If you’ve ever enjoyed a winning session on the reels at a real life or online casino then you will know that the thrill of hitting a big win sequence on video slot games can be a massive adrenaline rush. In the last decade, slots developers have moved these simple gambling machines onto a new level. They are fast, fun, but also surprisingly sophisticated.
In this article we explain why video slot games are the ultimate joy ride. Hold on tight!
Slots Are Simple To Understand
Online slots are one of the simplest forms of gambling you’ll find at any online casino. They work on a fixed odds basis which means you cannot affect the odds of winning by adopting a strategy. All you can do is keep spinning those reels and hoping for the right combination of symbols to land. For some gamblers, that is the allure – you can switch off, enjoy the sights and sounds and let the machine do the work without using your brain.
But whilst this simple gaming model might make slots sound boring to some, think again because there are plenty of features, bonuses and other events to look out for which spice up the gameplay too. It’s the reason why so many casinos lead with video slots when looking to entice new players in. Most, including the ones on this page, will offer well over 1,000 slots for their customers to choose from.
Slots Have Lots of Exciting Features
The art of creating a compelling slot game is in the features and gameplay. There are hundreds of different ways in which a slots developer can add layers to the simplest spin of a reel to make things interesting. Here are some of the most common features:
Wilds – a wild symbol is one that will substitute for any other to complete a payline.
Multipliers – a multiplier is a value applied to a win to increase it. For example, a 4x multiplier on a £10 win will earn you a £40 payout. Multipliers can be triggered by events like consecutive wins, collecting special symbols, or entering a bonus round. They are most famously used in games like Bonanza by Big Time Gaming where every consecutive win adds an extra 1x to the game multipliers. The more wins you get, the greater your multiplier.
Free Spins – another common feature is free spins, usually credited in batches of 5 or 10. These are triggered by landing three or more ‘scatter’ symbols that can appear anywhere on the reels. Free spins are often played with additional enhanced features like extra multipliers, additional wilds on the reels and symbol stacks.
Stacked Wilds – These are groups of wild symbols that appear in vertical stacks on one reel. That gives you more chance of winning.
Cascading Wins – In slots with Cascading Wins after any win the winning symbols are removed from the reels and replaced with new ones. If more wins are created then the process repeats, until no more wins are triggered.
Expanding Reels – A feature developed by Australian developer, Big Time Gaming, in their Megaways™ games and since copied by many rivals, is expanding reels. Here, a random event causes extra rows to be added to the reels. More rows means more paylines and more chances of winning. In most Megaways™ games the reel set can expand to as much as 7 rows high creating as many as 117,649 paylines.
Those are just six features you will find in online slots these days. There are 100s more and new ones being created all the time. Each one adds more trepidation on each spin. And when combined together – free spins, expanding reels and multipliers for example – they create electric gameplay.
Slot Games Themes and Production Are Getting More Exciting
The production values in some online slots are becoming more sophisticated than before. Game studios like Yggdrasil from Sweden have started developing mini-movies as introductions to their games, and many have created fun storylines and narratives to weave into the gameplay.
A good example is the Viking Series from Yggdrasil, including Vikings Go Beserk and Vikings Go To Hell! You can find these and watch the intro videos on their website here.
Another game developer exploring interesting themes is Sweden’s No Limit City who have produced a series of slots with adult themes, dark stories and horror-movie graphics. One of the best is their Mental slot which is set in a lunatic asylum complete with screaming inmates, straight-jackets and clanking chains.
Jackpots Are Getting Bigger
Let’s not forget that the main reason people play online slots – the money! And the good news is, with all the added features and sophisticated products has come bigger jackpots too.
The top wins in most slots are expressed as multiples of the stake. So, a 100,000x top win would trigger a £100,000 payout with a £1 bet. A decade ago most games jackpots were capped at 10,000x or less. But now you can regularly find slots with top prizes of 100,000x of more. For example, the Wild West horrorshow that is Tombstone VIP by No Limit City has a top prize of 300,000x. Their prison-based San Quentin xWays slot has a top win of 150,000. Recent Play n Go slot, Raging Rex 2, a dinosaur-themed game, pays out up to 30,000x. And Big Bamboo by Push Gaming is capped at 50,000x.
So, you can see on top of all that thrilling gameplay and top-notch graphics and video, there are some pretty tasty prizes to play for too.
In Summary
Like all forms of online gambling, video slots represent a different kind of thrill to the Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo games we normally review here at Back2Gaming. But the recent evolution in this sector has made us sit up and take notice, and with new gunslinger studios like No Limit City making a mark on that industry, now is a good time to check out what is on offer. Whilst simple at first site, the clever mixing of exciting stories, ace production and thrilling features and gameplay, have moved these little treats onto a new level entirely. Time for you to try, perhaps?
On a final note, we bring you all this a word of caution too – gambling is a form of entertainment that should not be abused. If you do decide to give the slots a go, always play responsibly and within your means.
Good luck!
