Barbarian Gold

Travel to the far North to face mighty warriors on the title from Brighton based developer Iron Dog Studio that boasts excellent, comic book-style design, and comes with a couple of very tidy extras too!

Are you ready to prove your bravery and join barbarian warriors to help them obtain precious treasures?

If so, then join this 5 reeled, 20 pay-line title and try to land a wild in the top position on a reel to see it fill the whole of it. 

There’s also a two-stage free spins round where expanding wilds also bring expanding multipliers and extra free spins into the equation. 

So, let's see whether this mystery muscleman could lead you to riches! 

Theme & Design

Barbarian Gold uses a 5-reel, 3-row layout and...

...tries a cartoonish approach, something which Iron Dog often goes for as seen in other games.

The imagery is bright, colourful, clear and sharp.

The first thing that catches your eye is the barbarian bulwark in the centre of the screen, while the reels are surrounded by a grassy foreground, a few trees, and some castle turrets in the background.

Iron Dog worked really well on designing the background for the game since it looks absolutely gorgeous, as well as it conveys the atmosphere of the harsh barbarian times.

The reels are made up of wooden shields that are embellished with heart, diamond, club and spade symbols. They’re joined by clubs, axes and swords and a green-faced lizard man and a lizard. 

There’s a catchy, orchestral score playing in the background while you spin which is a nice fit for this epic fantasy theme.

Betting Options

Playable from 20 p/c up to £/€20 per spin and with a 96.3% RTP, the gameplay is uncomplicated where the main goal is to land 3 or more matching symbols consecutively from left to right. 

Just click on the arrows in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen to adjust bet sizes, while you can set autoplay by clicking on the A button on the bottom right-hand corner. 

There's the option of setting between 5 and 999 auto spins, complete with win and loss limits and you can also set it so that autoplay stops whenever you trigger the feature.

Barbarian Gold has 20 fixed paylines crossing the reels with which to do so, and a bunch of colourful symbols populate them. 

The maximum win is 10,000 x your total stake which can be achieved with the multipliers, while the most you can win from a base game spin is 500 x your stake!

In ascending order the paytable starts with the four card suits – clubs, diamonds, hearts, and clubs. 

Next, are more theme-based icons such as a morning star, an axe, a sword, an ogre, a snake, and a barbarian. 

The most rewarding symbol is the buff barbarian who awards 2.5, 5 or 12.5 x your total stake if you land 3, 4 or 5 on a pay line.

Special Features

You won’t find a huge amount of variety when it comes to the Barbarian Gold features however, the limited range of extras can pack a very decent punch, starting with...

...the expanding wilds that play a central role in the title, appearing in both the base game and on free spins. 

The shield with the gold W motif is the game’s wild and, as usual, this substitutes for all the standard symbols in a winning combination. 

If you see a wild appear in the top position of a reel, the wild symbol drops down and turns the whole of that reel wild. 

It’s possible to land multiple wilds on the same spin which can quickly deliver some big rewards.

Things heat up with the help of the skull scatter which can appear in any position, so, when 3, 4, or 5 of them are in view during the base game, they award 8, 10, or 12 free spins respectively, thus activating the Lava Cave feature!

The expanding wilds are in play during the free spins, just like in the base game however, they come with a special extra here.

Each time you land an expanding wild, a multiplier increases by 1x. This doesn’t drop back to 1x once it’s gone either. The multiplier will remain the same or increase with each new expanding wild that lands throughout the round.

But, there's more!

Land 3, 4 or 5 scatter symbols while in the Lava Cave Free Spins and...

...you’ll advance to the Gold Cave Free Spins feature. 

You’ll then receive an extra 4, 5 or 6 free spins!

Here, the expanding wilds increase the multiplier like in the Lava Cave. One extra free spin is added to your total each time one hits.

This is great! But, if you don't feel like waiting for a feature to trigger, this title gives you an option to buy the bonus!

Just click on the green Buy Free Spins button in the top right-hand corner of the reels, and for a cost of 100x, 150x, or 200x you get 8, 10, or 12 free spins to play respectively.

To Conclude

The game is rich in colour and well designed, although not on the level of Nolimit City if we’re going to compare.

The game had a lot more depth than was initially apparent, though. 

As is often the case, the real potential came during free spins. That’s where Iron Dog has put together quite an effective game loaded with potential. 

As you can imagine, the key is the Gold Cave, with expanding wilds landing in abundance as the other support. Stretch the game to full capacity and its potential can reach up to 10,000 times the stake!

If your cinematic heroes include the likes of Conan and the like, and you like titles that deliver high risk but potentially high reward action, Barbarian Gold could be one for you.