The Role of Technology in the Changing Face of Slots
Slots games have a long history that goes all the way back to the Liberty Bell game that was created at the end of the 19th century. While the basics of playing slots haven’t changed all that much since then, modern technology has been used to introduce new twists.
More Reels and Paylines
The very first slot machine had three reels and a single line that players could win on. This format remains popular today, but we are increasingly seeing games with more reels and paylines on them. In terms of online games, many have five reels, although the original idea of getting a matching series of symbols remains the aim of the game.
The introduction of more advanced technology has allowed games developers to add in complex layouts that include six or more reels and thousands of ways of winning. Some slots even have more than one set of reels, with mini-reels spinning in addition to the main set when activated.
If we look at the online gambling games at Paddy Power, we can see several slots with Megaways in the title. These games include Deal or No Deal Megaways, Reel King Megaways and Diamond Mine Megaways. The Megaways engine produces an ever-changing layout, with the number of ways of winning varying on every spin.
Interesting Features
For most of their history, slot machines have simply spun around and either produced a winning combination of symbols or not. The introduction of nudges and simple bonus rounds increased the enjoyment but they remained very simple affairs.
In recent years, developers have discovered new ways of adding extra excitement to these games. This is done through the addition of new features such as free spins rounds, bonus games and so on.
Wild symbols were traditionally used to replace other images, helping players to complete winning lines more simply. Nowadays, these useful symbols can expand over the reels, multiply, lock into place or even wander all over the screen.
Mobile Playing Options
For many slots fans, it is the fact that most of these games are now mobile-optimised that brings the most benefits. From their past in fixed locations like land casinos to being made available on desktop computers, slots have now become even more accessible on mobile devices, as websites, in general, have moved towards mobile optimisation.
The use of technology such as HTML5 allows casinos to offer mobile slots that are equally impressive on any type of device. The benefits of HTML5 include the fact that these games are scalable to any size of screen, work with any type of device and don’t require the user to install any extra software to get started.
As more people turn to mobile casinos, it has become normal for all new slots releases to be available immediately in a mobile format as well as in the desktop version.
As we have seen, slots games remain faithful to their origins, but also now incorporate some of the latest technology to provide a more modern and varied experience.
