Slot machines or slot games have been around for many years both offline and more recently online. They are by far the most popular game in any casino, due to the very low cost for playing, and the ability to stop playing at any time.
There’s an infinite amount of slot games available, so covering all of them would be literally impossible. However, we can categorize them into various types, based on a number of different factors. Here are some of the most common categories for types of slot games.
Denominations
This is one of the most basic categories. Some games only accept pennies, other accept dollars and some let you choose from multiple denominations.
Number of Reels
This is another very basic and easily noticeable difference between slot games. These reels used to be real metal objects that spun inside the machine, however, in modern slot games these reels are just video screens.
Traditional slot games all use to have three reels, but newer ones use five reels. Because it’s correspondingly harder to win in a game which has five instead of three reels, the jackpots are even larger.
While the most common amount of reels is three and five, there are also games that have up to seven reels.
Game Type
Over the years, slot games evolved from very simple three slot games to highly immersive games with feature-rich video and sound. With this evolution, the number of different games available became literally infinite, however, we can still divide them into a few main types:
- Classic games
- Progressive Slots
- Video Slots
- 3D slots
Online Versus Land-based
There isn’t really a huge difference in terms of gameplay between online and land-based slot machines. However, due to the lower cost of running or owning an online slot game versus a real-world slot machine, the pay-outs offered in online slot games is often higher.
One disadvantage that online slots have, though, is that you don’t receive your winnings immediately. Your winnings first go to your casino account, and you need to withdraw them.
Loose Versus Tight
As you could’ve imagined, this categorization has to do with how often a slot game pays out. A loose game pays out more money more often, while a tight game does so seldomly. That being said, it is impossible to factually determine how loose or tight a slot machine is, so this evaluation is left to be determined by the player.
Flat Top Versus Progressive
Flat top machines are slot machines that have a fixed top prize. This type used to be very popular and is still common. These slots bring a lower prize, but the chances of winning are much higher compared to winning a progressive jackpot.
Progressive slot machines have a jackpot that increases over time. This is usually a tremendously large jackpot, comparable to winning the lottery. Progressive slots can be categorized even further.
Even more slot machine types are sure to be developed in the upcoming decades.
