Classic style Slots

What Are Classic Slots?

Classic casino slots stand as the timeless pioneers of modern video slots, some resembling physical slot machines. You get spinning reels filled with fruit symbols, BAR symbols, and lucky 7s, often 5 or fewer paylines, and bonus features kept to a minimum. Classic slots come with 3 reels, although there are classic style slots with 5 reels or more as well, and they hold a nostalgic value with their simplistic charm.

History Of Classic Casino Slots

Charles Fey famously invented the first mechanical slot machine around 1895, paving the way for automated payouts with iconic symbols like hearts, spades, and bells. Many copycat machines popped up all over the place since Fey was unable to patent his innovation due to strict gambling laws. Fast-forward to 1963, the year Bally introduced the first electromechanical slot machine to the world. It was called Money Honey, and the concept spread like wildfire. Classic slots are still popular to this day, and the rise of the Internet gave these charming machines a new life online.

Common Features Of Classic Slot Machines

The strictest definition of classic slots online is a slot game that resembles a physical slot machine. It comes with 3 reels and 1 to 5 paylines, and you get BAR, fruit, bell, and similar symbols on the reels. However, video slots have blurred the line between classic and modern slots. These days you will find many games with more than 5 reels, as well as 3-reel slots with challenging bonus rounds and features.

Number Of Reels

Having 3 reels is the most important characteristic of what we call classic slots. It’s a simple way of distinguishing these games from modern video slots. However, it’s not that simple either. Some 3-reel slots come with modern features, while some 5-reel slots look like classic fruit machines and have few if any features.

Symbols

The symbols will vary a bit from one classic slot to the next, but they usually come with fruit symbols, BAR symbols, bells, and single to triple lucky number 7s. These symbols are inspired by the first physical slot machines, and they remain popular to this day. You can expect both glossy modern symbols and retro versions of these symbols.

Paylines

The number of paylines you get with classic slot games is usually far lower than most modern video slots. In some cases, you get only a single payline, but up to 5 or even 10 paylines are quite common as well. There are many classic-looking games with far more paylines, however, including Megaways slots with more than 100,000 win ways.

Simplicity Of Play

Classic slots online typically offer simple and straightforward gameplay, unlike video slots that come with elaborate bonus games and complex features. Some classic slot games have no features at all, except perhaps a wild symbol, but this varies a lot. You will find plenty of classic slots with modern bonus features as well.

Design And Aesthetics

Many classic online slots are designed to look like the physical fruit slots you’ll find in brick-and-mortar casinos. They come with the same charming mechanical whirring and clinking of coins, as well as the rhythmic clickety-clack of the spinning reels and the satisfying “thunk” when the reels stop. Some games offer a simple, upbeat melody when the reels spin, and some classic slots are exact online replicas of existing or previously existing physical slot machines.

Nostalgia Factor

Classic slots aren’t just charming games to play online, they are almost like time machines transporting you back to a simpler era. This is the x-factor of these games, as many players enjoy the familiarity of the symbols, the mechanical noises, and simple features. The nostalgia factor is unique to classic casino slot games, and it’s a great way to wind down and relax after a stressful day.

Differences Between Classic Slot Games And Other Slot Machines

Bonuses And Special Features In Online Classic Slots

Classic slots online typically come with simple features, but this will vary from case to case. You can get free spins in slots, but you may not get all that many extra modifiers to enhance the experience. Many times, you will get a nudge feature or a hold feature, allowing you to nudge wins in place or hold certain reels in place while the remaining reels spin. Simple double-or-nothing gamble games are also common, where you get to gamble to increase your winnings.

Main Themes Of Classic Slot Machine Games

In most cases, classic casino slots do not come with elaborate and flashy themes like modern video slots. Instead, the games look like physical slot machines, although these replicas will be dressed up in different styles according to the game’s theme. The fruit theme is the most common, but you will find plenty of other classic slot themes as well. We’ll cover the most common themes below.

Fruits

There is a reason why classic slots are often referred to as fruit machines. The fruity theme has been popular since the first physical slot machines hit the casinos and it remains highly popular to this day. The vibrant and colorful fruit symbols seem to appeal to the hunter-gatherer in us, and they certainly have a mood-lifting effect.

777

This is a popular sub-genre of classic slots, and they are known as classic 777 slots due to their focus on this lucky number. Many times, you win some kind of jackpot or top prize when you land three 7 symbols on a payline, or the game comes with single, double, and triple 7 symbols for even larger payouts.

Diamonds

Classic Diamond slots are often the top-tier symbol in classic slots online, and you will typically find this symbol in many games. It’s especially popular in mining or wealth-themed slots, but you will find the diamond symbol in all sorts of games. It’s a strong symbol of riches and wealth, together with gemstones.

