Online slots are responsible for most games in the majority of Internet casinos and there are several reasons for their popularity.
One of the main advantages provided by the slots is that they can cover a huge variety of themes and styles, not to mention that they can have different characteristics to increase the prizes. In addition, slot players do not need to have any special skills or use strategies to win in the slots, since everything is simple and straightforward.
Even customers who are not very familiar with online casinos and who just prefer to play for free, most likely opt for slots, as a good part of the titles are inspired by familiar elements. Slot machines are even popular in land-based casinos, but they don’t even come close to the possibilities offered on the Internet, where there are several leading software providers that create some of the best looking casino games on the market.
A large part of the slot machine variety comes from the two main categories: 3-reel and 5-reel slots. Experienced players will tell you that the games in these two sections of online slots are actually quite different and it is not just the number of reels in play, but also the characteristics that can be added to the mix.
3 Reel Slots
The 3-reel slots have been around for a long time and have become classic casino games. Some vendors create new online slot games with the aim of reminding players of the old days of casinos. This means that the symbols used are easily recognizable by old-guard casino players and often include fruits like cherries, lemons, and more, the number 7 for being considered a very lucky symbol in the slots, and the well-known BAR icons that can come in three different sets.
Many players enjoy 3-reel online slots due to its simplicity and the fact that there are only three reels available means that each round is quick and easy, with no added features or bonus rounds or anything like that. The number of active pay lines for each round can reach nine, but most games in this category have three lines or just one.
Since everything is kept simple, there are no pages of text and descriptions that need to be understood to know how the games work. However, this does not mean that there are no big prizes to claim and some three-reel online slots may even have huge progressive jackpots that award life-changing amounts.
To claim the maximum prize in a classic slot, it is necessary to obtain the rare combination of three symbols on a specific line, usually the third symbol that activates for the maximum bet.
5 reels modern take on the fruit-machine
Most new releases today are five-reel online video slots, and although these make things a little more complicated with their special features and symbols, they also make playback more exciting. In order to know how a particular slot game works and what it has to offer, it is recommended to read the paytable or the information section displayed next to the reels.
The 5-reel slots come with great themes, especially those designed to be top titles right from the start. As a result, some vendors buy licenses from movie studios to create slot games based on some of the biggest box office hits to hit the big screen in recent years. Superheroes, action heroes, and more are now part of the online gaming industry and countless players enjoy their time with the characters.
But the theme is not the only thing that makes the 5 reel slots stand out, as their characteristics can be equally impressive, as they are intended to increase earnings. Special symbols include the wilds that can play the role of each regular symbol in order to create winning combinations on the lines, scatters can be paid regardless of their position on the screen and are also often associated with win multipliers or free spins, while the bonus symbols can trigger the bonus round of a video slot game that awards big prizes.
There are 243 ways to get winning combinations on a standard 5 × 3 slot screen and plenty of games have all of them active for each round.
Since there are more symbols at play and a potential multi-level bonus game, the top jackpots for the five-reel progressive slots can easily exceed a million dollars and there are more than a handful of games offering this changing prize life.
