Slot machine games have been a staple in casinos since the nineteenth century, and most of their essential features have been maintained to date. One of the most significant identifying factors for slot machines is their simplicity in gameplay that does not demand the use of any skill. However, in recent times, online gaming software developers have been looking to attract a broader market by including some skill-based elements in their games. This is especially with the rise of a millennial market that demands more action than the usual spinning of reels and landing wins and bonuses.
Entirely skill-based slot games have yet to break into the mainstream market and overrun the conventional one. This is because gameplay simplicity is one of the most significant attractive features for slot lovers. Therefore, the providers have opted to blend the component of strategy into the usual approach of slot gameplay. In some titles that can be considered skill games, players are still not required to perform any skill. Even so, landing some payouts and bonuses demands the completion of a specific task. Therefore, they don’t quite fit the image of what an ordinary skill-based title would be considered in the conventional gaming world. Here is a look at some sets that can be considered skill games under the slots banner:
- Dynamite Riches
- Pharaoh’s Secret Temple
- Game of Thrones
- The Bees
Dynamite Riches
Dynamite Riches Slot is one of the latest mobile casino slots released by the reputable Red Tiger Gaming software company. The game is made accessible in numerous affiliate sites where gamblers can play slots for free. The set can also be found in online casinos where a real money version is offered as well. Click here for mega casino bonuses.
Dynamite Riches online slot is a modern take on the mining theme that sinks players deep into the ground to try their luck at finding precious metals. The 5×4 grid is set between two rocky walls with glowing stones within them. The only way these precious metals can be accessed is through the twenty bet lines that run across the screen for stakes of between 0.20 and 20 credits. Click here for the best bonuses.
This Red Tiger Gaming slot is among those that can be considered as subtle skill games. Players do not have to perform any tasks out of the ordinary spinning of reels, but the landing of the bonus features in the game uses a unique approach. For each wild that is landed on the grid, players burn a part of the wick that is displayed at the screen top. The icons count to launching the bonus round whether they are used in a winning combination or not. Here are the landed rewards when the wick burns out four times:
| Number of Wilds | Bonus Offered |
| Six wilds | All low paying characters are removed from the grid for the next round. |
| Twelve wilds | Random gold bar wilds are launched onto the screen. |
| Eighteen wilds | A 10 times multiplier is applied to the win landed on the next spin. |
| Twenty-four wilds | A giant diamond wild is activated that covers two by two or three by three cells on the grid on the next spin. |
Pharaoh’s Secret Temple
Pharaoh’s Secret Temple slot game is the closest slots have come to resembling skill-based games that it is considered more of a video game. This machine is only located in brick and mortar casinos, and it was developed with the millennial market in mind. The set is crafted around the “match three candies” concept, whose popularity was kick-started by the Candy Crush Saga by the King gaming company.
Pharaoh’s Secret Temple features the popular Egyptian theme that takes players deep into the belly of a pyramid where one of the wealthy rulers of the ancient world resides. There, players are tasked with locating various treasures with the help of an explorer that stands watch to the left of the screen. As gameplay proceeds, the pharaoh can appear to the right to cheer you on, and he is accompanied by his black cat that was a symbol of royalty in ancient Egypt. The playtable itself carries a unique set of nine reels and the same number of rows. At any given point, the screen holds 81 characters that are denoted by gems of various shapes and colours.
This brick and mortar slot machine entirely abandons the spinning of reels that is the standard approach to slots gameplay. Instead, punters have to switch different characters on the screen to try and land combinations of three or more items either vertically or horizontally. Therefore, one applies significant influence to the wins that are collected. The game accommodates stakes of between 1 and 50 dollars, and players are allocated a specific amount of time within which they have to match the symbols.
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones takes players back to the realm of conventional slot gameplay with a set of five columns on three rows. The pokie, which is a product of Microgaming, is inspired by the HBO TV series of the same name. Gamblers get to stand in the middle of the action as four royal houses battle it out for the seven kingdoms that make up Westeros. Microgaming released two versions of the game with the only difference being that one carries fifteen adjustable bet lines while the other uses 243 ways to win.
The bonus round in Game of Thrones online slot is what warrants the placement on this list of sets that can be considered skill-based. Not much strategy is demanded, but gamblers are presented with the choice to pick a free spins bonus they prefer when three scatters land anywhere on the grid. Four packages are offered, and each one is matched to a great house in the TV show as follows:
| House | Free Spins | Multiplier Value | Stacked Sigil |
| Baratheon | 8 | 5 | Crowned black stag |
| Lannister | 10 | 4 | Lion |
| Stark | 14 | 5 | Wolf |
| Targaryen | 18 | 2 | Three-headed dragon |
The Bees
The Bees slot machine is hardly the star of the show when listing the most entertaining slots by Betsoft, but it captures the classic element of game development. The set features a simple bee theme that follows the adventures of a male and female bee as their fly around a lush green meadow going from flowers to their yellow hive. Looking at the game, one can tell that it’s an old release with dated cartoon graphics that still manage to be colourful and capture the eye.
The Bees Slot impresses beyond its traditional appearance with a skill-based round that leaves players with more winning chances than just conducting ordinary spins. Any time a round lands a winning combination, players are allowed to change the position of two characters to create even more payout combos. The Swap Icons that are used to make these exchanges are collected in the bonus round. This bonus is landed when the male bee, slot logo, and female bee land on the second, third, and fourth columns, respectively. As many as three of the Swap Icons can be acquired per bonus round, and a change in credit bets in the base game resets them.
Parting Shot
Skill-based slots are hard to come by online and offline since game providers have yet to adopt this mode of game development. Even so, punters can have a small taste of what it’s like to influence the odds of winning in slots with the titles listed above.
