Most of us would recognise a slot machine. These games have become a staple of casinos over the course of the last century, evolving significantly in the process of adapting to new technologies and expanding on their core concept.
The original mechanical designs of the 1890s look quite different next to modern online Slots, so let’s take a look back at how that evolution happened.
The origin of the slot machine
Slot machines started to emerge in the 1890s, following the pattern of other similar games. Sittman and Pitt created a game that worked similarly to video Poker, with five drums and 50 playing card faces printed on them. Players aimed to form a valid Poker hand when spinning the reels.
This likely helped to inspire the creation of what many consider the first true slot game – the Liberty Bell. Charles Fey of San Francisco created a simplified machine that had just three reels and a total of five symbols: hearts, diamonds, spades, horseshoes and the titular Liberty Bell.
Fey’s design quickly took off in popularity, spreading rapidly across the United States. Naturally that led to imitators, with many similar games cropping up in the years following.
Iteration on the classic slot game
Some of the newer slot machines that followed in the Liberty Bell’s footsteps swapped out Fey’s original set of symbols. This is where fruit symbols first appeared on the reels – including cherries, oranges and lemons – which all matched up to flavours of chewing gum.
These days, many classic Slots still use the fruit symbols instead of those found on the Liberty Bell.
It wasn’t until the 1960s that the slot machine landscape shifted significantly. Mechanical games were soon being replaced by electromechanical ones, with electrical components powering the machines. These allowed for new design elements, such as lights and sound effects, as well as more advanced payout mechanisms.
The rise of video Slots
Electromechanical slot machines didn’t get as long in the spotlight before a new format began to take over. The 1970s saw the introduction of so-called video Slots, which swapped out physical reels entirely in favour of a television screen.
This design allowed for even greater design variation without the limitations of needing to account for extra physical reels. It was around this point that the number of different slot game varieties on offer began to expand rapidly thanks to the new video technology.
Video Slots laid the groundwork for the shift to online play in the 1990s, with most slot game designs already being digital in nature. This made it simpler for developers to port them over to online casino platforms that sprung up in the runup to the turn of the new millennium.
Of course, the graphics of those early online Slots were rather limited but they quickly proved themselves one of the most popular online casino games.
Now, there are literally hundreds of different online slot games for players to choose from, covering a wide variety of themes and gameplay mechanics.
Few casino games have undergone the level of rapid evolution that Slots have, and who knows how technology could change them further in the future?
