Top Casino Slots and Where to Find Them
Online slots provide a fast and hugely entertaining way of placing some wagers on interesting games. There are thousands of these games to choose from, covering every theme you can imagine and with a vast range of features that add to the appeal. How can you choose wisely? Our mission is to let you know about the top casino slots and give you all the vital information you need to get started confidently. Just sit back and get ready to start spinning on some incredible games!
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Our Fine Selection of Best Casino Slots
There are many real money slots that we love to play, so picking our favourites is something that is difficult to do. However, we have thought long and hard about it before coming up with the following list of what we think are the best slots casino online players can try.
- Book of Ra (NOVOMATIC) - Step into the magical world of Ancient Egypt with this five-reel thriller from NOVOMATIC. The set-up is clean and simple, with the bonus features including free spins, wilds, and an expanding scatter. With a mythological feel and simple gameplay, this is a great introduction to the world of slots for any newcomer interested in exploring the ever-popular Egyptian theme.
- Avalon 2 (Microgaming) - Created by one of the biggest names in the industry, this is among the best casino slots, as it takes you on a thrilling mission to find the Holy Grail across the reels. It looks fantastic, while the presence of eight bonus games and 243 ways to win make it hugely varied to play too.
- Starburst (NetEnt) - Another of the all-time classic slots, Starburst is based on coloured gems that you need to try and get in matching combinations for a payout. There is nothing too complicated about this slot, although expanding wilds and free re-spins make it exciting to play time after time and have ensured that it remains wildly popular among players.
- Desert Treasure (Playtech) - There's a hot, dry atmosphere in this scorching slot from another of the top casino slots developers in the business. Five reels feature a variety of desert creatures and playing card symbols on them. Wilds, scatters, and bonus symbols all help to add variety while the reels spin around.
- Vegas Diamonds (ELK Studios) - This three-reel brings you the bright lights and glitzy atmosphere of a casino without leaving home. The use of traditional slots images like fruits and BAR symbols adds a retro feel that contrasts neatly with the slick, modern backdrop you see behind the reels.
- Werewolf Wild (Aristocrat) - If you are looking for a hair-raising experience, this atmospheric slot is ideal, as it transports you to a place where werewolves roam. The three stand-out features include a mystery coin feature, free games with contagious wilds and a claw swipe feature with random wilds.
- Cops'n'Robbers (Play'n GO) - Try and escape from the long arm of the law in this retro-style slot. The theme is good fun, and the most interesting moments include a cool free spins round set up as a car chase, and the chance to build wins using wild symbols.
Why Invest Your Time in the Best Online Casino Slots?
The popularity of online slots has exploded massively in recent years, as more and more of us have discovered the pleasure of playing them at any time of day. The following are a few of the main advantages of playing these games on the best slots sites that you may be interested in.
- Fast and easy to play - If you want to add a dash of fun to your day, this is a wonderful way of doing so with no fuss and with no complicated rules to learn. An all-action slot like Starburst or Twin Spin can be picked up in no time. You will soon be spinning away, even if you have never seen or played a slot before today.
- The variety of themes - One of the great things about slots is that they can be adapted to any theme. This is why we can see titles like Lord of the Ocean, Queen of the Nile 2 and Mahjong 88 among your options. Other popular themes include Irish luck, pirates, superheroes, and movies, so there is really something for every taste.
- Play anywhere you go - These are cool little games that you play directly in the browser of a computer or mobile device, meaning that you can play them anywhere you go and at any time of day. You don't need to ever be bored on a long train journey or on your lunch break anymore.
- Play with bonuses - Many of the best slot sites will give you bonus funds or free spins to let you get started more easily on their games. This lets you attempt to earn some real cash without the risk of losing your own.
- High RTPs - The return to player (RTP) figure tells you how much a casino game gives back to its players. Slots tend to be over 90%, with many of the latest new casino slots sitting at over 95%.
- All-action fun - These games offer a constant supply of fun as you make the reels spin around over and over again. Even if you are playing with a small stake, the chance to win some money makes it an exciting way to pass some time.
Developing New Casino Slots
You may notice that some of your favourite slots look similar, which could be because they come from the same developer. These companies design and create the new casino slots that you see listed on the online casinos you use. While some of them have a trademark style, others change their approach for every new game, meaning that you are never certain which games are theirs.
Among the big names in this vibrant industry are NetEnt, Microgaming, Playtech and NOVOMATIC. As you look through the list of the best online casino slots, you will probably see that you prefer the games from one or more of these developers. For instance, if you enjoy Avalon 2 from Microgaming, you will probably like Tomb Raider by them too. NetEnt have produced the likes of Twin Spin and Starburst, which are different from one another but each exciting in their own way.
The Variety of Features and Designs
The vast range of slots available online these days means that you will come across lots of different kinds of them, which is great news for anyone who enjoys getting a lot of variety in their day. Yet, it also raises the question of how to decide which type of slot to choose. By understanding the following categories, you will be able to choose the best online slots players can access.
