What online slot should I play?

Choosing an online slot to play can be a bit of a mind game for new or less experienced players. Where to start? What to look out for? What’s going to suit you best? Different slots are popular for all sorts of different reasons.

Genre? Developer? Recommendations? Or you simply just like the look and sound of it? There are a whole load of influences on what slots people choose to play. 

The hours our team of expert enthusiasts spends playing slots is off the charts. It’s fair to say we know our stuff! So, we’ve compiled a list of things to check when looking for an online slot to make sure you’ve chosen a slot you’ll enjoy.

Trending slots

What’s trending? What slots are people talking about?

As well as the Slot Gods team testing and reviewing slots, we tap into player feedback to get an overview of which slots people are currently playing.

One tried and trusted piece of advice is to recommend you just get stuck into some trending games to get an idea of what you like and what you don’t. Trending slots typically contain a good mix of games reflecting players' differing tastes.

And remember… if it’s on our site it gets the Slot Gods tick of approval. That could be because of its great jackpot, cool features, amazing design or any number of factors.

Slots trending now:

With new releases added daily we're constantly updating our list of the hottest slots, so be sure to check back regularly. Keep an eye out for the best new slots we’re recommending.

Once you’ve explored a few games and your ‘slots taste’ starts to take shape you’ll want to search further. So what to look for then? What criteria to consider when choosing a slot? You’ll want to think about themes, visuals and style, RTP, volatility, jackpots, payouts, bet size and then also gripping bonus rounds and game mechanics. Let’s look at some of the criteria:

Themes

What are you into? There’s a huge variety of themes you can choose from including wild west, fishing (very popular), animals, cartoon characters, Irish, Vikings, rock music, Halloween/horror, Christmas and loads more. There are also 100s of branded slots – ranging from 1940s cartoon characters to games based on movies and TV shows.

Bet size

There’s bet size to consider. How much are you prepared to play on a spin? Slots vary when it comes to minimum and maximum stakes. There’s no shortage of penny slots with amazing designs, exciting features and engaging gameplay that will keep you occupied for hours on end for just 1p per spin.

Volatility

Next, there’s volatility: Would you prefer less frequent but larger wins? Or more frequent but smaller wins?

In a nutshell, volatility determines the behaviour of an online slot game in terms of the frequency and size of payouts.

Low volatility slots are ideal if you have a small budget and want to stretch your balance out. Some players prefer low volatility slots because they keep you engaged and entertained with their frequent wins.

On the other hand, high volatility slots typically pay out larger amounts but less often. The problem with high volatility slots is that you could wipe out your whole balance before hitting a winning combination. More experienced players tend to play high volatility slots with smaller bets for longer periods in the hope that they hit the max payout.

Alternatively, you might want to try a medium volatility game that sits somewhere in the middle.

Jackpots

Maybe it’s jackpots that appeal to you? With prizes reaching well into the millions, their attraction is no surprise. They carry the obvious carrot of a big jackpot payout, but many jackpot games also have great features, design and gameplay too.

RTP

RTP is the theoretical 'Return to Player' based on millions of spins. An RTP of 96% means that for every £100 wagered on a game, £96 will be paid back to players.

Many players will look for games with the highest RTP, but that doesn’t mean games with lower RTPs should be ignored – there's still plenty of fun and juicy payouts to be had. The average RTP is 96%, so keep this in mind when choosing a slot to play.

Mechanics

Mechanics refer to the inner workings of a slot and can relate to the number of reels, paylines, and the type of combinations and bonus rounds that can be achieved. A typical slot has 5 reels and 256 paylines, but Megaways slots have 117,649 ways to win by default, infinity reels have no fixed number of reels, grid slots don't have reels at all and crash games are a completely different breed that break the mould entirely!

You don't have to choose one and stick to it, but it's good to be able to identify one type of slot from the other so you can avoid the ones you don't like. There's no right or wrong, just personal preference.

Bonus rounds

Some games create quite a frenzy in the online slots world due to their gripping and innovative bonus rounds. Arguably, getting good bonus round is your best chance of winning big.

Bonus rounds differ from game to game (and some don't have them at all) but essentially they all trigger repeated wins and multipliers that can keep stacking up until the max payout of the slot is reached.

The more slots you play the more bonus rounds will start meaning to you. But if you're intrigued, take a look at our reviews of Money Train 2, Tombstone RIP, Eldritch Dungeon and Dystopia: Rebel Road.

Whatever the game, for many players an exciting and engaging bonus round is the biggest reason for playing.

Summary

There are various considerations and permutations for you to chew over when choosing what games to play. But with thousands to choose from you can rest assured that sooner rather than later you’ll find an ideal match or two. Check out our collection of the best online slots and read our reviews of each game to learn about its features and how to play it.