A Guide to Casino Games That You Can Find at Online Casinos

The Main Categories of Online Casino Games

It’s a fact that you’ll never run out of things to do at online casinos because there are hundreds of new game releases every year. Casino games are separated into categories:

• Classic casino games | slots, table games, dice games, card games, and bingo.
• Video slots | classic slots, 10-reel slots, Megaways, 25-reel slots, and much more.
• Card games | poker, blackjack, baccarat, and teen patti.
• Dice games | sic bo, backgammon, craps, and magic dice.
• Table games | any games played at a table including roulette, baccarat, and craps.
• Live casino games | online casino games played with a real dealer, streamed in real-time.
• Instant wins | lottery games, scratch cards, spin the wheel, and pick-a-card games.

As you can see, there are plenty of subcategories for every type of casino game, and we’ve only listed a few above. Many of the categories overlap. For example, poker can be classified as a classic game, a card game, and a table game. If you’re playing it with a live dealer then it can be classified as a live casino game as well.

When we speak about classic games in casino circles, we’re referring to gambling games that have stood the test of time. Some of the most popular classic casino games that you’ll find at online casinos today include:

• Classic slots
• Blackjack
• Roulette
• Poker
• Baccarat
• Keno
• Bingo

Pretty much any gambling game that has been around for over a century can be considered a classic game. Of course, these games have undergone some tweaks and improvements along the way. But classic games still stay true to the originals in most cases. Even online classic slots can be traced back to their ancestor – the one-armed bandit.

The fact that they’re classic doesn’t mean that they’ve fallen behind the times. Today, nearly all of the classic table, card, and dice gambling games can be played online in real-time with live dealers and with other players. These games are streamed in high definition with crisp audio and crystal-clear imagery.

Classic games can be enjoyed on almost any device. If you have a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone that can connect to the internet, you can access these games and play them for real money.

The same can be said for new casino games. You can play them any time, from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection and a browser-enabled device. Popular web browsers that let you access online casino games include Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Microsoft Edge, and Samsung Internet.

Classic Slots – Humble Beginnings

The first slot machine was invented right at the end of the 19th century. The slot was named Liberty Bell and it featured three reels with one payline. The symbols in the game were bells, stars, horseshoes, spades, hearts, and diamonds. The slot was so popular that many more began popping up with other symbols such as bars and fruits.

Slot machines have come a long way since then. As a sort of homage to their origins, we still call slot casino games that incorporate symbols like bells, stars, bars, and fruits, “classic slot” machines. Classic slots also typically make use of three reels and a low number of paylines. We don’t refer to slots with 100 paylines as classic slots.

Some popular examples of modern-day classic slots developed by top casino providers include:

• Mystery Joker, Bell of Fortune, and Irish Gold by Play’n GO.
• Break da Bank, Couch Potato, and Double Wammy by Microgaming.
• Monkey Madness, 888 Gold, and Diamonds are Forever by Pragmatic Play.
• Lucky 7 and Captain Cash by Betsoft.

New Casino Games and their Innovative Features

Hundreds of casino games are released every month. They cover the entire spectrum of gambling styles such as slots, table games, poker, dice, and instant wins.

Video slots are the most popular category and they take up a majority of the market share when it comes to new game releases. Since they are constantly in development, the creators of video slots are always innovating the games to introduce new game mechanics and bonus features.

Modern video slots usually have a standout theme. The games commonly have a background story and all the symbols and features of the game tie in together to take players on an adventure. Examples of popular themes include:

• Egyptian
• Vikings
• Graveyard
• Jungle
• Indian theme
• Space/UFO
• ‘Book of’ theme

Most modern video slots deliver numerous paylines – as in way more than 5 paylines. They can offer thousands of paylines. Megaways slots can offer more than 200,000 paylines. Megaways casino games have become so popular that the payout mechanics behind them are considered a feature.

Other casino game mechanics that are very popular right now and are showcased in many of the hottest new casino games are:

• Cascading Wins | When you land a winning combination, the symbols that contribute towards the win either explode or disappear and make way for new symbols. The payouts are calculated again with the new symbols that appear on the screen.
• Cluster Pays | Instead of paying from left to right or right to left, many slot casino games now pay in clusters. Payouts are awarded based on clusters of symbols that land together. The symbols must be adjacent to each other.
• xNudge | When wild symbols appear on a reel, the casino game ‘nudges’ the reel to move up or down so that more wild symbols cover the reel, sometimes resulting in the entire reel being covered by stacked wilds. This feature only works when games incorporate stacked wild symbols.

There are plenty of other features that players can’t get enough of. Free spins, expanding wild symbols, multipliers, infinity reels, hyper spins, megaclusters, mystery symbols, and sticky wilds are all good examples of popular game features used extensively in new casino games.

Live Dealer Casino Games are the Real Deal

Live casino games have taken over the online gambling market, exploding in popularity during the worldwide lockdowns. It’s clear why they gained so much support. Live casino games deliver an experience that is almost the same as being at a real, land-based casino.

The games are streamed in high definition from world-class game studios located in different countries across the globe. The studios are made to look as authentic as possible, they’re monitored to ensure fair gaming, and the dealers are trained by the best in the industry.

Live casino games are made up of our favourite classic table games such as roulette, baccarat, blackjack, and craps. The studios that provide them typically go a few steps further and offer creative takes on these classics.

In the live casino games area at the best online casino, you’ll also find an awesome collection of game shows based on the ‘spin-the-wheel’ game, and many others.

Best Casino Games – Most Popular & Our Top Picks

Now that you know about the different types of casino games, you’ll be well on your way to playing the best casino games ever created. The old saying, “different strokes for different folks,” definitely applies to casino games.

Even so, there are some games that really stand out. These casino games stay on the top of the charts for months, or even years, after they are released.

To give you a jump start on finding your next casino game, here’s the lowdown on 3 amazing video slots that players (and us) can’t get enough of. We list the best casino games below, along with the game developers that created them, the games’ return to player percentages (RTP), and a summary.

Big Bass Bonanza | Reel Kingdom | RTP 96.71%

A 5-reel slot with 10 paylines and bets ranging from €0.10 to €250. The casino game was released in 2020 and offers a maximum win potential of 2,100x the bet on a single spin. Exciting features include free spins, wild symbols, and multipliers.

Money Train 2 | Relax Gaming | RTP 96.4% – 98%

A 5-reel slot with 40 paylines and bets ranging from €0.20 to €20. The game was released in 2020 and offers a maximum win potential of 50,000x the bet per spin. Exciting features include bonus games and random multipliers. The slot has a western theme.

Reactoonz 2 | Play’n GO | RTP 84.2% – 96.2%

A 7-reel slot that features the Cluster Pays payout mechanic. This casino game has a variable RTP that can be set very low at casinos that aren’t licensed properly, so only play it at the best online casinos. Bets range from €0.20 to €100 with a maximum win potential of 5083x the bet. The slot features cascading wins, mega symbols, symbol swaps, and multipliers.

You can’t go wrong with any of these fantastic video slot casino games either:

• Primate King | Red Tiger Gaming | RTP 90% – 95.66%
• Gonzo’s Treasure Hunt Live | Evolution Gaming | RTP 96.56%
• Lightning Roulette Live | Evolution Gaming | RTP 97.3%
• Book of Dead | Play’n GO | RTP 84.18% – 96.21%
• Wolf Gold | Pragmatic Play | RTP 96.01%
• Starburst | NetEnt | RTP 90% – 99.06%
• Fire Joker | Play’n GO | RTP 84.26% – 96.15%