the crewman in a meter-filling, rum-drinking match; players click a soon-to-be flipped coin’s heads (skull and cross swords) or tails (“Barbary Coast”)—crewman drinks after a correct guess; player drinks after a wrong guess. Barbary Coast’s non-progressive jackpot is $96750.00.

The good Barbary Coast software features: barrel-embedded and cannon-embedded icons; quick spin; and 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 100 autospins. Ambient background: humming ship and classic music.

Sound effects: chinking, jingling, blast, whistling and squawking macaw, and heavily accented pirates. The cinematic 3D graphics include rope-swinging Sawyer, creeping crab, blurred vision, shelling, fatal sword fight, bobbing ship, and dolly zooming and panning video clips of dramatic characters.

Luck in Barbary Coast
A game of chance, the RTP rate of Barbary Coast is 93.20% and the house edge is 6.80%.