What Casino Trends Are Changing the Way We Play?

The last few years have seen a massive upheaval in the way we play casino games.  New slot themes have emerged and table games have had features like multipliers and bonus rounds added to them, but what are the current trends right now that are changing how we play?

Live Casino Game Shows with Bonus Rounds

Live-streamed games began to enter online casinos a few years ago with new versions of classics like blackjack and roulette. The novelty of playing with a human dealer on the screen made this a popular type of presentation but the top developers like Evolution soon realized that they could use this format to add new gameplay as well, in the shape of live game shows.

JackpotCity, Rizk and LeoVegas are all included on the list of real money casinos from Casino Reviews featuring sites with interesting welcome packages. These reputable casinos offer a variety of games and a welcome bonus to get new players started. Each of them features a live casino where game shows sit alongside the classic table games.

Funky Time and Crazy Time are both examples of game shows on these sites where a spinning wheel is used to determine whether the player wins or enters a bonus round. Crazy Pachinko Live is based on the popular arcade machine described here by Japan Travel and this game starts with a slot machine round where players can earn entry to the bonus round with a Pachinko wall that sees the presenter drop a puck.

Slot Tournaments and Drops & Wins

Tournament play in casinos has added a new dimension for players who want to take part in slots. Rather than playing alone and just trying to get a winning combination of symbols, they can now feel the competitive edge of attempting to climb a leaderboard to claim one of the top prizes.

The long-running Drops & Wins promotion from Pragmatic Play is an example of how this works. This developer put a massive amount of money into this offer, which is split into daily and weekly tournaments as well as prize drops. Many of their slots are included in this promotion which is heavily promoted by many casinos, meaning that it provides an excellent opportunity for more people to see their best games.

More Features on New Slots

The slot market continues to evolve, as developers look for eye-catching ways to help their games stand out. The Megaways mechanic created by Big Time Gaming still proves extremely popular, with many other developers adding this engine to their most popular games and giving them a new lease of life.

Other features include Hold and Win, as seen in the Blazing Spirit slot. In this case, the Hold and Win symbols give instant cash prizes and can also lead to special free spins round. This shouldn’t be confused with the Link & Win feature, which is included in the WWE Legends game and leads to a set of free spins or a jackpot prize when you collect the coins.

With a variety of different ways of winning jackpots or triggering bonus rounds, the slots market is becoming ever more diverse. This should make it easier for every type of player to find something that interests them, while it’s clear that developers are working hard to innovate without making their slots more complicated than they have to be.

Crash-Style Games     

While slots and table games continue to dominate online casinos, a new type of betting game is starting to make a big impact. Known as Crash-style games, these are simple affairs where you watch an aircraft, spaceship, or some other object take off. A win multiplier starts rising as the object climbs into the air.

The idea is to decide when to cash out the winnings. Players need to hold on until it’s reached what they think is the maximum value but if they leave it too late the game ends with no prize, as the craft flies away or crashes. Titles such as Aviator, Spaceman, and Big Bass Crash show how varied the themes in this genre have become.

A Final Word

These different ways of playing casino games reveal how new ideas are being added to established games to keep them growing and evolving over time. However, the simplicity that made these games so popular in the first place remains at the heart of these new ways of playing.

- B. E. Delmer, Gambling911.com