Barbarossa Revenge DoubleMax

Barbarossa Revenge: Slot Overview

Casino game maker Yggdrasil Gaming not only invents brand spanking new slot mechanics, but it also big heartedly shares them around with its friends. One feature doing the rounds is DoubleMax, which literally doubles a win multiplier following each and every single win. A number of fellow studios have had a go with the doubling device to greater and lesser success, but one studio which has put the effect to great use was Armenian outfit Peter & Sons in the pirate slot Barbarossa DoubleMax. So much so that the positive reception has prompted a sequel, Barbarossa Revenge.

Barbarossa (Italian for 'red beard') was the nickname given to a chap called Khi?r, who started out as a Barbery pirate before becoming the admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's naval prowess helped secure dominance over the Mediterranean for the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. By extension, Barbarossa Revenge, the slot, has a strong naval focus, depicting smashed-up ships both above the surface of the water in the base game and below it in free spins. It doesn't come across as a pirating slot as such, but both of Peter & Sons' Barbarossa slots have a weighty buccaneering feel to them, dark, foreboding, take no prisoners.

Barbarossa Revenge's math model isn't here to take any prisoners, with its 'super high' volatility, though the highest available RTP is a more user-friendly 96.4%. After picking a stake of 20 c to $/€50, hitting spin drops 15 symbols onto a 5x3 gaming grid with 243 ways to win. Players can also opt to pay 0.5x extra per bet to activate the Golden Bet, which doubles the chance of triggering free spins.

The low symbols are various items of seafaring such as cannon balls, a magnifying glass and map, a telescope, a pistol, and a sextant, awarding 0.25-0.3x the stake for a 5 OAK winning combination. High pays are five seafaring characters, climaxing in a red-bearded fellow, awarding 0.5 to 1 times the bet for five-of-a-kind.

Barbarossa Revenge: Slot Features

Captain Barbarossa might be back for revenge, but he hasn't bought a lot of new features with him. The extras in Barbarossa Revenge are Wild Cascades, a win multiplier, Golden multipliers, JumpUp, free spins, and a free spins buy.

Wild Cascades

Winning combinations trigger a cascade. The symbols making up the win are removed from the reels, and a wild symbol is placed in one of the empty spaces. Wilds substitute for all of the regular paying symbols on the table. The other empty spaces are filled by symbols cascade downwards, giving players another chance to win. Cascades continue until there are no further wins.

Multiplier & Golden Multiplier

The total win multiplier doubles on each winning cascade with no set limit. This is referred to as the DoubleUp feature. In the base game, the win multiplier resets after any losing spin or losing cascade. A trail of cannon balls on a chain makes up the multiplier trail, showing upcoming values and any special Golden multiplier or JumpUps. The Golden multiplier, meanwhile, guarantees a win when it is reached on the trail. Golden multipliers are indicated on the multiplier trail by the larger golden cannon balls.

JumpUp

Random chances exist for the multiplier to jump one position. This may occur up to 3 times in a row and is indicated on the multiplier trail by the cracked, glowing cannon balls.

Free Spins

Scatter symbols may hit on all reels. Landing 3 scatters awards 7 free spins, plus every additional scatter awards an extra +2 free spins. In free spins, the win multiplier does not reset between spins. This feature cannot be retriggered.

Feature Buy

Free spins may be triggered organically by landing the requisite number of scatter symbols or bought. Seven free spins may be bought for 100x the bet or 7-11 free spins may be bought for 200x the bet.

Barbarossa Revenge: Slot Verdict

Captain Barbarossa is back with a bang in a bigger, more fearsome slot. There were slight initial misgivings about the way he hadn't returned bearing greater feature innovations, but it must be tricky for a studio to decide what else it could possibly put in an already high-powered, heavy-duty DoubleMax slot. Some things are best left as they are to get on with (potentially) churning our consecutive wins while dropping wilds on the board and doubling up the win multiplier at the same time.

One of the successful elements of Barbarossa DoubleMax returns for Barbarossa Revenge and its single innovation is tied to it. That is the multiplier trail running along the bottom of the screen, tantalising players with the possible upcoming values before a cannon fires them dramatically at winning combinations. JumpUp cannonballs very usefully leapfrog the multiplier trail to higher values as they did before, and the new Golden multiplier is arguably even better because whatever the value, it is 100% going to be tagged onto a guaranteed win. A swell idea and one that fits the teasing, tantalising, and potentially rewarding nature of the multiplier trail and the wider DoubleMax genre in general.

On the topic of potential, Barbarossa Revenge pushes the win cap boat all the way out to 30,000x the bet, which is a 50% hike on the previous slot. So what we've got here in Barbarossa Revenge might not be as innovative as some may have hoped for, but it's a game that gets on with the business of delivering excellent DoubleMax action (which can be absolutely devastating), with increased volatility and bigger potential payouts on the line.