Slots are a hugely popular type of real money gaming and the variety of slots available within the arsenal of a top online casino is staggering. Slots do come in many different themes such as Big Scary Fortune from Inspired Gaming catch the eye and are heavily promoted. Other popular slot themes include those based on hit movies or TV shows, candy or fruit-based slots, a lucky Irish premise, and music-centred slots.
All of these themes have been successful in attracting new players to slot gaming, but online casinos are now taking a different approach.
Create a legend
When an online slot game developer releases a title that becomes a major hit with players, much like in the world of movies, a sequel is never far behind. Scroll through the options at the casino at Paddy Power Games or another of the big hitters and you’ll stumble upon several well-known slot games that have produced numerous sequels to the point where we can now classify them as a series.
The most prominent has to be Age of the Gods. This mythology-themed slot series featuring Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Hercules, and others began in 2017 and there are now too many titles to list here. Age of the Gods has been so successful for developers Playtech, that the series has gone beyond slots and there is now an Age of the Gods bingo and roulette game.
Indiana who?
Age of the Gods is the best example of a slot series centered on a subject, but they can also be themed around a specific character who appears repeatedly in every new online slot. The names John Hunter, Rich and Cat Wilde, and Gonzo will be familiar characters for regular slot gamers and these explorers are gradually chalking up an impressive series of engaging slots.
Importantly, developers use different mechanics in games within the same series to set them apart from one another. For example, the return to player (RTP), volatility, bonus rounds, or even the number of pay lines can be different for each game in the series.
Ultimate goal
To create a winning series, developers are looking to find that perfect balance between uniqueness and continuity. Player feedback is essential to the process of making a sequel and changes need to be made carefully so as not to destroy what made the original game prosperous. With this in mind, there also needs to be an element of storytelling involved, taking players on a journey and often providing some foe to be vanquished. This is why the successful series we’ve seen to date tend to jump around in terms of time period and geography. Ancient Egypt regularly appears, but there are many significant periods of history that can provide developers with a basis to create an enchanting story.
A successful, long-lasting slot series is the pinnacle of achievement for an online slot developer. Age of the Gods has set a high bar, but others are looking to create a legacy series and have abandoned the traditional strategy of releasing brand-new standalone games month after month. Currently, there are many essentially imitating Age of the Gods or creating a series around Indiana Jones-like characters, but future successful series could come from brands such as Hasbro’s board game Monopoly or a popular TV show or series of movies.