In every online casino, you will undoubtedly find a huge variety of games that you can enjoy. There’s poker, roulette, blackjack, lotteries, bingo, and a lot more. But one of the biggest sections in most online casinos is the slot games.
In a well-established casino site, you can find anywhere from a few hundred to more than a thousand slot games. They are based on common elements but vary widely in terms of themes, gameplay, and rewards.
With the growing popularity of real money casinos in South Africa, a huge number of people in the continent are drawn to these slot games. If you’re one of them, then this article is definitely for you, as we have put up a detailed guide to slot games, the game mechanism, and different types and variations of slots.
Slot machines were very popular in arcade stores and land-based casinos long before online casinos came into existence. A physical slot machine has three or more lines shown on a screen with a list of symbols on them. These lines are called paylines.
A player must enter some chips to activate these paylines and then pull a lever to spin them. After some time, these lines come to a halt one by one, and you can see what symbols landed on each line. The players win different rewards when specific symbol combinations land on the slot.
Online slots work exactly the same way, just that they are operated digitally on your phone or computer screen. The main game screen will show the paylines and the symbols on them. You can check the different symbol combinations which will give you rewards.
There’s a box where you can enter how much you want to wager and how many paylines you wish to activate. Once you put a wager and spin the reels, you just need to wait and hope that it will land a winning combination. As such, slots are a game of luck.
All slot games have the same gameplay mechanics – enter a wager, spin the paylines, and win rewards if the same symbols (or a particular combination of symbols) land on multiple paylines. But there are thousands of different slot games, and they have some variations even though based on the same basics.
These are simple 3-reel slot games that are almost the same as the physical slot machines they are based on.
These are just like the classic slots, but they have 5 or more paylines. The number of paylines you find in these games depends on the casinos and gaming providers, and you can even find some games with 15 to 20 paylines.
These are special type of slot games that work differently. In these slots, a big jackpot amount is set initially, which can be won with a specific combination of symbols. Every time a player places a wager and spins the reels, the jackpot amount increases. This continues until one player finally wins the jackpot.
These are regular slots of online games but based on a theme. The theme can be anything from the ocean and planets to pirates and dragons. The symbols in the reels and their combinations are also designed as per the themes.
There are hundreds of different gaming providers who make and distribute different types of casino games. For most of the online casinos in Africa, four main gaming providers provide the majority of the slot games, and they are:
One of the most well-known gaming providers and gambling software developers, they are also considered to be the ones who kick-started the online gambling trend. Some online casinos in African countries that are powered by Microgaming are:
Established in 1996, NetEnt was another company that quickly banked on the online casino gaming industry when it was still in its early stages. Today, they have thousands of different game titles under their name. NetEnt powers the following online casinos in Africa:
Real-Time Gaming (RTG) entered the casino gaming domain in 1998 and was not as well-known as Microgaming or NetEnt in its early years. But today they power many sites all over the world and provide a huge variety of casino games. Following are the popular casinos in Africa powered by RTG:
Playtech came into existence in 1999, being the last of these four gaming providers to enter the industry. But they have slowly emerged as one of the top gaming operators in many countries. Some casinos in Africa powered by Playtech are:
These are the four main gaming operators and software providers in Africa, covering all major countries where online casinos are popular such as Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Mauritius, Morocco, etc.
Almost every recognized online casino operating in South Africa has a huge collection of slot games, and the list may seem endless. But here’s a glimpse of some of the most popular slot games that are quite popular among African players:
88 Fortunes is a 5-reel slot game with simple but immersive gameplay. It has a total of 243 payline combinations that reward some winnings to players along with four jackpot amounts. Letters and numbers are the common symbols in this game, and there are some special gold symbols that are rare but offer higher rewards.
As is evident from the name itself, Zeus is a slot game based on the Greek mythology theme, especially revolving around Zeus – the Greek God of thunder. 30 winning payline combinations, hundreds of free spins, and special symbols that activate huge bonuses are some of the reasons why Zeus is extremely popular among players.
Rainbow Riches is a slot game that is popular not just in Africa but all around the globe in major online casinos. It has 20 different payline combinations, but the main highlight is its jackpot prize. Instead of offering a fixed jackpot amount, players can win 500 times their bet amount as the highest reward in this game, which is triggered by landing 5 wild symbols on the payline.
Mega Fortune Wheel is a progressive jackpot slot where players have the chance to win a huge reward ranging in millions. However, winning the jackpot is difficult as there are only 9 paylines in this game. But that is what makes this game all the more exciting and popular. There is a low chance to win the main jackpot, but the rewards are outstanding, which gives players the thrill of risk vs. reward experience.
Gonzo’s Quest is a fun and entertaining slot game with an Aztec symbol theme. An interesting feature of this game is that when you spin the wheels and win some prize, the winning symbol combination disappears from the reels, and the symbols above it dropdown.
So, players can even get multiple wins from one single spin. It has 20 paylines and a low minimum bet so players can enjoy this game on a low budget as well.
Slot games are based on luck and not on skill or strategy. So there are some guidelines that you must follow to ensure that you play responsibly.
Online slots are fun to play, keep players excited, and award excellent winnings on a lucky day. However, it’s also easy to get addicted to these games in hopes of a big win that could change one’s life around. That is why we advise all our readers to play responsibly and enjoy the game as a form of entertainment but not as a source of money-making. Be also sure to read our informative and useful beginner online slots guide for enthusiastic players in South Africa.
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