Gaming slots are having their moment in the limelight. 2022 has seen an explosion in the number of players, both keen and casual gamers alike, who enjoy slots for their simple mechanics and enthralling gameplay.

Even some conventional video games have taken note and started borrowing from fruit machines. Coin Master, one of the highest grossing mobile games of last year, has a slot machine dynamic at its core.

Slots have neatly settled into the casual gaming genre that has become so popular due to the ascension of the app. These are games that require very little in the way of a tutorial, are targeted at a mass market and demand only short gaming sessions should the players be pressed for time.

Casual games dominate the smartphone market with some notable examples being Angry Birds, Temple Run and Candy Crush Saga. And gaming slots too, with the perfect balance of a fun and challenging experience, and the capacity for a quick game when you’re on the go, on your daily commute or even during an ad break in your favourite TV show.

We take a look through some of the best gaming slots that are available to play right now.

Rainbow Riches: Drops of Gold

It would be impossible to compile a best of list without featuring a title from the ever popular Rainbow Riches franchise. There are now dozens of gaming slots in the series which are all available to play on the company’s own Rainbow Riches Casino website – along with a host of other offerings.

Drops of Gold expands on the concept that launched the title with a familiar theme, rich in nods to the Emerald Isle – including our favourite leprechaun host which joins you in celebrating a big win. The catchy Irish tin whistle music sets the soundtrack and the smooth graphics make playing Drops of Gold a joy.

The game is a five-reel slot with four symbols in play on each reel, and a possible 200 paylines. The unique aspect to Drops of Gold is that above the standard reels, a rainbow of silver and gold pots cascade downwards on each spin.

Should your fifth reel contain a single or double height Drops of Gold symbol, each of the rainbow pots replace the symbols on the reels below and act as wild, gold pots become wild and include bonus symbols too – so when this occurs the big wins really start to add up. 

10,001 Nights: Megaways

If you’re more of a fan of the ancient Persian theme slots, 10,001 Nights might be more up your street. The game features six reels with a variable number of symbols on each reel thanks to the Megaways mechanic.

Megaways by Big Time Gaming (BTG) is a proprietary mechanic that multiplies the available paylines exponentially. In this instance an eye-watering 117,649 paylines are available, meaning 117,649 different opportunities to win money on each spin.

The way Megaways works is by multiplying by the number of symbols on the first reel by the number of symbols on each subsequent reel until all six have been included. A maximum of seven symbols can appear on each reel and 7⁶ = 117,649.

A payline in a slots game is the line that runs through the reels on which matching symbols must be arranged so you need only imagine how big the wins can be when there are paylines numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Bass Boss

Bass Boss, developed by Red Tiger, is a simple and fun traditional feeling video slot for the purists. Five reels each displaying four symbols of a nautical theme guide you toward a selection of immersive features and bonuses.

A multiplier is triggered if you catch a fish that appears at the same depth as your hook. The colour of the fish determines the size of the multiplier – orange is the holy grail at a 100x or 200x bonus.

There are also bonuses available for extended sessions, namely the contest progress bar. Your multiplier increases each time multiples of eight fish are caught maxing out at x10 for 32 fish, so get angling!

Epic Monopoly II

Monopoly theme slots are always a hit and we think Epic Monopoly II might just be the best of the bunch. Play is fixed at an impressive 100 paylines and you’re in control of five reels of four symbols plus the unique ‘colossal’ reels to the right of the main action.

The excitement ramps up when three bonus symbols are hit on a combination of the main and colossal reels taking you through to the Epic Wheel bonus. From here you can win a variety of multipliers, cash prizes or further bonus games.

The most fun of these is Around the Board which sees you rolling dice to move your selected play piece around a real Monopoly game board, landing on properties and collecting prizes as you go – but make sure you stay out of jail. There’s really a breath taking amount of content within this game which feels like a title you might play on your chosen console rather than a traditional slot.

Gaming slots have come a long way in the hundred years since their inception. If you’ve not found out for yourself what all the fuss is about, it might be time to try one of the games from this list today.

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