No casino game has more variations than slots. Slot machines have been the most popular and easy casino game for hundreds of years. Thanks to technological advancements and top gaming software developers, there are an endless number of options to play slot games with varying themes, betting limits, and bonus features.
As a newcomer you may feel overwhelmed by the available options not knowing how to play slots and which option is the best for you. In this guide, I will explore the types of slots you can play at physical and online casinos providing you with a list of my favorite games to try today.
1. Traditional Slots: A Timeless Nostalgia
Before the internet, traditional single-coin slot machines were everywhere. You'd find them in bars, restaurants, and airports. These machines used nickel coins and had a simple lever to spin the reels. While these classic machines hold a special place in gaming history, single-coin slot machines are becoming less common. The rise of online gaming and more advanced slot machines has significantly impacted their popularity. Classic slots relied on physical coins as currency. Players would initiate gameplay by pulling a lever, setting the reels with symbols on them in motion. Winning combinations were determined by the alignment of symbols on the spinning reels. These machines worked slightly differently depending on the variation. Many employed pin mechanisms, where the alignment of specific pins triggered a payout. This concept can be likened to a lock and key system, where only the correct alignment unlocks a reward. The early slot machines often featured a single or maximum of 5 paylines. The later versions featured multiple paylines, increasing the potential for winning combinations. Some of the newer versions even allowed for progressive jackpots which I will be discussing in the next section.
2. Flat Top vs Progressive Jackpots
Jackpots are one of the biggest appeals of slot machines. Jackpots are prizes that allow players to win life-changing sums of money. Generally, there are two types of slot jackpots:
Flat Tops
Flat Top slot machines have fixed jackpots. In other words, regardless of how many players play the game or how long it's been since the last jackpot was won, the maximum amount of money every player can win when hits the jackpot is fixed. For instance, a flat top slot machine with a $5,000 jackpot means every time a player hits a jackpot, the machine pays out $5,000. Generally, flat-top jackpots offer smaller maximum wins compared to progressive jackpots and since the jackpot amount remains constant, players have a more predictable potential payout.
Progressive Jackpots
- Unlike flat-top jackpots that have a set and unchanging maximum payout, progressive jackpots continuously increase as players bet on the machine. A portion of a bet placed by each player contributes to the amount of the growing jackpot until a lucky winner hits it. These jackpots can reach life-changing sums, making them quite popular and appealing to beginner and pro casino players. However, due to the larger payout, progressive jackpots are typically won less often. Progressive jackpot slots also have variations. Standalone jackpots: grow solely from bets placed on those specific machines.
- Linked Jackpots: when multiple progressive slots are linked together, the amount of possible prizes increases dramatically. Local linked jackpots are slot machines with a shared jackpot within the same casino. Network jackpots are slot machines with a shared jackpot across multiple casinos, even in different locations, offering the biggest and most crazy potential payouts.
- Local linked jackpots are slot machines with a shared jackpot within the same casino.
- Network jackpots are slot machines with a shared jackpot across multiple casinos, even in different locations, offering the biggest and most crazy potential payouts.
3. Multiplier Slots
Multipliers are slot machines that allow players to insert more than one coin or wager for a chance to bet more and possibly win more. Most physical casino slot machines like those in the Vegas Strip are multipliers. You can also find such machines at top online casinos.
4. Buy-Your-Pay Slot
Buy-Your-Pay slot machines are commonly known as the most complicated type of slots and have become less prevalent in traditional casinos. While not entirely extinct, they can seem quite challenging, especially for newcomers to the slot world. The distinctive feature of these machines lies in their variable betting options. You can bet between one and five coins per spin. This means that the number of active winning combinations directly correlates with the number of coins you bet. This unique pay structure is the origin of the machine's name: you effectively "buy" your potential payout by adjusting the amount of your bet.
5. Multiple Payline Slot Machines
Unlike traditional slots that feature one payline(one possible way of winning), multiple payline slots feature multiple up to hundreds of paylines making the game experience more exciting for players. Note that the more number of paylines does not necessarily increase your chances of winning. The machine still operates using Random Number Generators making the outcome random. The payout ratio and the RTP rate(Return to Player) also are not affected by the number of paylines.
