The online casino industry has gone through a period of spectacular growth that’s brought in many new players, so it’s no surprise to see that it’s now diversifying further. This has led to some interesting trends developing that you might like to know about.
Megaways Slots
The original online slots looked a lot like land-based fruit machines, with a fixed number of symbols appearing across the reels and a set number of lines across which winning combinations could be made. While this made sense for physical machines, the Big Time Gaming studio developers realized that these restrictions were no longer necessary for online games and created the Megaways system.
It’s proved to be extremely popular, which is why we can now see so many Megaways titles. For example, a look at the slot games online at Paddy Power reveals a selection of Megaways games covering many different themes. What these slots all have in common is that the reel layout changes on every spin, meaning that the number of ways of winning varies.
Increasingly Diverse Themes
Another aspect of slots that used to be very similar to land machines is the range of themes. The classic fruity symbols and other typical themes, such as ancient Egypt, were common in the first online games of this type. However, as the industry has grown, many new articles have been introduced, meaning that they potentially appeal to a wider group of players.
Some of the most popular types of slots to be released recently include those based on fishing trips, Atlantis, and the Aztec culture, which is explained here in the Harvard Gazette. Since many different developers create these games, we often see several similar games released if the first one proves to be popular. Having said that, the fact that this market is growing so quickly means that we should see diversity continue to increase.
Different Types of Bonuses and Jackpots
The basic mechanics of slot games, as introduced here by GameSense, are simple to grasp, and this simplicity is perhaps part of the reason why these games have proven to be so massively popular for so long. The concept of completing a winning combination of matching symbols still lies at the heart of online slots, but we’re increasingly seeing new features such as bonus rounds and different ways of winning the jackpot prize.
This means that slots range from very simple affairs with a single feature, such as free spins or a wild symbol, to complex games with a range of different ways of winning and various bonus rounds. Therefore, rather than a single type of feature being the trend, we could say that the idea of a growing sense of diversification in the way games are played is the trend to look out for.
As with any type of fast-growing industry, we can look forward to seeing more changes appear in the world of online slots. However, the trends that we’ve looked at here should continue to define the general direction that online slots take and help to give players different ways of playing to choose from.
