With the increase of online casinos in North America over the last few years you can now experience the excitement of playing your favourite slot machine from the comfort of your home or even when you’re on the go. This article will review a few things you should know before choosing your go to slot machine.
Online slots offer an incredible volume of different styles, themes and features. These games hold massive appeal to all types of players, offering great flexibility for all preferences and budgets. You can try your luck with classic three-reel games inspired by traditional fruit machines, or opt for something more complex with a feature-rich video slot.
Types of Slot Machines
There are many different types of slot machines. A lot of new casino visitors may be overwhelmed by the sheer selection of available games. There are three-reel slots, five-reel slots, 243 ways, wilds, scatters, cascading reels, progressive jackpots, multiplier and so on. We’ll focus on a handful of them that proved to be the most popular over time.
3 Reel and 5 Reel Slot Machines
If you walked into a casino in the 1970s, you would have likely encountered 3 and 5 reel machines almost exclusively. These are the sort of machines that are generally printed in advertisements and seen on TV and movies. Reel slots date back to the days where slots paid out in actual money (change).
The three-reel slots are best remembered as the fruit machines. They tend to focus on more traditional symbols and are usually light on additional features. This makes for an engaging experience where the focus is on the reels as they spin.
The five-reel games tend to be slightly more complex as they can vary in payout structure and can include other bonus features such as scatters and wilds.
243 Ways
Also known as 243 ways to win, this game format has skyrocketed in popularity over the recent years. They offer the player the chance to create winning combinations across 243 separate lines. This game makes for a hugely entertaining, fast paced gameplay.
Cascading Reels
Cascading reels give players multiple opportunities to win from a single spin. If a game offers this feature, it usually comes into play immediately after a winning combination appears. When this happens, symbols cascade downwards and reveal another set of symbols in their place. Effectively, this gives the player another free spin every time they win which can be great in terms of creating more payouts.
Popular Slot Themes
There seem to be slot game themes to cater to almost every taste. But some slot machine themes have been always popular over the years. Whatever theme floats your boat, you will be able to find a slot machine game to suit your taste.
Fruit-themed Slots
Slot machines are also called fruit machines for a reason. Early machines displayed fruits like cherries, lemons, and berries, and those sorts of fruit machines are still incredibly popular today. The origins of fruits being used as symbols on slot machines come from the very first machines that cropped up in the early 20th century in the US. Rather than paying out cash prizes, early slots gave winners chewing gum. So, if you got three cherries in a row, you would win cherry-flavoured chewing gum, and if you matched lemon symbols, you would win lemon gum.
Egyptian-themed Slots
Walk into any brick-and-mortar casino or visit any online casino, and you are sure to find slot machines with an Egyptian theme. When slots began to become popular in the early 20th century, Ancient Egypt was all the rage in popular culture. Egyptian artefacts were starting to be displayed in museums around the world, and numerous Egyptian-themed films were produced by Hollywood, such as multiple mummy horror films and epic Biblical pictures. The magic and mystery surrounding Egyptian icons like mummies, pyramids, and gold have continued to make its mark on popular culture over the years, and the themes perfectly match the feelings of wonder you get playing slot games.
Movie-themed Slots
Tying-in slot games with things from popular-culture has been all the rage for decades, and movies are no exception. You will find a variety of slot machines with specific film themes that use symbols based on key elements of the film as well as soundtracks and dialogue or by showing scenes from the movie. Popular slots include ones based on Jumanji, The Hulk, and Planet of the Apes.
Band-themed Slots
Just like movie-themed slots, there are numerous slot games available that are based on popular bands. Many come from rock and heavy metal. For instance, you can play slots that are based on the likes of Guns N’ Roses and Jimi Hendrix. By playing band-themed slot games, players get to listen to some of their favourite artists’ songs while feeling like a rock star, so it is no wonder such games continue to be incredibly popular.
Horror-themed Slots
For decades, slot machines have been designed with horror themes. With the genre being popular with movie-goers since the early days of cinema, and the present-day popularity of vampires, werewolves and gothic themes, horror slot games are some of the most enticing games available. Horror slots like Gothic, and Blood Suckers II are guaranteed to get your heart racing.
Fantasy-themed Slots
Vampires, ghosts, and things that go bump in the night are no longer only popular in the horror genre. They are also loved by fantasy fans. And with popular culture phenomena like Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Lord of the Rings, it is only natural that many of today’s most successful slot machine games are fantasy inspired.
Playing Slots
Many experienced players will offer words of wisdom like, “always play the max bet” but the truth is that, for the most part, your risk and reward tend to be proportionate. As is the case with every casino game, the most important factor in how and what slot machines you should be playing is found in the size and variance tolerance level of your bankroll. If you have a lot of money and are going for the shot at a huge win, you are going to play at a different pace and potentially at different machines than someone with less money who is trying to make their funds last longer.
What is RTP
RTP stands for Return to Player. Shown as a percentage, RTP explains how much money a game will pay out for every $1 spent playing it. For example, if a game has an RTP of 96%, then over time the game will pay out an average of $0.96 for every $1 that is spent.
Playing safely
Online slots are great fun and when played for real money they can be totally captivating. Therefore, it’s vital that players can spot the signs of gambling addiction and know when it’s time to stop playing.
- Before you play, set a budget that you can afford to lose.
- Gambling should be a fun experience, it should never be relied upon as a way to earn money or pay bills.
- Never continue playing in order to recoup losses.
- Avoid alcohol while gambling.
- If signs of gambling addiction begin to emerge, make yourself aware of local support groups and get help.
- Never gamble with money that is needed for essential costs such as rent, food or bills.