3-reel slots are typically very simple, with few features and they often come with a retro look and just one payline.
5-reel slots are more common type than the 3-reel versions although you may also see some with 6 or 7 reels across them these days. With 5 reels, there is plenty of scope for adding features and more complex gameplay.
Fruit machines. The origins of online slots can be seen in fruit machine-based games. They are usually based on traditional images like fruits, bells and cherries and may have sound effects that transport you back in time too.
Multiline slots. While the previous slots tend to have a fixed number of paylines, others will have many more ways to win. For example, you will see slots with 243 ways to win or where wins are paid out for adjacent clusters of symbols.
Megaways slots have an ever-changing set-up where the reels and the potential number of ways of winning change with each spin, so you never know what to expect next. At the time of writing, there is an increasing trend for re-packing much-loved games as Megaways versions on the top slot sites.
Video slots is the name often given to the standard 5x3 layout that you will see on many slots right now. These games will sometimes, but not always, include video clips or animated sequences to spice them up even more.
Grid slots are set up to pay out on horizontal or vertical lines. They usually take place on a big grid where winning combinations are replaced by new symbols cascading down from above.
3D slots add some extra depth with the use of life-like images that add to the appeal. There aren't too many slots like this just now, but they are worth keeping an eye out for anyway.
Finding the Perfect Online Slot Game
So far so good, but are you still wondering what exactly you should be looking for in a new slot to try out? By understanding the ways that these games differ, you will find it a lot easier to discover which of the best casino slots are most suited to your personality and style of play.
- The paylines. As we saw earlier, this can vary greatly - from a single payline to thousands of ways of winning. The idea is that you can only win money if you get a matching combination of symbols on an active payline. More paylines doesn't always mean more significant wins, and slots with fewer paylines may have bigger prizes on offer.
- Wild symbols. There are special images that can replace any other image (in most cases except Scatter symbols) to complete a winning line. They sometimes become even more valuable with added functionality such as locking into place or multiplying across the screen.
- Scatter symbols are typically the icons that led you into a free spins round on the top casino slots and may also trigger an instant cash payout. Bear in mind that three or more usually only need to appear anywhere on the screen, rather than on a payline.
- Free spins are usually the most important bonus round. You can rack up some nice winnings if you get a bunch of these games, and they sometimes come with added features on them, to make them even more important.
- Multipliers will increase the amount of your win by the number of times stated on it. This can lead to the game's best wins.
- A gamble feature may be offered after a winning spin. This will give you a chance to double your win, but you also risk losing it. This feature is usually decided on the turn of a card.
- Cascade or avalanche are a couple of names given to the way that winning lines disappear, explode or crumble away on certain games. They are then filled in by new symbols falling into place, which means that you get an extra chance to pick up a win.
The Difference between RTP and Volatility
The higher the RTP on a slot, the more confident you will be of some wins. This is the Return to Player, telling you what is paid out to players over time. It is based on thousands of spins, so it doesn't tell you exactly how much you will win. Yet, it is a decent indicator of how the game might go for you.
It is important to not mix up volatility with RTP. Volatility is an indicator of how often a slot is going to pay out. For instance, a low volatility game should give you regular wins, but possibly on small amounts. A high volatility slot is going to give you less frequent wins, but you will expect the prizes to be bigger on those occasions where you get a matching combo of symbols on the screen.
The Benefits of Free Spins
Landing a bunch of free spins is always great news, as this is one of the best ways of piling up some winnings very quickly. They are usually triggered when the scatter symbol lands on three spaces on the reels at once, although this isn't always the case as sometimes just two of them are needed. This will often lead to 10 free spins, with an extra 5 added for each extra scatter that you can see, although this number can vary from one game to another.
The slot's rules will tell you if free spins can be re-triggered by getting more scatters during them. They will also tell you if anything changes during the free games, such as the addition of a multiplier or extra wilds being added.
The Mobile Slots Casino Experience
Most of the best new slots are just as good on mobile devices as they are on a computer. The gameplay and the prizes should be exactly the same when you play on a phone, tablet, or laptop. What might change slightly is the presentation, but this shouldn't be a major difference. Some developers release special mobile versions of games too, such as the NetEnt Touch series. You will also see that some casinos have mobile apps to help deliver their omni-channel approach.
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Demo or Real Money Play?
You may not realise that you can play slots for real money or else for free. Here are some of the factors to take into account when deciding what to do.
- You can win real cash on online slots for real money but not on dummy play.
- There is no risk of losing anything when you play just for fun.
- Playing for fun also gives you a chance to get used to a new game before you play it with cash on the line.
- Real money slots games add more excitement and tension to the occasion.
How to Choose the Right Place to Play?
Fair play and completely random results are generated on top online slots through the use of a random number generator (RNG). This is a piece of software that instantly produces the data needed for the slot to come up with the results of a spin. All good, regulated casinos will regularly test their RNG games. Look out for details of testing being carried out by the likes of eCOGRA, and iTech Labs.