pokies remain popular in Australia

Online Pokies Australia 2023

Online pokie machines work on the same principle as physical pokie machines: the player’s goal is to get the correct symbols to land on a winning line. Each symbol has a predetermined value, and the payout depends on which symbols land on the reels.

The symbols that land on the screen are always based purely on luck – or, more accurately, random number generators – and the player has no control over the outcome. This is part of the excitement of pokie machines!

However, online pokies are different from the physical versions in other respects, as the virtual environment offers almost limitless possibilities for innovation. As a result, a wide variety of special features can be added to the pokies to make the game even more enjoyable. Graphics can also be played with, and the best online pokies have a look and feel approaching that of a video game.

New Pokies for Aussies

As pokie machines are among the most popular forms of gambling, game studios are developing new products rapidly. In the pokies world, we see many new releases, and studios compete with each other to see who will bring the next Australian big hit to the market.

There is a strong focus on new games, and the latest technologies are spreading rapidly. This is a great thing for gamers, as there’s always so much to play and explore. Big players such as NetEnt, Microgaming, and Play’n GO also play a significant role in the new releases, but recently many smaller studios have also been making impressive splashes. Big Time Gaming, for example, a relatively unknown player until a few years ago, has made its way to the forefront with its Megaways innovation – you can read more about that a little further down the line.

The year 2020 has seen many new pokies that could well be the hits of the future. There’s still a year to go, and there are plenty of exciting names on the horizon. Here are some of the 2021 games that are worth checking out:

Gorilla Kingdom, produced by NetEnt, RTP 96.3%
Unique feature: stunning graphics with guaranteed professionalism

Treasure Rain, produced by NetEnt, RTP 95.97%
Special: Asian-style themed version of the famous Gonzo’s Quest

Whole Lotta Love, produced by Blueprint, RTP 94.76%
Plus: Part of the progressive Jackpot King system

Pink Elephant 2, produced by Thunderkick, RTP 96.13%
Huge: A staggering 4096 ways to win

Dragon Ways, produced by Insider Gaming, RTP 95.9%
Bonus: Up to 100x extra multipliers during free spins

Pokies Experiences: The Best Online Pokies 2023

Certain pokie games continue to top the most popular pokies’ lists year after year, and their position seems impossible to unseat. Their themes range from space landscapes to mysterious jungles to luxury yachts, but they all have certain things in common. They have a sleek look, are easy to play, and have a particular hook. These classic pokies are a must-have for any self-respecting online casino:

Starburst

One of the most popular games on many online casinos’ favorites lists is Starburst. This game’s popularity is undoubtedly partly because it is a game that almost every online casino offers free spins to new members. But there are undoubtedly many other reasons for this. For example, this game is a game where you can keep winning right up until the end of the round because it gives wins in two directions.

Gonzo’s Quest

In 2013, Gonzo’s Quest was a NetEnt favorite that takes you to the ruins of Aztec with the beloved conquistador Gonzo. The game has an RTP of 95.97% and comes with many unique features, including exploding symbols with an extra multiplier that increases with each explosion.

Book of Dead

Book of Dead is the brainchild of Play’n GO and takes you on an adventure with Rich Wilde to ancient Egypt. Released in 2016, this game has an RTP of 94.25% and a top prize of up to 250,000 coins. Free spins and expanding symbols are just some of the features that will help you in your quest for winnings.

Gemix

The pokie game called Gemix deserves its separate introduction. It’s a popular game that can be found on almost every online casino’s game list. The game was produced by Play’n GO a few years ago. What makes this game special is its structure. It has seven rows and seven columns. The column is more suitable than the reels because the game doesn’t have the traditional pay lines obtained through the symbols on the consecutive reels. This game award wins through a variety of character strings.

If you know the game Candy Crush, playing this game works pretty much the same way. But it’s still a real gambling game.

Mega Fortune

NetEnt’s Mega Fortune is nearing retirement age – it was released in 2009 – but it continues to attract players like a magnet. It’s a pokie inspired by the life of luxury, and the absolute attraction is its sometimes staggeringly sizeable progressive jackpot. The game has a calculated payback percentage of 96%, which is very good for a jackpot game.

