ONLINE SLOTS IN CANADA

You have probably already noticed that all the casinos on this page are offering bonuses for new customers. These will usually consist of some free spins and a match on your deposit. As an example, a casino may offer a 100% match bonus of up to $200 with your first deposit, and 200 spins to play on selected games. Here are some important points to look out for when choosing a real money slots bonus.

MINIMUM DEPOSIT AND MAXIMUM BONUS

To quality for any sign-up bonus almost all casinos in Canada will require you to make a minimum deposit of $10 or more. In some cases the amount is less, and sometimes more. There is even one site that offers free spins for $1. So always check the terms or you will lose out on claiming the offer. Check as well to see at what amount the bonus is capped. Most operators will not offer more than $500 on the first deposit, so if you fund more than that, you still only receive $500.

ELIGIBLE SLOTS

If you claim free spins in most cases they will only be valid on selected games. Common slots for free spins are Book of Dead by Play n Go and Starburst by NetEnt but there are plenty of others. The good news is that operators will always choose from their best and most popular slots to entice gamblers through their doors.

WAGERING REQUIREMENTS

Bonuses always come with wagering requirements which must be fulfilled before the bonus, or winnings generated by the bonus, can be withdrawn. This also refers to winnings generated by your free spins which are usually credited as bonus funds. Typically wagering requirements will be around 30x to 40x.

WIN LIMITS

Sometimes a casino will put a limit on the amount of money that you can win with a slots bonus. Usually $100 to $500. Always check the terms to see if a limit like this is applied to your bonus.

EXPIRY DATE

Finally, look out for expiry dates on free spins and bonuses. Operators will often apply an expiry date to push you to make your first deposit. A normal expiry date is 30 days after registration.

There are many different types of slot game to play at Canadian casinos, created by developers from all over the world. There are the most common types of game: 

VIDEO SLOTS

At least 80% of the games you see at slot sites in Canada are video slots. Typically, these games have 5 or 6 reels and 3 or 4 rows of symbols. There will be anywhere from 10 to 100 or more paylines on which matching symbols must land to trigger a win. Video slots are the bread and butter of online casinos. As well as different reel set ups, the games also come with different themes. Common ones are ancient history from Greece and Egypt, rock n roll music, Irish luck, sci-if and outer space, fairy tales, movies and animals. But in truth, anything is up for grabs, and if you think of a subject, chances are it’s already a video slot theme. The variety of games keeps things interesting for anyone who plays slots on a regular basis. Popular video slots include Starburst by NetEnt, Immortal Romance by Microgaming, and Sticky Bandits by Quickspin.

BRANDED SLOTS

Another term you may often see is ‘branded slots’. These are games that use a well-known brand from TV or cinema to base the game’s narrative on. Classic examples are The Dark Knight slots from Microgaming, Ted Megaways by Blueprint Gaming, or Planet of the Apes by NetEnt. There are in fact hundreds of games like these, including some excellent rock n roll slots like Jimi Hendrix by NetEnt and Annihilator by Play n Go. Branded slots are fun if you are a fan of the brand. They are also usually of a higher quality with better features and gameplay as developers know they will be popular and are worth investing in.

PROGRESSIVE JACKPOT SLOTS

Of all the online slots in Canada, Progressive Jackpot slots are the most popular. These games have top prizes of $1,000,000s. When you stake money on a progressive, some of the money will be placed in the jackpot pool, so for every spin, the prize gets larger. The odds of winning are very small but for those lucky enough to scoop a win, the jackpot can be life-changing. Popular progressives include Mega Moolah by Microgaming and Mega Fortunes by NetEnt.

CLASSIC SLOTS

These are old-skool slots game like you find in real Vegas Casinos. Yes, game developers are still producing 3-line slots with classic symbols like lemons, grapes, bars, double bars and Lucky 7s because there is still a big audience for them. Why are they popular? They have a nice retro-feel and they are simple and easy to understand. Some video slots are complex, with multiple features that interact to drive wins. Classic slots just require a simple line up of identical symbols to trigger a payout. They also regularly offer a higher RTP (Return to Player) than video slots which makes them attractive to slots gamblers. Amongst the best classic slots are Mega Joker by NetEnt and Bar-X.

