Slot machines have originally been invented 100 years ago by a man named Charles Fey, and the first machine had three reels with picture cards with symbols of horseshoes and bells. But slots have come a long way since then, as online slots games, which have only been around for two decades or so, have taken over the market.

Who Makes the Slots?

Online slots are created by game developers, and that’s why you will find the same games at different casino operators. Leading developers in the online gambling industry are Microgaming, NetEnt, NextGen, and Yggdrasil, which have produced some of the most popular slot games of all time, such as Starburst, Mega Moolah, and Gonzo’s Quest.

Slots and Their Symbols

All online slot machine games are still based on the original reel concept. Paylines and symbols are what determines whether you’ve won or not, as well as the type of your winning. A slot game has around 10-15 symbols, but a reel, generally, has more symbols than that.

Online slots games can offer anything from 9 to 50 paylines and 243 or even 1023 ways of winning.

Most games have on average 25 paylines, which means that you get 25 different chances of making a win at every spin.

Paylines can go from left to right, from right to left (in some games), in a line, diagonally, or different zigzag patterns. Matching symbols don’t even have to be on the same line, as long as you distribute the symbols on the reel in to be more of them on the active paylines. Also, low-value symbols will appear more often, as high-value symbols will appear more scarcely.

The number of paylines you choose to activate influences your wins. Some games have fixed paylines, meaning that all of them are active on every spin.

Activating more paylines means that your wager will be higher for that round.

The Random Number Generator (RNG)

All slot games run based on a Random Number Generator (RNG), which creates random sequences in intervals of fractions of a second.

The RNG generates random and different series of numbers each time the player clicks to spin in the game. It’s is used by all online casinos in order to display the outcomes of the many online slot games they offer.

These results rely on the use of algorithms and the RNG software which, together, determine the outcome of each spin you make.

All past spins do not have any influence on the outcome of any other future spin. Every spin is independent and different from the previous spins and, to ensure this, the Random Number Generator software is thoroughly tested before being used.

What Goes Behind the Spin?

When you click “spin”, the slot runs multiple concurrent games, and tracks the spinning reels, giving random bonus prizes, and many other functions, depending on the game.

At that moment, the game software figures out how many random numbers it needs in order to know when to reward you (for example: a three-reel slot game needs three random numbers).

It also uses some random numbers in order to make the other visual and audio features of the game work. A complex slot game could have dozens of random numbers each time you take a spin.

Online slot games are complex pieces of software with intricate algorithms and designs which are meant to entertain the user but make it hard for him to win.