Online slots have been around for a while. The first one appeared along with the initial digital casino in 1994. In the first two years of the industry’s existence, there were only fifteen such platforms, but two years later, players could find over two hundred operational gambling sites. Nowadays, this figure stands at over two thousand, and according to the latest data, the number of real money slots on the internet is now over fifteen thousand.
Back in the day, things use to be simple. You would enter a land-based gaming venue, and on its casino floor, you would find a slew of three-reel games. Each slot machine would resemble the other.
In today’s digital realm, things are very different. Due to the expansion of the sphere, competition is fierce, and developers have to churn out new titles to remain relevant. Generous promotions are one method with which gambling sites hook new players, but having a massive library of games is even more essential.
Demand is enormous, and the choice of gaming slot options is abundant, as diversity has increased tremendously in recent years. What follows below are some themes that are industry mainstays and serve as constant inspiration for developers.
Mythology Slots
It may sound strange to laypeople, but games based on Egyptian, Norse, and Greek mythology rule casino catalogs and top-ten lists in the iGaming industry. Undoubtedly, the most popular theme from this genre are games that exploit Egyptian myths. If you glance over at the modern slot landscape, you can see that there’s a massive chunk that uses this motif among the most played titles in the sphere.
Book of Dead, Eye of Horus, Legacy of Dead, and Cleopatra are just a few. Ancient Greece is not far behind. Age of the Gods is one of the most popular series ever, and Divine Fortune is among the most famous jackpot games of all-time. Thor and Odin also have their place and are well-represented in the slot-verse, as they are the subject of dozens of reel-spinners.
History Slots
Myths are stories of narrative origin not necessarily based on fact. They interpret and study sacred tales or fables, whereas history is a narrative of recent and factual events situated in human time. Because conquerors, historical figures and events, are known worldwide, or to put it in modern terms, have a developed brand, and require no licensing agreement, they are the ideal source material.
Caesar and other Roman emperors have been the subject of many games, such as Caesar’s Empire and Neros Fortune. The same applies to Napoleon and the French Revolution and several other figures and occurrences found in history books.
Vegas Slots
While Sin City is no longer the gambling mecca of the world, having lost that title years ago to Macau, it is still the first location people associate when they think of the activity.
You can find hundreds of reel-spinners from dozens of developers that use the name Vegas in their title and incorporate the City of Second Chances in their games. Mr. Vegas, Weekend in Vegas, Lost Vegas, Vegas Night Life, Cat in Vegas, and so on, and so on. It would be a chore and a near-impossible task to locate all the titles that utilize the desert city’s name or its spirit somehow.
Sports Slots
You likely will not find it surprising that the internet is overflowing with sports-themed slots. However, what may shock you is that the most popular games do not feature football or basketball stars. The most played games are horse racing ones, such as Scudamore’s Super Stakes and Frankie Dettori’s Sporting Legends. Ronnie O’Sullivan’s snooker-theme slot ranks pretty high as well.
Naturally, football, being the powerhouse that it is, dominates overall. Sadly, developers cannot afford to license player’s and club’s likeness. Therefore, most of these games feature generic characters and made-up teams. Some football titles that rank pretty high are Football: Champions Cup, Super Striker, and All Win FC.
Wild West Slots
Westerns were likely the most popular movie genre in the late 1940s and the early 1950s. Then, it went away, only to get resurrected in Italy in the early 1960s, and again fade away by the 1970s. In the slot-verse western-themed games, players were not very attractive until NetEnt’s Dead or Alive came onto the scene in 2009.
It brought the American West back in the limelight, and over the next few years, developers began producing more Wild West slots. In recent times, we’ve witnessed the release of quality western reel-spinners such as No Limit’s Tombstone and Deadwood, NetEnt’s Dead or Alive 2, and Relax Gaming’s two Money Train slots. It’s safe to say that gunslingers are back in style.
Fantasy Slots
Why is fantasy popular? Well, who doesn’t like iconic characters and beautifully crafted worlds where magical things are possible? It is a genre where the stories usually consist of heroes who quest to pursue their dreams, fighting against evil, in hopes of a better tomorrow. Plus, did we mention that there’s magic involved, something that appeals to everyone’s inner child.
That said, this genre does not only feature fairies, elves, and sword-swinging good guys. It also involves ghouls, vampires, and other creatures of the night. Microgaming’s Immortal Romance is a legendary industry title, as is the Kingdoms Rise series, and Wilderland is a popular enchanting reel-spinning adventure.
Fruit Machines
Slot machines have multiple names. You may hear some people refer to them as one-armed bandits, others as pokies, and some may even call the fruit machines. The latter moniker comes from the fact that the symbols used in the earliest versions of these games were fruits, such as lemons, berries, cherries, and the like.
Since most of the games had a combo of classic card royals and fruit symbols, players gave them the name fruit machines. Keeping with this tradition, developers release vintage-like slots that utilize this theme, hoping to capture a sense of nostalgia. Fruit Frenzy from pioneer Realtime Gaming is a five-reel game that takes this concept to a whole new level.
Branded Slots
We mentioned before that companies either have difficulty acquiring or flat out refuse to spring for expensive licenses to use the likeness of sports stars. However, branded slots do exist, as games that feature the likeness of famous bands, TV shows, movies, old arcade games, and pretty much everything else are a thing. There are Megadeth and Kiss slots.
There is a Narcos reel-spinner, as well as a Game of Thrones one. Yes, Jurassic Park is a movie series, but several coin machines are also based on the films. You can play Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior at an online casino, and you can watch Rick and Morty rotate on reels on the same site as well.
Megaways Slots
Megaways is a game engine invented by Australian-based company Big Time Gaming and licensed to other developers such as Red Tiger Gaming. It is a random reel modifier that changes the number of symbols that can appear per reel on any given spin.
It’s a type of slot where each rotation can have a different grid layout, making it possible for thousands of available paylines. Today, this is one of the most popular genres out there, as such titles are known for massive wins and gameplay that’s more complex than what classic games provide.
Progressive Slots
When touching on the subject of big wins, how can we not mention the category of slots that provide the biggest prizes of all, progressive jackpots? Progressive games are reel-spinners with a jackpot reward on the line that grows with each unsuccessful attempt to claim it.
These titles tie in multiple platforms into a single massive prize pool, enlarging until someone wins it all. Once a player gets lucky, the jackpot amount resets to a seed value and begins rising again, as the cycle starts all over again. These are the prizes that can change your life. They can make tomorrow different that all the days preceding it.
Final Word
As technology evolves, game developers are continuously on the lookout for innovative ways to entertain reel-spinning enthusiasts. While new types of games and contemporary themes are exciting, some will remain ever-green. We do not foresee a time where there will be a drought regarding Egyptian-theme games or sports-themed ones. So, you can both fall back on classic motifs and look forward to new ones.
The iGaming landscape is vast, and there are plenty of choices, both in terms of available platforms and titles that utilize all kinds of different motifs and gameplay concepts. Find a reputable online casino with a decently sized welcome bonus, search out a coupon code, register, and start spinning reels whose theme best resonates with you.