Best Pokies for Australian players

Australian players’ best pokies are the ones that enthrall, can bring big wins, and entertain with other features. You’ll find many casinos on our website that offer a selection of popular pokies with Aussies.

A reasonable return rate is also one of the things that unite them. After all, this figure tells you how much of your bets are returned to players in the long run. In pokies, the RTP averages around 95-96%. If it is lower than this, the game will suffer a bit of a penalty and have to make up for it somehow. Return rates above 96%, on the other hand, are reasonable, and going above 97% is brilliant. However, always remember that the RTP is just a calculated figure and will not be accurate for every game round – thankfully, this also allows you to win!

In addition to the classic pokies mentioned above, these pokies also enjoy great popularity among Australian players:

Bonanza Megaways
Reactoonz
Wolf Gold
Fire Joker
Twin Spin
Dead or Alive 2

Various Pokie Games

Online casinos usually divide pokie games into at least a few parts. They may have already been divided into different main categories. These include video pokies, classic pokies, and jackpot games. These can also be subcategories of games. There is usually at least one primary category for these games, from which, fortunately, they have been further subdivided into several subcategories.

The main category is not necessarily referred to by the word “pokies.” It may be replaced by terms such as fruit machines, pokie machines, or pokies.

While the online casino offers a variety of filtering options for games, most of them are related to pokie machines’ features. These include multi-line games, games with a wild symbol, games with bonus games, or even games with free spins. These games can also be easily subdivided according to different game themes.

You can identify dozens of different types, but one online casino doesn’t need that many. Popular articles include music, animals, television, and horror.

Jackpots

Jackpot games are also the same as pokie machines. They’re just so named because you can win a massive jackpot. The amount of the jackpot usually increases as you play the game.

The increase can happen through users playing at many different online casinos if they are available at other sites. It can then also be won by a player at another online casino.

When this happens, the game’s jackpot starts to grow again. It can grow up to several million euros before someone wins it. Fortunately, many online casinos already indicate this amount on the game’s icon. Then you don’t have to start the game to check the current size of the pot.

Classic pokies

Classic pokies are games with either three or five reels. Almost every game in the old days was just that, so that’s why they are called classic games. But quite a few newer games are just that. The number of lines may vary somewhat, but they are usually three or four. If a game producer wants to make a more memorable game, the number of lines can vary on different reels of the game.

The reels can even be hidden so that it does not appear to have the familiar structure of games when you see the game. Producer Yggdrasil has made just such games several times. One game, for example, has telephone wires with birds on them instead of transparent reels and lines.

When the round starts, the birds fly away and come back with a different configuration. The birds are other caracters, and three overlapping telephone wires form three rows in the game.

Video Pokies

Video pokies are a rather broad concept, as basically any online pokie could be included in this category. They are, generally speaking; however, it refers to pokies that are not traditional pokie machines.

They can have numerous reels from five upwards, and their pay lines can be set up in any direction on the screen – sometimes there are no pay-lines at all!

Video pokie themes vary from side to side and often see a wide variety of unique features.

3D Pokies

3D pokies are among the latest gaming trends and bring a great touch of modernity to pokies. The actual content is very similar to video pokies, but the difference is in the look and feel. 3D pokies have highly polished graphics, and their three-dimensionality makes them delightfully vivid. Often, this type of pokie also includes various animated elements, such as game intros or bonus game clips.

Progressive Pokies

Progressive pokies are among the most popular pokies, as they can offer huge payouts even with small bets. In these games, a portion of each bet goes into a shared pool of winnings, which continues to grow bigger and bigger until one of the players gets a lucky kick.

Mega Fortune and Mega Moolah games have produced some of the biggest wins in history, with top prizes efficiently running into the millions.

Mobile Pokies

Today, the majority of pokies are optimized for mobile play. Only a tiny percentage of the oldest pokies do not run on smart devices. There may be slight differences in mobile optimization, but the games’ features remain the same whether you play on desktop or mobile. Often, a game’s graphics will lay better on the screen when you tilt your phone or tablet horizontally.

