The end of 2021 is fast approaching, and looking back, we can say with confidence that this year was one of the best for slot fans. Over the year, we’ve seen hundreds of casino game developers like Microgaming, Red Tiger Gaming, NetEnt, Relax Gaming, Playson, and so many others release games.
Some have been excellent, some have been groundbreaking, and others just fun. Since we can’t include all of 2021’s slot releases here, we’ve decided to round up our top five slots of 2021.
The Last Sundown is an online casino game that was released by Play’n GO. As we reported, the game explores a dark theme, taking place on a post-apocalyptic Earth where resources are controlled by two vicious warlords known as Tuco and Lauro. Siblings Rae and Devin plan to overthrow the warlords and reclaim their resources.
The game uses a 5×3 layout with 243 paylines, and it has an RTP of 94.2%. It comes with gorgeous visuals based on the slot’s post-apocalyptic theme, including the siblings, the warlords, weapons, and a robotic dog.
Play’n GO’s slot also comes with numerous special features, including the traditional Wild symbols and Free Spins mode. What’s more, any symbol excluding the Scatter can be split to help create additional wins.
Although the game doesn’t come with as many special features as the others we’ve listed in this article, we believe that the game’s plot, as well as its visuals, symbols, and animations, help make it stand out from everything else that released this year.
Starburst XXXtreme is a slot released by NetEnt, and it’s a follow-up to the studio’s hit slot Starburst. It retains the same visuals and sounds like the original game, and it’s still set in space with gorgeous diamonds and gems occupying the reels.
It uses a 5×3 layout with nine paylines, and it has an RTP of 96.26%. Unlike its predecessor, Starburst XXXtreme comes with dozens more special features, including Expanding Wild symbols, Respins, Multipliers, Random Wild symbols, traditional Wild symbols, and so much more to help you make wins.
NetEnt’s Starburst XXXtreme is basically an updated version of the original Starburst, and its special features are a huge improvement from the traditional game, which already was incredibly fun to play. You can’t get any better than this.
Glory Of Heroes is a medieval adventure game that was developed by Dreamtech Gaming and released under the YG Masters program by Yggdrasil. The game uses a 7×7 layout with a Cluster Pays mechanic, and it has an RTP of 97.15% with a video game-style level progression system.
The game has three locations of three levels each, and each level can be cleared by reducing the values of targets that appear on-screen by creating winning combinations. Once all levels have been completed, the game restarts from the beginning.
When it comes to special features, you can enjoy the traditional Wild symbols. It also comes with a Cascading mechanic that can form multiple wins on single spins, Hero symbols of up to 4×4 can appear to help create more wins, a Free Spins mode with Multipliers, and Bonus Boss meters that give you a chance to win large jackpots.
Although not perfect, we have to praise Yggdrasil and Dreamtech Gaming for trying to do something new with the release of Glory of Heroes. The game is incredibly entertaining to play thanks to its progression system, its special features, and the gorgeous visuals. If you haven’t taken a look at the slot, we highly suggest you do so soon.
Pragmatic Play’s Amazing Money Machine is an online slot that focuses on paying out large jackpots. The game follows a genius inventor who has found a way to make gigantic riches on the slot’s reels.
The slot uses a 5×3 layout with up to 60 paylines, and it has an RTP of 95.43%. The game includes a plethora of special features, including Expanding Reels, a Respin Wild mechanic that adds random Wilds for more wins, and it has a Jackpot feature that can be triggered in three different ways and gives you a chance to win big jackpots if lucky enough.
Pragmatic Play’s Amazing Money Machine is a great slot purely for its ability to pay out large jackpots. It comes with plenty of fun mechanics for you to enjoy, as well as gorgeous visuals and animations too.
Our final pick for the best video slots of 2021 is Jelly Reels from Wazdan. The sweet-themed video slot uses an 8×8 layout with 16,777,216 paylines, and it comes with an RTP of 96.22% with the ability to adjust many of the game’s mechanics, including volatility.
The slot comes with several notable special features, including Mega symbols of up to 3×3, a Cascading wins mechanic that can land multiple wins on single spins, Wild symbols to help create more wins, a Jackpot bonus that pays out big wins, Respins, cash prizes, and so much more.
Jelly Reels is a great slot – particularly for anyone with a sweet tooth – for its slew of special features, its gorgeous visuals and animations, and its exciting gameplay mechanics too. In addition, it’s compatible with all of Wazdan’s Unique and Special features, which allows you to play how you want.
Those are our top five slots of 2021. While hundreds more were released throughout the year, we believe that the five we’ve listed above were some of the best and are all worth playing if you get the chance.
