Traditional slot machines have a set of reels that come to a stop and where they stop determines what your payout will be, based on what symbols appear and how a game pays out (lines or all ways pays).
In casinos, a few games have attempted to break that mold, but there’s a lot more experimentation going on online, where forms are more malleable.
So today, we thought we’d share 10 games that break through the standard mold, starting with one that is found both in casinos and online, and is a great example of games trying something different.
Lightning Zap
Everi certainly broke the mold when they released Lightning Zap, a game where you press the button and either you zap prizes or you don’t. The faster pace involved with it led the company to also set a higher floor on the payback percentage, a model that was followed on other games of a similar type. Multipliers can come out on certain wagers, guaranteeing at least 2x the prizes that are zapped. At least three prizes are zapped each time a wager is successful.
Colour Cubes
This is a funky one by IGT that is effectively buying a set of spins for a price. The game starts by filling a grid with blocks. Then, you get 9 spins, each spin selecting a row and column within the grid. That block, and any adjacent blocks matching that color, will be detonated, filling one of the meters matching that colored blocks. Each meter has a prize; filling a meter awards that prize. There are also bombs which can blow up blocks, and stars that can award instant prizes. It’s definitely a break from tradition of standard reels, acting a bit more like an instant scratch ticket in some ways.
Funk Master
This is a cluster win-based game that is unusual in that your wild symbols are also your bonus symbols. When you clear a shape within the game, you’re awarded wilds. Get three wilds and you get free spins, which allow for taller reels and more wilds to be won – it can get nuts, but the large grid and the cluster pays definitely shake things up.
Slingo Classic
Slingo started as a free-to-play social game in the 90s on sites like AOL, and has made its way successfully into the online gaming space. You get a set number of spins to mark off numbers on your Slingo board, with more Slingos leading to a higher prize. You can also buy additional spins to try to get a Full House, their term for a blackout. There’s a ton of versions of Slingo, but Classic is a good entry point to get familiar with the format before trying other game types.
Boxes Dare2Win
This is a picking game that has you avoiding bombs as you climb the pyramid to get bigger prizes. There’s less choices on each row, raising the risk of finding bombs. It feels a bit like Minesweeper, but here you don’t get any hints, it’s either you hit a diamond or a bomb, but you can collect at any time. Of course, the risks, and rewards, grow as you move up each level.
Finn and the Swirly Spin
This one is a 5×5 grid, with three in a row or more in each row or column being awarded. But the continuous reel pinwheels from the center on out, with the goal of getting the key to the center of the grid so you can earn a bonus. Cascades eliminate symbols that are paid, bringing more symbols onto the board to replace them. Stars appear when you get a line hit, acting as wilds and improving the chances of another line hit after the cascade. Special features can occur to get you wins along the way, and boosting your chances of a bonus.
Wild Worlds
This and Finn & the Swirly Spin are both by NetEnt, so you can see some similarities, like the 5×5 board, all lines of 3 or more in a row both across and down paying, and the cascading reels. Different here is symbols can be turned wild during a cascade, and three or more bonus symbols takes you to a “boss battle” where the characters fight enemies with line hits and cascades.
Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza
This game from White Hat Gaming uses a scatter pay system to award pays when enough of a given symbol appear in the 6×5 grid. Each cascade awards an arrow; enough cascades will reach bonuses where you get to pick a case and play Deal or No Deal for credits or free spins.
Reef Raiders
This is another cluster pay game, this one by NetEnt. This is another game with cascades, but with a twist. Each time you get a win, a wild appears. Each time you get another win with a wild, it will add a step on the treasure map, unlocking features that can help create more wins, and in turn potentially reach the free spins. Multipliers can appear on the grid to help boost the pays as well.
DraftKings Rocket
DraftKings Rocket is an exclusive to the platform, although other sites have launched attempts to clone the overall idea. Here, you make a wager, and cash out when you’re ready. You can hold out as long as you want, but the trick is the rocket can explode at any time. If it explodes before you cash out, you lose. So it can keep going for awhile, or explode right away, and so you have to decide when it’s time to lock in your win.