Mega Spin Pokies

Mega Spin pokies are pokies where the value of a single spin can be set exceptionally high. Some games allow you to select the spin value to a few tens of dollars at most, but Mega Spin games allow high roller players to spin reels with a spin bet of several hundred dollars. This feature is only suitable for the most cold-hearted players with a chunky bankroll – always remember to play within your budget.

Multi-line Pokies

Today’s pokie machines can hold a wide variety of pay-line combinations. In more traditional video pokies, you’ll find between 10 and 25 pay lines, but it’s not uncommon to come across games that count in the hundreds. There are usually more than three reels in multi-line games, and some of them may even go in the opposite direction to the others. These add a fun extra flavor to the game.

Features of Online Pokie Games

While the online casino offers various game filtering options, most of them are related to pokie features. These include multi-line games, games with a wild symbol, games with bonus games, or even games with free spins. These games can also be easily subdivided according to different game themes. You can identify dozens of different types, but one online casino doesn’t need that many. Popular articles include music, animals, television, and horror.

Multi-line Pokie Games

As mentioned above, pokies are now available in multi-line versions, where each spin offers more chances to win. The Megaways mechanic, launched by Big Time Gaming, has become particularly popular, allowing the number of pay lines to reach over 100 000.

Pokie Wild Symbols

Many pokies contain special symbols, the most common of which is probably the wild. This could also be called the wild and plays an essential role in the game. The wild can turn into any other symbol on the reels, and in this way, it helps the player form winning combinations more easily. Sometimes the wild can also award its wins, in which case it is usually the most valuable symbol.

Pokie Scatter symbols

A scatter is a special symbol that triggers pokie games’ bonus features, such as free spins or the bonus game. When a certain number of scatters land on the reels, the bonus feature is automatically triggered. Scatters can also award their wins. Usually, these symbols do not have to land on the pay lines but will award wins anywhere on the reels when a sufficient number of them appear.

This is made possible by the different sizes of symbols on each reel, making the game screen different on each spin. Thanks to its vast popularity, many other game producers have bought the rights to this mechanic, and casinos now offer various Megaways games from many different producers.

Pokie Free Spins

There are two ways to get free spins on pokie games. The first is that the online casino gives them away with a benefit. The other is that the game has its own free spins feature. If the online casino provides them, you can even get them completely free. This is usually because the player has just joined the online casino.

A new member can get to know the online casino for free but still get some real winnings. You can get dozens or even a few hundred of them in addition to a few spins. Then they are spread out over several days. If you get more than one, they usually involve depositing at the online casino first. Then you can also get a deposit bonus at the same time.

There may also be a free spins feature in the game. Such games are trendy. They can be won, for example, by getting at least three Scatter symbols. In some games, one free spin can be awarded on top of every winning spin. During the free spins, winnings can be obtained through a multiplier. Therefore, the winnings from them can grow big. No wonder this feature can be the most popular feature of the game.

Pokie Bonus Spins

Bonus rounds in pokie games can be very diverse. In some pokies, a completely different bonus game may be built into the pokie, allowing the player to, for example, choose chests or adventure to a whole new view. Of course, bonus rounds can also be regular spins, topped off with extra multipliers or other bonus features. Bonus spins are triggered by scatters, and the number of scatters is predetermined. It depends on the game whether a new bonus round feature can be activated during the bonus rounds.

Pokie Multipliers or Odds

The multiplier feature in pokies brings dollar signs to many players’ eyes, as they can be used to catch larger than average wins. A multiplier means that when this feature is active, all wins will be multiplied by that multiplier during that time.

Multipliers can be combined with any bonus feature or unique feature. For example, in many games with falling symbols, each new combination that appears will increase the multiplier by one notch. Free spins can also have multipliers.

Free pokie games

Pokies can also be played for free. Often every game can be played for free. In that case, of course, you will not get any real winnings from the game. At the start of the game, you may be offered the option of playing for play money and real money.

Even if you don’t get real winnings this way, it helps a lot that you don’t always have to play the game for real money. It is then possible to get to know the game properly first. For example, if a game has many complicated special features, it is a good idea to get to know them properly first.

This way, you can first assess whether you like the game. It’s also a good idea to see how well the game runs on your device, especially if it’s a game with many animations; this way, you can also test how the game plays on mobile devices.