About Royale500
Royale500 is one of 30 or so Skill on Net casinos, from the same portfolio as the award-winning PlayOJO. Launched in 2015, it serves UK players through a UK Gambling Commission license and overseas markets with licenses from the Malta Gaming Authority and the Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen. The site is heavily focused on slots gaming, though it also provides table games, live casino and video poker.
How we rated Royale500
- Offer Quality – 2/5 – free spins with high wagering
- Payment Methods – 2/5 – Limited range
- Game Choice – 4/5 – Over 3,000 slots
- Navigation – 1/5 – Very basic categories, no search option
- Mobile Product – 3/5 – No apps available
- Customer Support – 2/5 – Email and web form only
Casino Design
When you first open the Royale500 home page, you could be forgiven for thinking there’s been a power cut. While the neon-and-black nightclub colour scheme is a staple in the online casino industry, Skill on Net appear to have forgotten to add the neon.
There is some gold text, and a relatively distinctive logo, but otherwise the only colour here is provided by the game panels and the welcome bonus promotional banner. Scroll down past the handful of games and you’ll soon hit the tiny font at the bottom of the page, where most of the important information about payments, terms and conditions and responsible gaming is found.
Across the top of the page you have three options: Home, Casino Games and Daily Picks. If you click on Casino Games, you get access to a very poorly designed drop down menu that enables you to choose between three-reel, five-reel and jackpot slots. There’s no way to search by provider, RTP, theme or volatility and there’s not even a basic search bar.
It’s rare to come across a modern online casino by reputable operator that has had so little effort put into its design, but Skill on Net have really dropped the ball here.
Bonuses & Promotions
The basic offer with the Royale500 welcome bonus is likely to divide opinion. There is no deposit match component here, which is unusual. On the other hand, new sign-ups do get access to 100 bonus spins to be used on Big Bass Bonanza. As ever, with a bonus spin deal, if you like the game it’s linked to, you’ll be happy.
You may not be as happy with the wagering requirement for this welcome deal. The playthrough figure, to be achieved within 30 days, is an eye-watering x60 and only slot titles contribute. A x60 wagering requirement is not unique in the online casino sector, but it is at the high end of the scale, and will be a deterrent to many players.
Aside from the welcome bonus, there’s a reward program called the VIP Lounge, which seems to be a standard six-tier program with no frills or hint of gamification. There is also a Daily Picks section, which promises to deliver ‘hand-picked’ offers to regular players. As with the VIP Lounge, there doesn’t seem to be any desire to encourage players to learn more, and there are none of the banners or user-friendly links that you would see on other sites such as PlayOJO.
Games Highlights
If you can look past the site’s poor navigation and presentation, there is a lot to enjoy here, particularly for slots gamers.
There are over 3,000 games in total, with slots taking up most of the library. Just under 40 game developers are represented here, including most of the big guns such as NetEnt, Play’nGO, Microgaming, Evolution and Red Tiger. Highlights include a string of titles from Peter & Sons: Robin Hood Marauder, Ghost Father and Book of Books.
The jackpot section, however, is a major disappointment as there are only nine titles here, and the same goes for table games. Check in the roulette or blackjack sections and you’ll find mostly live casino versions of the games.
Live casino is a strength of the site, with over 100 titles, including a large selection of game shows. The Extra Games section contains an assortment of plinko, slingo, keno, sic bo, game shows and other diverting options.
We were pleased to see that the game panels themselves have a small information symbol that brings up details of a game’s RTP, minimum and maximum stake, biggest win, and developer. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always relate to the game that you were interested in, as a glitch launches information for a variety of random games. It’s just one more area where Skill on Net have dropped the ball with Royale500.
Mobile Usability
If you want to play at Royale500 on your mobile device, you’re restricted to using a mobile browser as there are no native apps available. Unfortunately, the site doesn’t perform that well on some devices. While we found no problems using an iOS smartphone, there was noticeable glitching and graphics issues when accessing the site through an older laptop.
Deposits & Withdrawals
The Royale500 banking system is basic, but adequate. There’s a limited range of payment options, so if you want to use anything more exotic than Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Bank Transfer or Apple Pay, you’ll be out of luck. On the other hand, other than a £10 fee for Bank Transfer withdrawals under £500, there are no transaction charges and processing times are in line with industry standards.
Trust, Support & Security
The UKGC and MGA licenses, combined with the reputation of the operator should reassure even the most cautious gamer, and there’s the added security of an iTechLabs certificate on the home page, and plenty of information on responsible gaming.
Customer support, on the other hand, is less impressive. The site claims to offer 24/7 live chat, but we were unable to find a link to that service. Clicking on the 24/7 Support option opens another page with a web form, email address and Facebook link. As an overall customer support package, that falls short of the best performing casino brands .
Final Thoughts
Dedicated slots fans may be prepared to overlook the rough edges at Royale500 as the slot collection is well-curated and offers a good range of the latest and most innovative games.
Aside from that, however, there isn’t a lot to retain your interest. The high wagering requirements, minimal jackpot options, and sub-standard customer support are all negatives. Above all, this is an unappealing site from a design and UI perspective. If you can think of the most player-friendly online casino site, and then imagine its opposite, you’ll be somewhere close to picturing the Royale500 player experience.
