It’s hard to remember a time when slot games haven’t been part of the casino experience, most certainly never with the rise of online casinos. The beauty about slots is not only are they simple to play. In fact, you can set most of them in autoplay mode and let the games do the work for you. But also the fantastic variety of slots that come in. If all of this sounds like Greek, don’t worry. By the end of this guide, you’ll know everything about the enduring popularity of classic slot games, from the amazing seven to eight-reel games.
The Early Days of Classic Slot Games
Without question, the quintessential slot game is the slot machine. If you’ve watched old Hollywood movies like the original Ocean’s Eleven, you no doubt have seen the seemingly endless row of single-reel slot machines. At one point, this single reel slot machine, with a crank that you could pull, was the game of choice for the major celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe, for example.
These classic slot games had fruity themes or combined them with the amazing number sevens, the single, double, and triple bars, bells, and more. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when online casinos first went online in the mid 1990s, it was the classic slots that were only available. And even with today’s amazing megaways and jackpot slots, many online casinos still have a special section for classic slot games.
The Rise of Video Slots
Thank goodness for the rise of broadband internet and the timely leap from Flash technology to HTML5 because online slot players got their first taste of slot games with themes and different backgrounds. Instead of using the same background for single-reel slots, developers like NetEnt, Microgaming, and IGT began branching off and creating the amazing slot themes that we all know and love today.
Of course, one of the first themes was the continuation of the patriotic and fruity slots from the original three-reel era. In fact, many of these Patriotic and fruity themes got upgraded from three to five reels, thanks to technology and familiarity. This is one of the reasons why video slots flourished quickly: they maintained many of the same themes.
However, with better technology came the opportunity to innovate and create new genres. One such genre was the amazing Asian-themed genre. Almost single-handly, Asian-themed slots also broke new ground with the pay lines. Instead of settling on the new five to ten pay lines that came with early video slots, the Asian-themed slots pushed the bar to 243 pay lines.
Innovative Gameplay and Bonuses
With the rise of video slots also came modern-day features like free spins, re-spins, and sticky wilds, to name a few. A great deal of success for today’s epic six to eight reels slot games owes plenty of thanks to the advent of free spins. The ability to win bonus money continues to be too much to ignore, even for slot games that cost more than a quarter to keep playing.
Also, Asian-themed slots helped introduce multiple fixed jackpots for players to discover. It became possible to win one or even several playing the same games. Of course, the prolific progressive jackpots took over the modern-day slot game experience. The allure of winning millions, or in the case of sweepstakes casino games, millions of gold coins, continues to be a major marketing ploy to get new members to join.
The Role of Megaways Slots
You can thank NetEnt for breaking all the rules for developing the original Gonzo’s Quest. Not only did help to introduce interactive and character-driven slots, something that Pragmatic Play has perfected, but the amazing avalanche feature. With one win, the reels expand to now over 100,000 in today’s official megaways slots. Also, the winning multiplier continues to grow too.
Conclusion
With AI becoming more involved in online casino gameplay, the latest trend is to develop original-concept slot games that are only available at that particular online casino. Also, with behavioral AI, the online casino promotions are becoming more personalized, especially for new slot games.