With three, five, six and now eight reels, there seems to be no limit to the power and depth of online slots. From pirate-themed slots with a single payline to slots on megaways, we will strive through the amazing gaming journey that continues to climb new and impressive heights.

The dawn of online casinos

With the advent of dial-up modems came the first wave of online casinos in the mid-1990s. While the prototype online casino was offshore and outside of the US, they allowed Pennsylvania online players a taste of playing three-reel slots online or offline by installing the casino software on their computers.

These single payline slots were digital versions powered by Flash technology of the classic fruit themed slots available at casinos in Reno, Las Vegas and Atlantic City. It wouldn’t be until 2004 before the Keystone State legalized land-based casinoswhich first opened in 2006. Meanwhile, Commonwealth players tried their hand at these fruit-themed slots, as well as pirate-themed three-reel games or those with different colored sevens. Just like the traditional slots, the early online slots allowed players to bet one, two or a maximum number of coins per spin.

The rise of video slots

Although the classic slots were generous on the budget with more frequent payouts, they were limited in terms of bonuses, reels and themes. Fortunately, broadband Internet began to take root as the 1990s drew to a close. With the extra bandwidth came the ability to expand the reels too online slots from three to five rolls. It was also the beginning of the early video slots. Instead of the typical slot machine background, game developers could finally experiment with original player themes and backgrounds.

Tired of the same mechanical look, fruity theme and pirate themed slots, slot game lovers were finally introduced to new concepts such as sports and safari themes, for example. NetEnt, Microgaming and Playtech were the leading game developers that featured more graphically enhanced slots, even with animations. These game developers were also the pioneers in introducing soundtracks to video slots, which are now common to today’s megaways and hold-and-win slots on today’s Pennsylvania online casinos.

From Flash to HTML5

With the switch from Flash technology to HTML5, online casinos were able to sharpen the graphics and make the game smoother for new video slots. Microgaming, NetEnt and Playtech also took the lead in making the new video slots character-driven, with soundtracks such as Bloodsucker series available on sites like Caesars Palace Online PA.

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The beginning of progressive and bonus slots

With the late 1990s and early 2000s came more innovation for online casino gamesand slot games were no exception. One of these features was the introduction of the progressive jackpot feature from Microgaming. Before the progressive jackpots, slot machines were limited in graphics and themes which were limited to fruits, pirates and sevens. However, they lacked bonus features like free spins and definitely the cascading reels feature that we take for granted Pennsylvania online casinos today.

Throughout the 2010s, when more states like Pennsylvania finally legalized online casinos, game developers like IGT mastered not only the stunning graphics and new themes, including mythology and adventure, but also the many bonus rounds and jackpots. Today, premium websites like BetMGM Online Casino PA has both progressive jackpot slots which Fruit blower and Mega Moolahor fixed jackpots such as Divine fortune. With most of today’s video slots, it is common to find free spins as one of the main features. Free spins are one of the most popular online casino promotions.

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The rise of megaways slot games

As more slot themes like Greek and Egyptian mythology became popular at online casinos like Stars PA, the megways genre began to take root. Building on the huge success of NetEnt’s Gonzo’s Quest, launched in 2015, Pragmatic Play really took the bull by the horns with the megaways genre. Even builds on the avalanche function lotteries casinos such as Pulsz and Pulsz Bingo have a dedicated megaway section.

With megaways, when a player wins on Pragmatic Play games like Sugar Rush and Gates of Olympus, the reels expand. Keep winning and the reels can be expanded by over 100,000, depending on the specific game. It is also common for the win multiplier to also increase as the wins keep coming.