Penny Slots

Slot machines have been circling the globe since the late 1800s, offering gamblers fantastic alternatives to traditional casino card games. The penny slot was created as an entertaining gateway slot for new players to get their feet wet.

They allow for low starting bets and a less complicated set of rules than higher odd slots. Penny slots also contain various themes and entertainment, making them some of the most enjoyable games to play at any casino.

A penny slot is at it’s core a game where a one pay-line only costs a penny, so 1 cent. Most online slots nowadays meet this requirement.

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t any difference between the penny slots of today and those from 10-20 years ago. The new penny slots usually have you play a minimum amount of pay-lines.

Where typical modern online slots have 20, 25, 50 or even more lines, you can expect to pay $0.20, $0.40, $0.50, or more for every spin.

Best Penny Slot Games Online

A good penny slot will rely on a few key factors: entertainment, minimum bet, payout, overall aesthetic and ease of play.

Below are some of the best online penny slots to get you into the world of online gambling, available both in free to play and cash play. They are some of the best playing and best paying online slots around.

1. Book of Dead

What Are Penny Slots Machines?

In the late 1800s, the slot machine was created and later popularized by inventor Charles Fey. The idea was simple, create a betting machine that would take a penny, or more often a nickel, in its original state and multiply it when the right symbols matched on a reel.

What started as a three-reel machine, known as the Liberty Bell, soon grew into the Penny Slots we know today.

Don’t confuse the low cost with a low payout, though. A nickel per line could add up if you wanted to increase your odds, matching the fee of normal slot machines by the time you pulled the lever. However, it also increased your payout if you got lucky.

It was an expensive game of Tic-ac-oe where symbols could fall in any combination (center, diagonal, zig-zag and more) and earn you cash.

Penny slots were also innovative for their thematic elements. Not only were they new, but they were interesting to look at. They had fun pictures accompanied by loud noises and enough bright lights to make your brain feel good, even if you didn’t win.

They were also famous for their themes, often wearing your favourite comic book hero’s coloured scheme and playing their soundtrack while you spin.

The 21st century has brought penny slots forward in time, making them bigger, louder, and easier to play for everyone.

You no longer have to make a day trek to a casino or empty your piggy bank to get the satisfied high of a game. Now you can simply log onto any site or download an casino app and play your slots from home, for free or for money.

It doesn’t have the tactical sensation that some gamblers love and you won’t be getting any free bubble gum as a consolation prize. But the digital age has brought animations, rainbows of colors and enough entertainment and variety per slot that you’ll never get bored.

Guide to Penny Slots

All penny slots consist of the same basic setup. They have reels and rows that contain symbols and paylines to show where and how to win. Nowadays they can also contain specialized icons like wilds or scatters to liven up your gaming experience.

More often than not, free spins and bonus games are included to keep you coming back. Each element of a penny slot plays a vital role in your gaming experience, so it’s important to know the purpose of each before you begin playing.

Remember that every penny slot is unique, so some details can vary from slot to slot.

Paylines

Remember our Tic-ac-oe metaphor? Keep that in mind when thinking about paylines. Paylines are all the directions in which you can match your symbols to win.

The patterns can go in any direction, sometimes as simple as a straight line down the center or more complicated, like a zig-zag.

Every payline will reward you differently. And remember, with some penny slots, you can choose how many paylines you want to bet on. The more paylines, the better the chance you land something!

Reels & Rows

Rows are the lines that go left to right, while reels are the lines that go up and down. The number of reels and rows varies from game to game, but the most common are five reels with 3 rows.

Basically, they determine how many symbols can land in the slot.

Wilds

Wilds can be used in lot’s of different ways, but in it’s essence it can substitute symbols to make a winning combination.

Wilds can usually replace all symbols except scatters and bonus symbols. We see all kinds of additions to the wild, sometimes they have a multiplier or they there are games where they trigger a respin for example.

Scatters

Scatters are the rule breakers of the game. No matter where they fall on the payline, they’ll net you some nice credit.

What they earn you will usually connect to the original bet you placed. Scatters can also act as the symbol that triggers the free spins round if enough of them appear on your slot screen at one time.

Free Spins

Who doesn’t like receiving free things? Many slots will designate one special symbol as scatter. When you land enough of these scatters (usually 3 or more) , it activates the free spins round.

Sometimes you can even trigger more free spins within the free spins, which is really just free money.

Bonus Games

Some slots offer you extra bang for your buck with bonus games. Though mostly aesthetic in nature, they move away from the reels and rows for an exhilarating mini-game within a game.

In some cases, a high minigame score can end in great payouts. They remain a fun side quest to your main game, even in free-to-play slots.

