Slot machines debuted near the end of the 19th century, but the games of those days looked very different to the Slots we know now. Even before the advent of the internet, Slots had changed a whole lot thanks to advancing technology!
But there’s no denying that the rise of online play provided a major change in the landscape of slot games. Let’s take a look at the journey that these games have taken in the last few decades, evolving into the digital format that many play Slots in today.
The birth of digital slot games
For a good few decades, slot machines were entirely mechanical in design. Their internal workings were driven by a mix of levers, pulleys and gravity that allowed the reels to spin once a player pulled the lever to initiate a game.
But by the 1970s, those mechanical designs had started to fall out of favour, given their physical limitations and the potential for external influences to affect their workings. Fortunately, electronics were really taking off, and this led to designers switching over to electronic slot machines – better known as video Slots.
These swapped out the physical reels for a video screen displaying digital reels. This allowed for new designs to come through, with developers no longer having to account for more internal workings when they wanted to add an extra reel to their game.
It wasn’t long before video Slots largely took over, even if the physical lever stuck around for a good while due to players’ familiarity with the older designs.
Internet slot games
Slots in land-based casinos were almost entirely video Slots by the 1990s, with only a few mechanical or electro-mechanical designs sticking around. This made the general shift towards online platforms easier for this particular casino game.
As most slot games were already running on software – with their outcomes determined by random number generators (RNGs) – the process of porting them was simpler compared to table games that used physical game components.
Slots were some of the first casino games to make the jump to online play, even though the graphics of home computers were often more limited than the land-based casino cabinets. Still, thanks to their simple core concept and already digital workings, online Slots quickly gained players.
The evolution of online Slots
Online casino platforms were more established and robust by the early 2000s. This allowed developers to expand their offerings and experiment with new designs, creating slot games specifically for the online platform.
Improving technology led to better graphics, animations and soundtracks for online Slots, as well as a wider variety of gameplay mechanics. Within the space of a couple of decades, there were thousands of different online slot games available for players to choose from, with many different themes and designs.
The rise of mobile platforms in the 2010s also encouraged online casinos to optimize their sites for access on smartphones or tablets. In some cases, games even got their own dedicated apps to allow players to play a game without having to go through their mobile web browser.