These are the main slots groups, and there are literally 1000s of games that fit into these categories. But who is creating them? Whilst there are 4 or 5 big game studios that you may already know, there are also many smaller names that produce equally strong slots. Here is our pick of the best slots developers currently creating games for Canadian casinos.

NETENT

Having been in the business since the mid 1990s, Sweden’s NetEnt are one of the most successful game producers in the market. Their catalogue includes a mix of all types of games, including popular video slots like Starburst, Progressive Jackpots like Mega Fortues, and branded games like Narcos. NetEnt keep creating 2 or 3 new slots or table games every month so fans are regularly treated to new releases. There are very few real money casinos that don’t feature NetEnt slots.

MICROGAMING

NetEnt’s big rivals in the industry are Microgaming. They were the first to launch a real online casino in 1996 and have been creating slot games ever since. Their catalogue features absolute classics like Thunderstruck 2 and Immortal Romance, timeless games that have been in the top 10 listings of many casinos for years. Their games and platform power the casinos in the Rewards Group so many Canadian gamblers will be familiar with them. Other titles by Microgaming to look out for are Jurassic Park, Avalon and Game of Thrones.

THUNDERKICK

If you want to try something a little bit different then we recommend trying anything by the Scandanavian game developer called Thunderkick. They are renowned for their quirky themes, clever game features and top-class artwork. If you ever try one of these slots you will be sure to remember it. Above all, Thunderkick make slots games fun. Their best titles include a whacky psychedelic game called Pink Elephants, a high variance slot called Fruit Warp, and an old-skool arcade game called Flame Busters.

PLAY N GO

Also hailing from Scandanavia are Play n Go, famous for their highly volatile slots and producers of one of the greatest of all time, Book of Dead. Play n Go are also known for their rock slots including 2020 release, Annihilator, and House of Doom. If you are looking for solid slots with excellent features and gameplay, with generous RTP then these guys are a good bet. Other popular slots by Play n Go are Raging Rex, Street Magic and Twisted Sister.

QUICKSPIN

If you like your video slots to have great artwork then Quickspin are a good choice. Their games all have a similar feel as they have a very strong in-house style. Mainly the games have an orange hue to them, and often they feature Wild symbols as a big part of the gameplay. Quickspin offer a mix of formats but they have created some really strong high variance titles in recent years. Famous games in their catalogue include Sticky Bandits and Big, Bad Wolf.

PUSH GAMING

We also give a mention to the UK’s Push Gaming, a relatively new game studio who have nonetheless made a name for themselves with some very popular highly volatile games which utilize funny themes and innovative features. The best example of this is Fat Rabbit in which a carrot-chomping bunny symbol increases in size as it moves around the reel set, increasing the odds of bigger wins. Other slots by Push that are worth checking out are Razor Shark and Tiki Tumble.

Think you’re ready to try your luck with online slots? Before you spin, it’s worth checking out our guide to the three most important defining features of any reel-based game: RTP, variance and top payout.

RETURN TO PLAYER (RTP)

RTP is the value that tells you how will be paid out in prizes from all the money wagered on a slot. In most cases it will be around 95% to 96%, but occasionally the value will be slightly lower, or higher than that. So, if you wager £100 on a game with a 96% RTP then on average you will win back £96. Of course, this number will vary with every session, it’s not a fixed value. The other £4 of your £100 is retained by the slot game and is referred to as the ‘house edge’. All gambling games have a house edge – it’s what allows the casino to make money.

Read more in our guide to RTP, including a list of games with a high RTP.

VARIANCE

Knowing the RTP of a game is one thing, but understanding variance is important too. This will tell you how regularly a game is likely to pay out. Variance is either low, medium or high and it explains how far from the average RTP a game will drift during a session. If the RTP is low then a game will continue to pay out around the advertised RTP amount throughout your session. However, if a game has a high variance then it will pay out very erratically. Typically, this will mean long spells with very few wins and a low RTP followed by short spells of big wins with a very high RTP. High variance games are high risk – they may potentially reward the gambler with big wins but this is rare and you will need to sit through long spells of fruitless spinning before hitting the big payouts.

