These days, online real money casinos offer unprecedented gaming variety. Their lobbies get stacked with hundreds, if not thousands of products, from dozens of gambling genres. Yet, they also seek to stay true to their roots by housing traditional real money slots. Yes, the ones of the fruit symbol variety.
Reel-spinning games were invented at the tail end of the 19th century. But they only achieved mainstream popularity in the 1960s when Bally Technologies developed the first electromechanical reel spinners. It was at that time that ones with lemons, cherries, watermelons, plums, and grapes entered the public consciousness and became synonymous with this gaming category.
Below, a short guide is presented on how to play these games, which usually boast light-hearted graphics, have easy-to-understand features, and often contribute 100% to bonuses wagering requirement fulfillment.
Grid Layouts
As mentioned in this review of top fruit slots by OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos.com, most online titles in the fruit slot section of gambling sites implement a 5×3. On the land-based side of things, games featuring fruit tokens are usually 3-reel slots.
That said, exceptions do exist. Modern releases that break the mold include Bonanza Billion by BGaming, Sweet Bonanza by Pragmatic Play, and Penny Fruits Xtreme by Spinomenal. The latter is a run-of-the-mill fruit title in every sense of the word, only deviating from the 5×3 norm by implementing an additional row.
Variance & RTP Settings
As a rule of thumb, most fruit slots have a medium variance. Casinos online often pair this attribute with an RTP in the 95% to 96% territory. These specs define that products that implement them will churn out reasonable-sized prizes with a decent degree of regularity.
Do They Have Jackpots?
In general, no. Players who do not have loads of experience in the gambling industry should understand that when fruit machines made their debut in Nevada’s venues, these establishments were not able to offer jackpot prizes. That got changed later on when the Battle Born state modified its laws. What is unique about Nevada’s gambling regulation is that while this is the US region with the laxest gaming stance, it is one that does not allow state-wide lottery draws.
Since fruit games became popular among medium-rollers, players got used to these machines offering modest rewards instead of mega ones. Thus, this standard has been maintained within this slot sub-genre until today. Some providers may add an advertised jackpot win to some of their fruit-themed releases, but such a prize will never be a progressive one that ranks among the top ones in this sector.
How Do They Stack Up to 3D Slots?
In truth, entries in both categories are fairly comparable, gameplay-wise. That is, in large part, on account of a few of the top providers churning out fruit-style games also making 3D ones. Thus, they often have similar simplistic mechanics and prize-yielding characteristics.
Naturally, visually there is no comparison between the two, as fruit games, more often than not, employ 2D graphics that look like something out of the Macromedia Flash era. Conversely, 3D slots have exclusively designed character models and environments.
What Are Some Quality Fruit Slots?
One of the main aspects of learning how to identify legit casinos online is to see if they work with famous game providers. Developers in this industry section get no bigger than Betsoft, the world’s premium creator of 3D slots. This Malta-based company has a more than adequate selection of fruit-motif spinners, with Fruit Zen and FruitBat Crazy standing out as notable entries from its catalog. The first incorporates expanding wilds, with ten paylines that pay both ways, while the latter uses the 243-ways-to-win format and has a bonus round where gamblers can get up to two hundred free spins.
Fruit Frenzy from Realtime Gaming is a classic and one of the most profitable real money slots on the World Wide Web. That is so because it lists a low variance paired with a staggeringly high RTP of 97%.
Two other quality fruit picks are Fruity Feast from Dragon Gaming and Fruit Splash by Rival. They have sensible betting ranges for casual slot lovers and provide appropriate win-generating specs.
Are They Still Popular?
Some older releases, such as the previously discussed Fruit Frenzy, are because they help gamblers stay out of the red and end sessions with some spare change in their pockets. Of course, due to their rudimentary and somewhat outdated look and feel, these games do not appeal to present-day gaming mavens, who crave titles that supply higher interactivity levels and more engaging presentations. That said, fruit slots still have their fans. And now and again, a provider will release an addition to this genre that mixes things up, introducing something novel and piquing interest in this category among newbies and veterans alike.
This article was written in collaboration with online slot experts.
