We’re now so used to seeing slots in land casinos and online casino sites that it seems like this type of game has been around forever.
Nowadays, especially after the pandemic, with people being unable to visit the land-based casinos, online slots took over their physical counterparts. You can look for yourself on this website at how many different online slots exist right now and how you can so easily play them from any device: https://www.bovada.lv/casino/slots
Yet, there once was a time when slots didn’t exist. So, how did they start becoming popular and what has caused them to turn into the iconic casino games that we now know and love?
The Early Days
It seems that a few different people were working on similar, mechanical gambling machines at the end of the 19th century. The Liberty Bell slot by Charles Fey is generally said to be the first machine of this type. It is still recognizable as an early type of slot machine, but it’s clearly a lot simpler than the game we can play now.
Another early machine was created about the same time in New York, by the Sittman and Pitt company. It was quite similar to Fey’s game, but instead of bell and horseshoe symbols, it had five reels with only a series of different playing cards on them.
Games like this quickly became popular, as they were easy to play and offered a lot of fun. They generally cost just a nickel to play and offered the chance for some good wins. Players only had to insert a coin and then pull down the level to set the reels in motion.
Slots continued to improve, as their creators added more features and made them more interesting to play. The original symbols such as bells, fruits, and playing cards remained popular, though, and still are to this day.
In fact, the fruit machine name and the use of fruits as winning symbols can be traced back to the time when cash payouts couldn’t be made. The manufacturers got around this by offering prizes that were paid in the form of chewing gum, which meant that the fruit symbols were introduced.
The Electronic and Video Slots Era
Mechanical slots remained popular for a long time, as the simplicity and overall appeal of these games ensured that people wanted to play them. Yet, times change and this means that people were happy to see the introduction of more technologically-advanced slots in the middle of the 20th century.
This started with slots that brought electronically-operated reels to the world of gaming, but the setup remained similar, and the lever that the player pulled stayed in place too. The payouts increased at this time, as the new technology allowed manufacturers to add in extra features and increase the excitement levels.
The lever soon disappeared from slots, as players got used to the idea of playing without one. The next great leap forward came with the introduction of video slots. This method allowed players to see a highly-detailed screen with far better images than before.
All of these changes meant that new features like bonus rounds and appealing themes could now be used on slots. Yet, the overall look and feel of slots hadn’t changed all that much since the very first games of this type were created.
How the Internet Took Slots to the Next Level
Up until the end of the 20th century, slots were a type of game that most people know about and a lot of people had tried at some point in their lives. However, they weren’t a truly mainstream option that anyone could just start playing at any point during their day. For a start, you had to go somewhere that had them, like a casino.
The arrival of the internet helped to change that. With the introduction of the first online casino sites, we could quickly see the potential for online slots that players could try whenever it suited them.
As they became more popular, more slots developers appeared on the scene. They brought out a wide variety of slots on many different themes, which helped to increase their popularity further. It now became incredibly convenient to look for slots that attracted us and then start playing them.
Mobile Gaming Added the Next Advance
The fact that more than half of the people who live on the planet now have a smartphone has meant a revolution in the way that we live and get our entertainment. You probably carry out your banking transactions, speak to friends, and maybe even work using your mobile device. This change has also helped us to play games more easily.
Technology such as the HTML5 language has allowed games developers to produce mobile-friendly slots that look fantastic on any type of device. This change has been crucial in helping more of us to start playing games in a way that suits us.
You can still play slots on a desktop computer or laptop, but the switch to mobile gaming has meant that it is rapidly becoming the most popular way of placing bets on these games. The best games look and play exactly the same way no matter how you hook up, with themes like fruits still as popular as ever.
Where Are We Now?
A look at a good online casino these days reveals lots of interesting slots with names like Panda Fortune, Koi Garden, Rain Dance, and Robin Hood. This shows us the excellent variety of themes that are now used to make these games hugely appealing to more people.
The features have also been updated to make good use of modern technology and appeal to more of us. From huge progressive jackpots to win multipliers and immersive bonus rounds, slots offer a gaming experience that mixes simple gameplay with interesting extra features.
The truth is that slots are still faithful to the origins that we have seen in old-time games like Liberty Bell. The basic layout and even the symbols used are still the same in many cases, giving these games a delightful sense of history and continuity.
On the other hand, we can also clearly see how games developers have continually taken advantage of the latest technology to move slots onto the next stage. This is something that we can expect to see continue into the future, as slots players get to play in even more new ways.
