Back in the days before the internet, people who liked to gamble and play slot machines had very little options at their disposal.Even if their local casino or another gambling venue that featured slots offered more than few slot machines, the game variety was lacking.
Most slot games back in the 1980s featured similar or even the same symbols, such as cherries, lemons, bells, bars and 7s and due to the prevalence of fruits on the reels of slot machines, the games were nicknamed.In Australian slang they were named pokies since they were usually placed next to video poker machines.
Most conventional slot machines came with three reels and a single payline.In order to win one of these games you would need to get three instances of the same symbol aligned across the single payline.The games weren’t too dynamic and there were only few possible outcomes.Yes, the win amount depended on the symbol in question, 7s and bars usually paid more than watermelons and cherries, but that was about it.
Some people, who are nostalgic about the era and slots of this kind still play fruities, but most players nowadays have switched to the new modern online slots that come in many shapes and sizes.After going through a bit of history we will have a look at the most unusual and most weird types of online slot themes.
The first online slots
The first online slots were pretty much copies of traditional slots that existed back then, but soon developers of online slots realized the potential and started developing more complex and more exciting games.If you are a fan of conventional video games, it won’t be difficult for you to make a simple comparison between the games from the 1990s and games that have been developed two decades later.
As conventional video games have progressed so have online slots, with the key difference being that it was possible to at predict that the games are going to keep getting better and more complex, whereas the emergence of thematic slots wasn’t as easily conceivable.
Once the game engines and the software used by slot developers got more advanced, it became possible for more complex and more exciting games to be created.
Egyptian themed online slots were probably among the first thematic slots, so slots fans are quite accustomed to pyramids, sphinxes and other Ancient symbols to appear on the reels.Cleopatra was one of the first online slots to achieve international popularity and even though it was released back in 2006, it is still available and still played by many.
Mythology, legends and civilisations
While Egypt may seem as a bit of a more common theme, considering that it is usually associated with mystery and similar notions, basically everything that you can think of can be a slot theme.Moving from ancient kingdoms like Rome, Greece and Egypt, and other civilisations like the Celtic
(Ireland), operators realised that all stories would make good online slots – so we have fairytale themed slots, as well as medieval slots and slots featuring legends and mythology.
There are also games based on films, video games, sports, as well as animals, but there are also games featuring a unique theme, a storyline that was developed specially for the slot.For example, Bonanza is a slot based on the concept of mining, not a particular kind of mining and it comes with a lot of exciting features.This is a Megaways game, and the most unusual bit is that there are a total of 117,649 ways to win.
Quirky, modern games
Jammin’ Jars slot game is a game with 8 reels, but it is quite challenging to define its theme, it’s neither modern, nor retro, but in a way it’s both.Then we have NetEnt’s slot Starburst which is a also a quite unique in the sense that it is very difficult to define its theme.
Furthermore, there is even a game based on the most popular Crypto-currency Bitcoin, as well as one based on the most popular jockey in history – Frankie Dettori.
With the emergence of virtual reality slots and the increased popularity of slots with all sorts of features and impressive graphics, we can expect a lot more weird and curious only slots in the years to come.Share.
