Digital slots took the world by storm just a few decades ago, much as their predecessors had done in the times before… but if you’re not too familiar with how these games work or what makes them appealing, you might be wondering why. What pushed the world into the digital space and how did virtual, initially fairly simplistic slot machines find their place in a world dominated by the physical, much-loved versions?
Well, the basic answer is very simple. The digital version is more convenient. No more putting on your shoes and slogging out of the house in all weathers, no dealing with other patrons, no checking opening times and trying to fit things around work. Digital casinos are right there whenever and wherever you want them. Slots are extraordinarily well-suited to that kind of setup too. They’re single-player so you don’t need anyone else around and they’re easy to dip into and out of. That makes online play a match made in heaven.
But that’s the early iterations of digital slots. What about today’s slots? How are they holding sway and keeping up their competitiveness against not just their physical rivals but the vast and varied smorgasbord of online game choices we have these days?
Beautiful and Brave
Online slots are not shy. They are bold, bright, brilliant. They make use of today’s phenomenal graphics to present players with vivid, luscious images and enticing characters, and the range of themes available is just staggering. Remember, humans are immensely visual creatures. We use huge amounts of our brains in visual processing; some estimates place it at around 50%.
That means that when games look great, we respond to them and we enjoy them more – and while the original slot machines certainly made use of bright images, it’s really nothing compared with what can be done on one of today’s computer screens. Even mobile phone screens have hit the point where it’s possible to create visuals that will take your breath away, and slots are one of the casino games where the most time and effort goes into visuals.
Convenience and Choice
We mentioned convenience as probably the biggest deciding factor in people switching to online slots, and that hasn’t changed – if anything, it’s gone much further. Online casinos don’t just think about convenience in terms of when and where players can play – though they certainly do, if mobile apps are anything to judge by. They have gone all-out on maximizing convenience from as many angles as possible.
Have you ever come across pay anywhere slots, for example? Payments are certainly not a sticking point at digital casinos these days; many offer a range of options, from credit and debit cards to digital wallets to crypto payments – yes, you can both deposit money and get your winnings in cryptocurrency! Pay anywhere slots offer tons of different themes and formats, with everything from dragons to Santa to Greek Gods to candy – pick whatever appeals to you most (remembering what we said above about the visuals) and have fun without having to mess around with heavy, clunky coins the way you did with the old slot machines.
Vivid Variation
Humans love variety. We wouldn’t say the old slot machines were boring by a long shot… but they were unquestionably a bit more limited. If you played on them a lot, we’d bet that you eventually got a little sick of watching the lemons and cherries spin – even if that never actually detracted from the fun of a win.
With today’s slots though, you have almost unlimited variations. Trying to count all the different iterations of slots available these days would likely be a futile effort; any single provider is likely to have a plethora available, and they’re constantly being updated to give you more options, more options, more options.
We’re not just talking about the visuals, either (though the variety there is pretty astounding). We’re also talking about in the gameplay itself, which is key to keeping it interesting and fresh. What about five reel slots? Slots with bonus rounds? Or maybe hold and win excites you – a mode where the game will “hold” your wins in place and let you re-spin the non-winning symbols.
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Casino game developers are always reimagining the slots, coming up with new, exciting ways to engage players and give them a bit of variety in their favorite style of gameplay. These games are carefully tailored to ensure they maintain the very elements that made the slots popular all those years ago, including simple and thrilling gameplay – but they certainly add a lot. It’s nice to have gone beyond the basic format and branched into something so much more exciting, and it’s a mark of pretty incredible human creativity that even over a hundred years on from the invention of the first slot machine, we’re still coming up with new ways to enjoy that beloved concept.
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