Most Popular Penny Slot Machines Providers

The world of penny slots is a fast-paced and ever-changing one. Every day, companies will put out new slots for their audiences, with bigger payouts, more vivid colours, and increasingly exciting themes.

With every theme, from classic to sci-fi to work with, penny slots have plenty of creative room to grow and evolve.

We’ve collected a list of some of the best manufacturers and providers for the penny slot world. Their games are top quality, fun to spend time on, and even more exciting to win.

They include some of the best payout slot games and the highest RTP slot machines around. Make sure to search for these trusted providers next time you enter a Casino!

• 1. NetEnt
• 2. Microgaming
• 3. Play’n Go
• 4. Yggdrasil
• 5. Pragmatic Play

Penny Casino Slots With Best Return to Player

Math is scary for a great number of people. If you’re like us, you have avoided math that’s more complicated than calculating a tip for your waiter.

But don’t be scared by percentages and large fractions, the return to player (RTP) of a slot is easy to understand when you break it down.

Imagine you have a big chocolate bar and you give it to your friend to split it four ways. Your friend splits the bar into four pieces but keeps one for himself.

The chocolate you get back is the RTP, or how much credit will be returned to you on average per bet. The average slot will offer a 96% RTP, so keep an eye out for your return as it differs.

But what is volatility, then? Another intimidating word that can easily be broken down with our chocolate example.

Volatility is the amount of time it will take your friend to break up your chocolate bar and the chance of your friend giving you back more or less chocolate than what you gave him. Sometimes you can wait ten minutes and get no chocolate back.

Others you will be rewarded with two extra bars. It’s the inherent risk factor in every game. A higher volatility means greater risk but a larger payout in the end.

Suppose you hear the word ‘variance’ instead; don’t freak out. It’s just another word to explain the same concept, like with ‘chips’ and ‘fries’.

Now that you know what to look for, take a look at our list of Best RTP Slots.

Final Words

Penny slots are a simple and uncomplicated way for gaming beginners to get their feet wet with low starting wagers. It is an a-payline-a-penny game, the requirement most of today’s slots meet. They are different from the ones twenty years ago, with the possibility of free and online play.

Most of them have developed from the three-reel Liberty Bell machine, an expensive variant of Tic-Tac-Toe. Today’s games are easier to play, louder, and the digital age makes them thoroughly entertaining, with colors, animations and phenomenal soundtracks. You can try them out in top casinos in Canada.

Every penny slot is different, yet they all have the same basic setup. Reels and rows with symbols and paylines bring you winning combinations.

In recent years, specialized icons, like Wilds and Scatters, together with lucrative bonuses and mini-games, boost your gaming experience. They can offer you various themes, from your favorite comic book heroes to a rock band you like with its music to follow.

Paylines are the directions that can bring you wins when you match your symbols, again, similar to Tic-Tac-Toe. Every payline pays differently, and the more of them the slot has, the more chances you have to win.

Reels and rows are horizontal and vertical slot lines. The number can vary, but the most common setup is 5×3. Wilds can have many purposes, the basic one being to replace regular icons to create winning combos.

They can have different properties like a Multiplier attached or trigger a respin. Scatters break the conventional rules of the game, bringing you money wherever they land and usually activating Free Spins. Bonus games offer you different games within a game, usually with handsome payouts.

Some of the most famous penny slot providers include Microgaming, NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, Yggdrasil and Play’n GO.

One of the most important factors to take into account is the RTP. It is a percentage of credit you get back on average per wager, with the industry average being 96%. Volatility or variance is the amount of risk involved, with highly volatile slots providing less frequent but larger payouts.

FAQ

• What is the difference between standard online slots and penny slots?
  

  Slots come in all shapes and sizes, like Megaways, Classic Reels, and Video Slots. Penny slots are slots where you pay a penny or less per payline.

  This doesn’t mean that the minimum bet is $0.01, a slot can have a fixed amount of paylines that determine the minimum bet.

• Am I really only paying a penny for these slots?
  

  In the olden days, penny slots cost at minimum a penny or a nickel. But as time changed and gambling evolved, penny slots began to have more paylines, and therefore have a higher bet.

  However, they still remain on the lower end of betting, making them an excellent slot to get started on.

• When should I consider the payout of a slot machine good?
  

  An RTP of 96% is considered average, with 97% and above considered high. If you win more than your original stake, then it’s technically a good payout – regardless of the actual bet amount.
  

• What is the difference between a real win and a false win?
  

  Simply put, a false win is when you win back less than what you bet. A real win is considered winning more than what you bet. Keep an eye on your credits so you can spot the difference.