Read more in our guide to Variance, including a list of popular games with low and high variance.

PAYOUTS

The third important feature of any slot to check out before you get started is the paytable, which includes the top payout available, sometimes referred to as the jackpot. Typically, online slots will have a top payout of upwards of 500x your stake per spin. So, if you stake $1 then you may win a maximum of $500. But it is not unknown for some new games to have top payouts of well over 50,000x per spin. Of course the games with the biggest payouts of all are the popular Progressive Jackpots like Microgaming’s Mega Moolah. These slots will offer top jackpots of $1,000,000s but remember they are very hard to win.

There are many video slots to choose from and it’s really down to personal taste which you decide to play. For most of us we look for games with an eye-catching design, excellent gameplay and branding, and a top payout worth aiming for. Of course, we also want to see that the RTP is fair and the variance is at our preferred level. With all this in mind, The Casino Heat team have put together this list of our favourite 10 slots of all time.

1. Book of Dead by Play n Go

As we have already said in this article, Play n Go’s Book of Dead is amongst the most popular high variance games ever made. It set the standard for years to come with a very simple but effective game engine. All the fun comes in the free spins round when special symbols expand to full reel height when they land, making a full screen of the top paying symbol a possibility. For more about this game, read our Book of Dead review.

Mega Moolah by Microgaming

Amongst Canadian players, Mega Moolah is surely the most popular progressive. The game itself is pretty simple and it comes with a bonus round with concentric wheels. Spin those wheels and if you get lucky turn by turn you’ll shift into big win territory, and maybe even hook the multi-million dollar jackpot. Check out our Mega Moolah review to find out more about this game.

Starburst by NetEnt

It may not be the most sophisticated of slots, but NetEnt’s Starburst is one of the most-played. This is partly because it is often used as the free spins game for welcome promotions. But it’s also because it’s fun and eye-catching. It’s medium variance makes it appeal to a wide range of gamblers too.

Gonzo’s Quest by NetEnt

We must also mention another top quality NetEnt game – Gonzo’s Quest. It has superb graphics and a great story about a conquistador hunting for lost treasures. It’s also the original cascading wins slot, mixing multipliers and cascades to great affect – a mechanic that’s been copied many times since, but rarely matched. There is more about this game in our Gonzo’s Quest review.

Pink Elephants by Thunderkick

One of the craziest looking slots we’ve ever seen, Thunderkick’s high variance game is a joy to play. It features meerkats and elephants and a free spins round in which collecting said meerkats unlocks higher value paytables. 4,096 ways to win and lots of fun.

Book of Ra by Novomatic

Another high variance classic from a game developer who started out in the offline world and brought their talents to online casinos. Much like Play n Go’s Book of Dead, Book of Ra is a slot that has potential to pay out big with special expanding symbols in the free spins round.

Rainbow Riches by Barcrest

One of the most iconic slots of all time is Rainbow Riches, now in 10 or more different formats. The original is the best though with a simple reel set and famous bonus rounds including the Rainbow Road with mutlipilers and cash prizes to be won along the way to the jackpot.

Cleopatra by IGT

We have to include a game by IGT, another developer who moved effortlessly from offline to online casinos with games like Cleopatra and Wheel of Fortune. The former is famous for its glorious graphics and big potential payouts. You can find it at many Canadian casinos. Read more about this classic in our Cleopatra slot review.

Break Da Bank by Microgaming

This is one of the all-time great games, with a very simple interface with just 3 reels and 5 paylines. If you like classic slots, then you’ll love this one. It has a top payout of just 2,400x but its straight-forward and fun to play. Find out how to crack the code and steal the jackpot in our Break Da Bank review.

Jurassic World by Microgaming

Our final slot in the top 10 list is this branded game from Microgaming, based on the movie of the same name. MG have gone all out to integrate ideas and images from the film into a feature-heavy game with 243 paylines and a top payout of over 14,000x. It looks stunning and it’s great fun to play.