Slot Machines Types

As is true with pretty much everything in the Western world, we like a bit of variety in our online slots.

It should not really come as any surprise then, that there are now several major types of slot machines out there on the online gambling market.

Before any first time gamer sits down and contemplates giving the online slot world the best that they have got to offer, they should study these groups of slots.

Below is a list of the most popular slot machine types for you to browse. This list is designed to help you understand the difference between them, and to see what makes each type of slot machine unique and special.

Classic slots

Classic slots are the modern equivalent of the very first slot machines, designed over 100 years ago. Classic slots are not (as they may sound), modern video slots that have become popular.

Classic slots contain only 3 reels, and they generally only have a single payline, which runs across the centre of those reels. Modern classic slots have been known to contain 3 to 5 paylines, but never more than that.

Classic slot machines are cheap to play and most do not contain any special symbols. This means that there are no special features to be triggered in these games.

There are exceptions of course, though these are rare. They also contain very elementary styled icons, such as fruit, bars, sevens and cherries. These icons will all be very easily to recognise.

Video slots / Bonus slots

Video slots are the next step in the slot evolutionary ladder, on from classic slots. These games make up the largest proportion of slots on the market today. Video slots are sometimes known as bonus slots, namely due to the fact that most offer bonus rounds.

These bonus rounds almost always take place on a second screen, and can include anything from free spins to pick and win games, mini games to jackpot bonus rounds.

Video slots are also instantly recognisable because they contains 5 reels or more (as opposed to the standard 3 reels in classic slots), and a multitude of paylines. Paylines can total from 5 up to 1,024 ways to win, although a few have dared to go beyond even that massive amount!

Because of their enhanced payline structure, video slots offer greater flexibility when it comes to wagering, than classic slots do.

Video slots often contain special symbols and special features. Wild icons are commonplace, as are scatters. Wilds act as replacement symbols for icons that you need to complete a win.

They come in many forms and can also award jackpots. Scatter icons typically trigger the bonus rounds in video slots, and they are useful because they count wherever they fall on the reels.

Fruit machines

Fruit machines are very similar to classic slots. The main difference between them is the icons that are featured on the reels. Fruit machines exclusively use fruit icons as winning symbols. It is not uncommon for a fruit machine to include the nudge feature. Nudges allow players to hold specific reels where they are, whilst simultaneously bumping another reel down a symbol or two, to create a winning line of symbols.

These machines were very common in UK pubs in the 1980s and have regained their popularity online as of late. It is also possible for fruit machines to have some sort of mini-game or bonus round, though this is not a necessity and is still somewhat rare.

Progressive jackpot slots

The most appealing of all the slots are the progressive jackpot slots. These can be both classic and video slots. Although not a type of slot as such (being more a genre than anything else), progressive jackpot slots are unique for one main reason.

Progressive jackpot slots do not have a fixed jackpot. Their jackpot is made up of chunks out of every gamer’s stake, therefore it can rise higher and higher until it is won. When it is won, it returns to a default minimum, before climbing once more.

Progressive jackpot slots can sometimes have 3 or 4 progressive jackpots to win, in one game. The jackpot can be triggered randomly, by matching up symbols on the reels, or by winning a bonus round.

Progressive jackpots are notoriously hard to win, although have been known to pay out millions of dollars at any single time.

Non-progressive jackpot slots

Everything has an opposite, and the opposite of progressive jackpot slots, are non-progressive jackpot slots. These can also be both classic and video slots, and are the most commonly found jackpots in slot games of all types.

Non-progressive jackpots cannot be won randomly, and they are won when a player matches the correct symbols on the reels, or when they win a bonus round.

Non-progressive jackpots are always set at a fixed amount, meaning that two or more players could win the jackpot right after one another, and still pick up the same amount.

Non-progressive jackpot slots have jackpots that vary from a couple of hundred dollars to tens of thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars, but are seldom bigger than that.

Themed/Franchised slots

Most video slots are themed, meaning that they have been designed in a specific manner, colour or style, to represent something that appeals to a player. However, there are specific video slots which fit into a category called “franchised” or “themed” slots.

These are slots which don’t use your regular random and generic themes, but instead have acquired a license from a franchise. Such titles include slots themed on movies, television shows, video games or comic books.

Whilst they may be progressive and non-progressive in nature, their special features are usually related specifically in some way to their theme and are 100% unique to that particular slot.

Rolling reels / Cascading reels and Avalanche slots

Call them what you will! Sometimes they are known as rolling reels or cascading reels. At other times, they can be called avalanche slots or exploding symbol slots.

They all mean the same thing, in essence. These types of slot machines are standard video slots, which can be either progressive or non-progressive. They do however; have a very unique feature which sets them aside from other titles.

When a player wins, the icons that they won with are removed from play and a new set of icons replaces them, by dropping down from above. This occurs at no extra cost to the player, so the gamer could pick up multiple wins with just a single spin.

It is also possible for the player to land multipliers which increase with every “re-spin” or consecutive win they encounter.

Mobile slots

Mobile slots are the latest step in the evolutionary ladder for slots. Mobile slots can be either classic or video slot titles, although they are modified to run on mobile gaming devices.

This often means that their wagering structure has been altered, or that certain features have been removed, or replaced with specific mobile only features. Some mobile slots are just ported versions of online slots, but others can be 100% unique titles, created especially for mobile players.

3D slots

Finally, we have 3D slots. 3D slots are relatively new. Although casino software developers have toyed with the idea for a while, and even experimented; it is only now that we are finally seeing the dream come true.

3D slots feature superb 3D animated graphics, animated characters and icons, and even animated video clips. A lot of 3D slots will drop the wild icon, replacing it with additional special features instead, though 3D slots with wilds do exist and are plentiful enough to find.

It is entirely probable that in another 5 years or so, all video slots will be replaced with 3D slots, as technology in the gaming world continues to advance.