Do you know all the different slot machines you can play?
It’s funny…
Back in the day the only slot machine you could play is the 3-reel mechanical slot. The classic machine people also call the one-armed bandit.
But nowadays?
There are all kinds of slot machines. And many have been upgraded to have 5-reels and a video screen which allows them to do all sorts of things like include animation, stories, bonus rounds and mini games.
Some of my favorite slots are ones the casino has to get rights for. Slots that take TV shows, movies or comic book characters and turn them into a fun game I can win money from.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
Anyway, the point of this page is to show you all the different options you have. You’ll notice that most, if not all of the following options are not only available online, but you’ll find them in any major casino worldwide.
Let’s look at those now.
Types of Slot Machines
Here are the different slot machines you’ll come across. One thing to keep in mind is slot machines are hit and miss from one casino to the next because of the software providers they work with. This is true for both online and offline casinos.
In no particular order…
- Classic Slots – These are also called traditional slots or one-armed bandits. These are the old school 3-reel mechanical machines that usually have fruit, bar and bell symbols.
- Bonus Slots – You’ll find slots with bonus rounds on most 5-reel video slot machines. Once you trigger a bonus round you’ll play a mini game that can result in you winning credits, free spins, multipliers, etc.
- Fruit Machines – These are popular in the UK. These machines – at least back in the day – primarily used fruit symbols. But that’s not entirely true today. These machines also have features like hold, nudge and hi/lo gamble buttons. Some of these machines came in 4 and 5-reel variations too.
- Progressives – If these don’t get you excited, nothing will.
The idea of progressive slots is this – each time you make the max bet a portion of it will go to a jackpot. This jackpot continues to build – sometimes reaching the millions of dollars – until one lucky player hits the winning combination and wins it all. Then the jackpot starts over again.
Some jackpots are even on a network which means the pot will get built from any person playing the machine, no matter the casino.
- Video Slots – Most machines nowadays are video slots. This gives game makers more freedom in creating their games which can include cut scenes (stories), bound rounds, mini games, animations, player interaction and more.
- Multiple Paylines – These machines give you the opportunity to win from multiple angles instead of the one line across the middle. You can bet as few or as many lines as you want. The more lines you play, the more it will cost, but at the same time means the more chances you have of hitting a winning combo.
- Community – These machines are more common in brick and mortar casinos. These machines seat multiple players and often have fun mini-games and other group elements. Examples of community slots would be Monopoly, Life or Clue board game slots.
- 3D – Just as it sounds. These machines are 3D like today’s video games. The best 3D slots you’ll find come from BetSoft – at least online.
- Licensed Slots – These are machines the slot software providers had to get permission to make. They usually revolve around a TV show, movie, band, musician, comic book, video game or some other sort of popular pop culture. Examples include – Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, KISS, Michael Jackson, Elvis, Hitman, Wizard of Oz, Monopoly, Life, Clue and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
The best licensed slots will come from Microgaming, IGT and Playtech powered casinos. That means US players are out of luck. Sorry, you’ll have to visit a Las Vegas casino instead.
- Penny Slots – You can play for 1 penny per line. Every casino I’ve been too allows you to bet that small. In fact, all the machines I played in Las Vegas were 30, 40, 50, 60 or 75-lines with a one penny per line minimum.
Now that you know what your options are, your next step is to read our reviews to see which casinos offer the type of slot machines you want to play. You can find our reviews here.
