Slots

Online slots have not been around for long. However, a lot of improvement and development has been made during this short period of time. They have certainly come a very long way since they first started to appear.

Early Development

During the 1990s, the technology was not advanced enough to make them attractive. They were, of course, fascinating just the same; however, the graphics were pretty basic and simple, and they often took a traditional format. They also used to mimic slot game effects and styles based on those you can find and play at land-based casinos.

During the next decade, online slots really exploded in popularity, taking great leaps and bounds in the right direction. Subsequently, the games became much more exciting and complex, giving them high entertainment value and a life of their own. As the technology advanced further, slot machines continued to evolve from purely mechanical beginnings, developing into a highly advanced electromechanical stage, sporting fully digital effects and animations, and maturing into the beautiful virtual machines they have transformed into today.

Introduction of Key Features

These significant improvements have allowed designers of slot games to be much more imaginative and add all kinds of extra unique features to the games. They range from a simple wild symbol to much more complex mini-games and prize payout multipliers attached to all wins.

Wild symbols work almost exactly like the concept of a wild card in a game of poker. The specific symbol is deemed to be wild, and it can represent any of the other standard symbols on the reels. It certainly increases the possibilities of activating a hefty winning payout by helping the player configure winning combinations.

The other commonly found symbol that has become a staple of modern video slots is the powerful scatter icon. These first few features started appearing on a few of the electromechanical online fruit machines. In most cases, these symbols were represented by cherries. When the cherries paid out, they would come with multiplier payouts, provided the symbols appear anywhere on the game’s reels. Unlike the other symbols, winning a payout with the cherry symbol was not just restricted to the pay lines—the player could win if they landed anywhere on the screen; thus they are scattered.

Advancements in Graphics

Better graphics led to a much better quality of artwork that started to be used to design slots. Later still, a more original level of graphical art began to appear as gaming companies began playing around with methods of setting up the screen for the gaming environment—whether to stick with a cartoonish style or make the game seem as realistic as humanly possible.

This led to the emergence and surging popularity of video slots. Instead of still images depicted upon the game’s reels, moving images and video clips were created and added, taking the gameplay to a whole new level of gaming entertainment.

The 3D Era and Beyond

These days, graphics have a strong tendency towards 3D, with vibrant and profound gaming environments. They offer a more realistic look, though they may still include cartoonish elements of entertainment or comedy.

The way these slot games were set up showed massive advancement. They started to include mini-games, bonus features, and other innovative elements. They became more convoluted and unique, as game developers started seeking to add something fresh and new to the games—things that no one else had done up to that point in time.

Players could now find skill tests incorporated into some of the mini-games, requiring a reasonable level of hand-eye coordination—perhaps even some practice to get it right. Furthermore, various bonus rounds that needed barely any input at all started to pop up concurrently.

Steady Market Growth

One thing that has remained constant throughout online slot machine history is the steady growth of the market ever since those first online slots were released, with player numbers increasing from year to year. Even with the proliferation of progressive jackpot slot games—which are continually setting new records for the highest payouts—online slots parlours are becoming more varied and entertaining than land-based slot machines.