Ancient Egypt

The Ancient Egypt classic slot theme is another common trope in the world of online slots. This theme is popular across the board, and you will find plenty of classic slots and modern slots that take you back to the land of the Pharaos. It has a strong association with hidden treasures, and it’s hard to resist an Indiana Jones-like treasure hunt.

Our List Of The 10 Best Classic Slots For Real Money

We have delved deep into the history and characteristics of classic slots online above, and the time has come to showcase some of the best classic slot games you can check out immediately. We will briefly introduce each game below, and you can follow the link to try the free demo version of each game. Below the demo game, you will find casinos that carry the slot in question, and below that, you’ll find our in-depth review of the game.

Route 777

Route 777 - is a classic 3-reeler with 3 rows from ELK, and it comes with charming pixelated fruit symbols. The American highway theme adds a modern touch to the game, and you get both overtake respins and a free spins bonus round for payouts up to 4,000x your stake.

Cash Chips

Cash Chips - is a popular classic-style game with 5 reels, and you can land casino chips scatter prizes up to 5,000x your stake. The game also comes with 2 unique bonus rounds, and the overall max win is 10,000x your stake. This is a hybrid release in other words, and not a fully fledged classic slot.

Cash Volt

Cash Volt - is a simple Red Tiger release that comes with a polished retro look and feel, but you get 5 reels filled with classic fruit machine symbols. The main aim is to land 6 to 15 cash volt symbols, as this lands you instant scatter prizes up to 2,500x your stake.

Hit Bar

Hit Bar - is a simple, yet charming, classic fruit machine slot from Playtech Origins, but it plays out on 5 reels instead of just 3. The main aim is to land 5+ hit bar symbols in view, as this gives you a streak respins feature where each additional hit bar symbol adds to your initial win. Accumulate 15 hit bar symbols to win the Grand Prize of 1,000x the stake.

Stellar 7s

Stellar 7s is a classic-looking game from Just For The Win, but it comes with 5 reels filled with classic symbols. You’ll benefit from expanding wilds, multiplier action, and even a bonus round, and you can land jackpots up to 5,000x your stake.

Fire Joker

Fire Joker is a popular Play’n Go release with 3 reels and 5 paylines. The classic setup is enhanced by modern visuals, and landing 2 stacks of matching symbols gives you a flaming respin that may lead to full-grid wins. Your respin win is boosted by a multiplier wheel multiplier up to x10, and the max win is 800x the stake.

9 Masks Of Fire

9 Masks Of Fire is Gameburger’s ultra-popular game with 5 reels, and this release spawned a whole genre of copycat releases in its wake. It’s all about instant scatter jackpots up to 2,000x your stake, and these can also land in the x2 or x3 multiplier bonus round.

Massive Gold

Massive Gold - is a blinged-up game filled with cash and wealth symbols, and it comes with a gold bar collect feature where 1Up symbols increase the prize multiplier. You can land 4 fixed jackpots as well, and the overall max win is 5,000x your stake.

7s On Fire

7s On Fire is a retro-style classic slot from Barcrest, a developer known for making online slot games that resemble physical slot machines. This is a 3-reeler with only 5 paylines, and there are no features except a wild symbol. The max win is 1,250x your stake.

Sizzling 777 Deluxe

Sizzling 777 Deluxe - is a fiery classic-looking slot game from Wazdan, and it comes with 5 reels and 20 paylines. The 77 symbol is the top-payer, along with the red star scatter symbol that pays as long as 3+ instances are in view anywhere on the grid. The max win is 305x your stake.

Free Classic Slots

You can play all the classic slots for free here at SlotCatalog, and we have a dedicated review page for each game. You can check the game attributes and stats for each release, and test the free demo game at the top of each review page. We offer more than 240 classic slots with 3 reels, as well as more than 2,790 classic-style slots with 5 reels and modern features. Break da Bank is an iconic 3-reeler to check out, and it resembles a physical slot machine.

Classic Slots Provider

Most providers deliver at least a few new classic slots a year, but some developers focus more on these types of games than others. Barcrest is known for releasing popular retro-style games, and 7s On Fire is a popular example. Wazdan is another popular developer that has plenty of classic slots in their back catalog, and Sizzling 777 Deluxe is among their most popular games.

Tips For Playing Classic Online Slots

Having played classic slots online for many years, we’ll give you our best tips to maximize your experience before we wrap things up. When playing 3-reelers, don’t expect massive max wins and payouts in most cases. Allow yourself to be charmed by the simple gameplay and nostalgia. You can use our filtering system to find high max win classic slots as well, of course, and you can always go for classic-looking slots if you want more modern features and themes.

Final Thoughts

We have given you a comprehensive introduction to the exciting and nostalgic world of classic slots online, as well as plenty of casinos where you can play these games for real money. We recommend that you take advantage of our elaborate filtering system to play classic slots online for free here with us. You can then check casino sites we have confirmed to carry the games directly below the free demo games you try. If you have further questions we refer you to the FAQ below.