Slots and their relevance in the digital era

Slot machines are one of the most popular casino games in the world. From the moment of their creation, their development has been in constant evolution, to adapt them to the demands of the market and the players. They are known by many names, but slot machines are the one that stuck the most.

To put it simply, slot machines are made up of reels, in a vertical position, and rows, in a horizontal position, which rotate when a button is pressed, or a lever is pulled. Within these rows appear different figures or symbols that are going to be combined, in pay lines, so that the player obtains prizes according to an initially established prize table. Currently, the most popular online slots have the configuration of 5 reels and 3 rows.

Over time, their designs have become much more complex, increasing the number of reels and rows, going from having a mechanical system to a computer system, and they have even been able to be played in online casinos. The latter has incorporated cinematic graphics such as 3D rendered images, movie clips and sound effects, and have even come to have multiple screens for the same game.

A bit of history about slot machines

The first registered slot machine was created in San Francisco, United States by Charles Fey. Some sources maintain that it was in the year 1887, while others establish that it was in 1895, without there being a consensus on the matter.

This game was baptized as “Liberty Bell”, or the bell of freedom, and quickly caught on with the public. Featuring a simple mechanical system that spun three reels with 5 symbols on each in a single row, it was quickly chosen by many players as their favourite game. Among the symbols available on the reels, a representation of the liberty bell stood out, an element of historical importance located in Philadelphia, United States, which summoned citizens to read the declaration of independence in 1776, which would give rise to the name of this slot machine. Inspired by the success of this game, many copies of the device were generated by modifying the design, thus giving rise to a large number of versions of the system.

Quickly, many places in the United States had this type of slots and it was common to find them in bars, salons, barbershops and even brothels, which greatly boosted their popularity. As a curious fact, one of the symbols used in the most popular classic and old slot machines is the word BAR. This is because the American company “Bell-Fruit Gum Company”, in whose logo the word in question appeared, had its own version of this game, in which the winner was given chewing gum of a particular flavour. Depending on the symbols you get.

Slot machines today

Despite the passage of time, slot machines continue to be one of the most coveted games with players around the world, which has meant that many companies that develop software for online casinos have a wide catalogue of these among their products. These developers are constantly designing new and more attractive slots to attract more players. Currently, there are slot machines with up to 6 reels and 4 rows, with videos and animations in three dimensions of the highest quality, with themes that can vary and range from gods of Greek mythology to popular television series.

Casino slot games are constantly being created and can be played from any mobile device you may already own, tablets or straight from a PC. Their online nature allows accepting digital payment methods such as wire transfers, credit cards and even PayPal. You will be rewarded with the same juicy Jackpots you may find in a land casino but from the comfort of your home.

Technological advances

One of the most important and obvious features between the old mechanical slots and the online version of them is mostly the graphics. Online versions take advantage of the new screens our phones come with, so the graphics are very sharp and colours are extremely vivid.

The animations are spot on. While the physical versions have their charm, the online counterpart has perfect digitalized graphics and they go even further by creating captiviting animations that will keep you entertained for hours.

Also, these graphics can be easily updated, or renewed to keep up with screen resolutions. There’s a huge team of developers working constantly on making these online slots look and feel as good as possible as devices and internet connections keep getting upgraded.

Themes

Themes are as important as the visuals. Themes are what ultimately relates to players and make them feel more familiar with the game.

The great advantage online slots have over real machines is that they can be released as soon as licenses are acquired without the need to distribute any hardware. It can be put out on the internet and updated pretty quickly.

While classic themes are mostly preferred, there are pretty good ones from franchises loved by the many such as King Kong, Jumanji, Planet of the Apes and Jurassic Park. The list is endless and there are many more to come.

Conclusion

While physical slots will always have a place in our hearts, the online version has cut through the player’s heart really fast.

Their ability to play from any device and at any place plays a huge part in the evolution of this media.

Also, the variety is enormous. While your local casino may update their machines every now and then, they can’t match the amount of content available on any of the online slots we can access.

While their core gameplay is the same and they probably share the same public, they offer completely different experiences. If you decide to go visit your local casino to play slots you will have to make a minimal planning ahead, maybe make dinner reservations or you can eat at the land casino. Now, if you feel like playing from home or taking a few spins while commuting to and then move on with your daily routing you know online slots will always be available for you.