Is there a type of game that displays greater diversity than slots do? There’s a reason why slot games have long been the most popular casino offerings, played by millions of people all over the world.
It’s because they are designed to draw in as big a crowd as possible and have aspects that allure a gargantuan range of personality types.
This is mainly done through the different themes, offering players an incredible amount of selection. A popular trope of developers is to choose special occasions and seasons and make games based on these.
Slots Are So Flexible When It Comes to Themes
When it comes to themes on slot games, anything goes. There’s no other game on the planet that is able to cover as many genres as slots can. However, in the early days of slot machines, themes were nonexistent.
Charles Fey’s 1894 invention, the Liberty Bell, had five different symbols on it. These were a heart, a spade, a horseshoe, a star, and a bell.
The aim of the game was to simply pull the hand-operated lever at the side to spin the reels and wait to see where they landed.
If the three reels revealed matching symbols across the one central win line, the player would receive a payout.
The Liberty Bell featured symbols that could be associated with luck, but it didn’t really have a theme as such.
However, the popularity of this machine led to many more, and the developers of these needed to differentiate them by making them look different to one another.
This was initially done through the inclusion of different symbols on the reels, and fruits became quite common in the early days.
It was when electric slot machines became a ubiquitous feature of bars across the land in the 1990s that themes started to be used.
Developers began to use a diverse range of names at this point, which were often designed to reflect the special features that the games offered.
This assortment of choices proliferated when slots moved online and the competition between casinos went up tenfold.
Online casinos have to do everything in their power to attract as many players as possible, and one of the main techniques for doing this is through game selection.
Nowadays, there are themed slot games about absolutely everything. There are options that are based on world cultures, history, sports, and pastimes.
There are games that use television, video game, and movie themes. Absolutely any idea in the world can be made into a slot game.
A Slot For Almost Every Occasion
Some slots are popular all year round and have made names for themselves over the years.
Industry-leading developers like Microgaming, NetEnt, and Playtech all have slot games that have been in existence for the best part of a decade but remain hugely popular picks to this day.
However, in the dog-eat-dog world of online slots, companies need to employ other techniques to ensure their products enjoy enough play time. This is especially true for smaller brands that may not have the financial might to challenge the big names.
This is where slots based on occasions or seasons come in. Developers who create these games can piggyback on the feelings and joy that players may be experiencing based on other external factors in their lives.
For example, at Christmas time, people tend to go in search of Christmas-related media to enhance their festive feelings. This can include music, films, and games.
The film industry has always led the way in this regard, and there are high numbers of holiday films released each year. Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and Halloween are three particularly lucrative holidays for filmmakers.
Caption: There have been some amazing Christmas movies over the years.
Despite having various holiday themes, most slots can be enjoyed all year round. It is simply a case of them attracting a greater number of players when the corresponding season is in full swing.
Some of the top slots that are based on popular occasions include the Nightmare on Elm Street game from 888 Software for Halloween, Irish Riches from Blueprint Gaming for Saint Patrick’s Day, and NetEnt’s Secrets of Christmas for the popular winter holiday.
There are even slots based on special events, such as global sports tournaments. For instance, Euro Reels from Random Logic will have attracted a lot of soccer fans as they watched the Euro 2020 tournament in the summer.
Other options like Slingo Britain’s Got Talent are likely to bring in more players when the series is on air as well.
Caption: Britain’s Got Talent has inspired slots and Slingo games.
Is This Diversity One of the Main Appeals of Slot Gaming?
There is no doubt that this flexibility and diversity has been the driving force behind the incredible rise of slots. But the abundance of choice isn’t the only reason why so many people love to play them.
The fact that there are lucrative bonuses on offer that are often directly related to slots has helped a lot as well.
In the early days of online casinos, the deposit match was the most common form of bonus. However, operators have now leveraged the pulling power of slots and have started gearing their bonuses towards slots players.
A lot of sites now provide free spin promotions that can be used in conjunction with specified games.
This has served to appeal to existing slots players, but it has also given rise to the number of players of other games turning to slots to take advantage of the bonuses.
There is a lot of evidence to show that during particular seasons and holidays, people go in search of entertainment that relates to them.
Filmmakers have helped to reaffirm this fact, and now slot game developers are following suit.
There are slots for almost any holiday, and they attract a vast number of players who want to find other ways to enjoy their favorite occasions.
