Opening thoughts
Online slots are a staple of the casino industry. Like other parts of the casino gaming ecosystem, they have effortlessly transitioned from the land-based casino floor to digital platforms, including desktops, laptops and more recently, smartphones and tablets.
Given that the industry is a multibillion-dollar, standalone sector, its success is also evident in the number of slot games. With this success comes several subdivisions, and one of the more unlikely angles has been the emergence of online casino review sites with analysts and experts who specialize in slot gaming.
Some of these experts review online slots, and over the last decade or so, they’ve developed a list of criteria and variables that they use to rate the top games and determine which titles are a cut above the rest.
Although online slots reviews cover a broad spectrum of variables, we will touch on some of the most common ones that drive the bulk of the ratings, and what experts believe are the most important when differentiating the top games from the subpar or average ones.
Audiovisuals
With thousands of slot machine games, the first factor many experts rate a new game on is its audiovisual element. For instance, a candy-themed slot’s audiovisual element will focus on how vivid and bright the symbols are, whether they use jellybeans, strawberry-coloured sweets, blueberries or candy canes, and how detailed the backdrop is.
If it’s something that’s been thrown together quickly by a game designer, or the symbol design doesn’t differ from other titles in the sector, then online slot reviewers will mark it down. Audiovisuals are a vital aspect of slot games. Still, with more businesses emphasising the quality and importance of audiovisual performance, there’s more money going into the design, resulting in slot games and specialist audiovisual technicians bringing their expertise from other businesses into the slot gaming world.
However, depending on the theme, experts could use other criteria. An Ancient Egyptian mythology game will not rely on the same principles, and experts will not rank it in precisely the same manner; they’ll instead check if the music from the game matches the feel of the slot, and again, whether the backdrop and symbol design match the title and feel of the game.
If it’s a slot based on a famous TV show like Breaking Bad, reviewers will rate the audiovisual elements that tie into the show and how well they translate into a game design.
Game design
Although game design is closely connected to the audiovisual aspect, it refers specifically to the grid design and the composition of the bonus game. It delves further into the details of the designer. So, suppose a slot has been made by one of the top names in the industry, such as Microgaming or Pragmatic Play – in that case, it’s likely to be judged a little more strictly by experts than a game by a new developer would be, purely because of how long they have been in the market and how many games they currently have active.
Payouts
Slot games can vary significantly based on their highest payouts. Some slots have a small payout of 100x – and while that doesn’t sound small, the fact that some of the biggest max jackpots are more than 50,000x shows just how much of a scope there is.
Experts don’t simply base it on the value; they assess the game’s volatility and RTP, and see what people say about it online, as well as how often it actually pays out. This applies to all types of jackpot games, whether a standard jackpot is part of a conventional game or a progressive one.
Bonus features
Although bonus features aren’t always the most important aspect of a slot game, experts will weigh up the quality of free spins, wild games and high-paying symbols to see how bonus features match up against the quality of the main base game, and how the bonuses measure up against the bonus features of similar games from the same genre. Bonus features often lead to a max payout, so reviewers sometimes pair the two as part of their insight.
Playability
The hardest thing for slot game designers to get right is nailing how replayable their slot titles are. However, for those that can achieve this, this is a big part of the battle when designing a highly-rated game. As we have already touched on, there are thousands of slot games out there, and those that can capture an audience, impress reviewers and instil an immediate replayability factor are almost certainly on to a winner.
Conclusion
Despite their expertise and knowledge of the sector, slot game reviewers still have some element of preference and bias. While they will weigh up the quality of a game based on all of the criteria we have touched on today, they will finalise their review by homing in on what they most like about it.
They may be experts in the field, but they still have a preference or bias, whether it’s the particular slot genre or the grid design, or they may prefer cascading slots to free spins games. Impartiality, up to a point, is vital for an expert review, but once they have thrown in these other factors we have discussed, then you can use their reviews as an effective supplementary guide to find out which game is best for you and your slots preference.