6. Online Slots
Thanks to the best game providers in the industry, online slots are becoming more appealing and popular due to the endless excitement and opportunities to win real money. Here are the most common types of online slots: Video Slots Video slots are what comes to mind when people want to play online today. They work like regular traditional slots, but because they're on computers, they can be developed in endless themes, features, betting limits, and designs, making online video slots quite popular. Video slots are computerized. You can find them in physical casinos too, and they work the same way as online ones. The main feature of video slots is that they all have reels or a grid, paylines for winning, and winning combinations of several symbols. They can look very different and have all sorts of themes, but they all work in a similar way.
Themed Slots
After the popular progressive jackpots, themed slots are the second most popular in the slots category and are becoming even more popular.These games are inspired by various themes, including popular TV shows, movies, brands, sports, and more. One of the standout features of themed slots is that they often offer better quality and gameplay compared to regular video slots. This improvement is largely due to the involvement of well-known brands, which come with higher expectations and bigger budgets for game development. This is why when you play themed slots like Simpsons, Gladiator, Superman, or Terminator you can enjoy an unparalleled gaming quality coupled with multiple bonus rounds, special features, sounds, movie throwbacks, and breathtaking graphics.
My Top Picks for Slot Themes
- Sports: King of The Ring powered by Fugaso with 96.63% RTP and medium to high variance.
- Historical: Return of The Dead powered by Pragmatic Play with 96.71% RTP, 5 reels, 10 paylines, and $0.20 min bet per spin.
- Animal/Horror: Zombie Carnival powered by Pragmatic Play with 96.50%, 95.50%, and 94.50%, 6x4 reels and high volatility.
Bonus Slots
When it comes to bonuses, people always mix up the welcome bonuses including slots and the slots featuring bonuses. Let me break it down:
Bonus Feature Slots: These games are slots with built-in bonus features making the gameplay more exciting and rewarding.
- Bonus rounds are typically triggered by landing specific symbol combinations, collecting scatter symbols, or meeting certain game-specific conditions. The most popular forms of bonus rounds are Free Spins, Pick & Click Games, Mini-Games, and Multiplier Rounds.
- Bonus Buy slots allow players to pay a fee to instantly access bonus rounds.
Welcome Bonus Slots: Top online casinos offer free spins as part of the welcome bonus on several slot machines in their libraries including the most popular titles to entice new players to sign up and make a deposit. Such offers are the best opportunity to play for free, test the casino environment, and win real money.
Next-Generation Slot Games
3D and VR slots take players' online gaming experience to the next level.
With 3D slots, the three-dimensional graphics and animations with high-quality, vivid visuals that create an illusion of depth allow you to feel the game is real. Rich audio effects and engaging soundtracks, interactive elements and characters that respond to gameplay, and more sophisticated bonus features are other perks of playing 3D online slots.
The VR slots take everything a step further by placing you in a fully realized 3D environment. With the use of VR headsets like Oculus Rift or HTC Vive for a 360-degree experience, realistic casino settings or themed worlds, first-person perspective gameplay, interactive and social interaction features, VR slot games allow you to literally play at the casino in Vegas while sitting at your home couch in Puerto Rico!
Last Few Words
Slot machines have been the most popular form of gambling over the decades due to their simplicity and randomness which adds an extra layer of excitement. While you should learn the basics to properly choose the slot machine that best suits your gambling needs, you should always remember the outcome is pure chance and you need to set a budget and gamble responsibly. While the number of free and real money online slots is immense, you can find the most popular titles with the highest RTP% at our casino slot library. Navigate the themes, choose your favorite, claim your bonus, and let the fun begin!
FAQs
What is the best slot machine to play?
The best slot is the one that suits your personal preferences, bankroll, and gambling style. Still, you should always choose the slot machine with the highest RTP.
What does RTP mean in a slot machine?
RTP is a theoretical long-term average of money that a slot machine pays out to players.
What is a slot variance?
Slot variance or volatility refers to the frequency that a slot pays out and the amount of its prizes.
How many types of slots are there?
While the variations of slot games are literally unlimited, most of them belong to the 6 categories explained above.