Video game slots promise to change online gambling

This year marks a turning point in the history of slot games.

Several developers are bringing video games into the world of slots. They’re doing it in several different ways, both in terms of gameplay and design. Most importantly: all of them are game-changing. And it’s only a matter of time before these games are a must-have for any casino, whether online or in Las Vegas.

Dungeon Immortal Evil	EvoPlay
Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior Slot	NetEnt
Fortune of The Brave	IGT
Lucked and Loaded	Synergy Blue

I had the privilege of trying some of these games at ICE 2020. While I played them, I noticed a pattern, and I thought that they deserved more than individual reviews.

There are so many innovations behind these games, that I just had to write a piece that brought them all together.

Long-time lovers of video games will be thrilled at the many ways in which the classic and familiar elements of arcade and console games are making their way into the online gambling world.

These games are the ultimate mix of gaming and gambling... or is it gambling and gaming?

If you love to play video games and casino games, and wish you could do both at the same time, 2020 will be a year you’ll never forget.

Online slots packing powerful punches

The online casino world will undoubtedly be rocked by two games that we were beyond excited to see. Slot players who remember the first generations of arcade and RPG games will be thrilled to have a chance to try out NetEnt’s Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Slot and EvoPlay’s Dungeon - Immortal Evil.

These two games could not be more different. Yet they both feed a nostalgic craving that many of us have. It doesn’t matter which you prefer most —arcade combat or 3D RPG— you’re bound to have that craving satisfied by either, or both!

These games will change the way you think of playing slots online.

Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior Slot (NetEnt)

We know very little about NetEnt's upcoming Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Slot. But what we do know is enough to keep us on the edge of our seats.

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Slot will be released on 21 May 2020.

For starters, the design is so true to the original, that it keeps the gritty visuals of the arcade game screen, down to the horizontal lines across the monitor. This reference might be lost on millenials who grew up in a world of Photoshop and HD TV from an early age. But if you remember saving coins to hit up the machines on weekends, you’ll certainly appreciate this level of attention to detail.

As for the gameplay, you can do everything you did to play Street Fighter. You get to choose between the characters and make them fight with every spin. And get this: you can even batter the cars in the background!

You can play the Street Fighter 2 slot at Yako Casino as soon as it’s released. Check out our review and compare it to other NetEnt casinos to decide which one is the best for you!

Dungeon - Immortal Evil (EvoPlay)

When EvoPlay introduced the Dungeon - Immortal Evil mobile slot, they invented a whole new genre of slot game. This RPG-inspired video slot has a fully immersive 3D world, complete with combat spins, cinematic cut sequences, bosses and a storyline.

Read our in-depth review of Dungeon - Immortal Evil and try the free demo.

This game is so well optimised for mobile, that you can change the way you play. Just load it straight on the browser of your iOS or Android device, tweak the settings, and play it by sliding your finger across the screen like you would on a mobile game app!

Land-based video game slot machines

Two land-based slots stand out this year. And I think it’s only a matter of time until they make their way online.

Unfortunately, the UK Gambling Commission does not allow any skill-based slots in Great Britain. So these games won’t be available at UK casinos —at least not in their current form.

But it’s worth looking at them to know what we can expect in the future.

Fortune of The Brave (IGT)

IGT’s Fortune of The Brave is a skill-based slot. It combines random-number-generators (RNGs) and combat phases where the player’s success influences the results of the spins.

After winning enough in spins to reach higher levels, the game takes the hero (that’s you!) to a fantasy world where you use a console controller to fight waves of evil monsters using different weapons and magic powers. Your success in the combat stages will influence the results of the spins in the following stages.

Plus, you can level-up to get new armour and weapons upgrades!

This game is being tested in land-based casinos. But from my perspective, it holds great promise for future adaptation to a mobile slot. So let’s hope IGT will have one on the way soon!

Lucked and Loaded (Synergy Blue)

If you’re the kind of player who made the leap from the arcade first-person-shooter to the Dead or Alive 2 slot, you’re in for a treat.

Synergy Blue has taken the light-gun shooter genre that became famous with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt and Wild Gunman back in the good-old-days of the NES Zapper, and added real stakes to it.

The game takes you through a Wild West saloon that’s been overrun by aliens. You have to shoot armed bandits from outer space to reach the final boss. All this, while saving zany characters and fighting to heal and reload like you would with any arcade game. Except here, you wager with every time you pull the trigger!