The world of online slot gaming is a far cry from what it once was. Formerly just spinning reels, slots have evolved into complex gaming scenarios. Now let’s have a look at the directions its development is headed.

One of the most obvious changes in slot games is the range of themes offered. From blockbuster movies, TV shows and rock bands to culturally significant themes, such as Egyptian or Asian-inspired games, the themes are familiar yet, at the same time, more suitable for the user.

Megaways Clusters

Recently, the innovation seen in online slots has come from utilising new mechanics and features to enhance player excitement. Recently, an innovation called Megaways Clusters, developed by the Australian game developer company Big Time Gaming, gives players many chances at winning victories; it is currently available at selected online casinos.

This is how the mechanism differs from classic payline slots, where money is won by lining up symbols along predetermined lines. With cluster pays, however, money is won by forming groups of identical symbols. Not only has this added a distinct flavour to online slot gameplay, it’s also created increased opportunities for huge wins.

The Star Clusters Megaclusters slot from Big Time Gaming perfectly encapsulates this new trend, its four-by-four grid giving a simple playing experience with the potential for cascading wins, while its high volatility means that players may not see regular wins but, when they do, they may be for bigger prizes.

Multipliers

Multipliers have quickly become one of the most dominant features in slots gaming and appear in slot after slot online. Multipliers boost your win and can make all the difference to your bankroll; you might also find that the multiplier enhances the likelihood of winning spins without increasing the stake you bet either on a game round or in total.

It was first used by BTG in 2015 and it has rapidly become the most popular way to create high-volatility games, offering up to 117,649 ways to win; a system many developers have since copied or built on.

BTG has licensed their Megaways engine to a number of other providers so now we have waves of titles with this mechanic. Kluster Krystals Megaclusters by Relax Gaming, for instance, combines cluster pays with Tetris-style symbols that break into small icons when a pay is found for a turbulent and completely non-deterministic experience – these games can be especially hard and really require a patient player with an honed intuition.

Scatter symbols

Scatters, as a general rule, are one of the most common symbols on a slot and are often the starting point to getting to all sorts of different bonus features. Usually, they award you free spins when they land on the reels; other than that, Scatters will sometimes unlock features with a slightly increased payout that will give you better odds at winning that elusive jackpot compared with normal play – something with lower volatility.

Megaways (from the slot machine maker Big Time Gaming in Australia) is a novel new slot mechanism, launched in 2017. Slot machines traditionally have ‘paylines’. If the sticky symbol lines up with any of the paylines in a game, you win. Megaways replaces paylines with up to 117,649 possible winning ways!

They’ve so far been well-received and might become integrated into the game’s interface indefinitely. However, as a reminder, these are all strategies for winning. And ultimately that’s all you can do! All the winning methods have their pros and cons – but your choice comes down to weighing which is more important to you.

Bonus rounds

Online slot gaming is a popular form of gambling because it is entertaining and easy to understand. With each generation of slots-based machines, the user experience is enhanced with features such as skill play and immersive themes.

Slots that are branded with popular IPs are given some extra ‘legs’ to keep them current and let them wise new audiences to an IP that might otherwise have remained entirely unfamiliar to them. But the same kinds of slots such as movie, TV show, music artist and musician titles register peaks of popularity at localised or seasonal times.

Improved visuals and features draw in players from all platform bases, if not as games of chance, then definitely as games of imagination. Not only that, the introduction of themes, and with them the creation of elaborate symbol sets and custom features, has built up a narrative that keeps players engaged and coming back for more.