Slot Sites – July 2021

Welcome to WDW’s Best Slot Sites UK page.  This living, breathing organism of a list looks at all the things we know you care about in a slot site; quality and quantity of slot games, welcome bonuses, software platform, promotions and perks, payment providers and many more. Here, you’ll find out all the things that go into making a truly excellent slot site.

What are the different types of slot sites?

This may seem like a silly question to some, but for those just dipping their toe into the slot well, choosing a slot site can seem like quite a daunting prospect. Even those who have signed up to slot sites before will find lots of useful pointers in what to look for next. We hope everyone will learn something new and enlightening about the world of slots, which will help them get the absolute most out of their slot experience.

To start with, we are focusing here on real money UK slot sites that are licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission. That means that all the brands listed are 100% legally available to players in the United Kingdom. Any eligible adult can sign up to one of these sites, deposit funds to their account and spend their funds spinning online slots.

That’s not to say we won’t show you how to get some free spins and bonus money! We’ll show you which sites have the best free spins offers and welcome bonuses, as well as explaining the potential constraints (such as wagering requirements) that come with such offers. But more on that later.

Slot Sites vs Casino Sites

Within this pool of licensed, real money sites that we’re shining a light on, there will be some variation in what these sites offer. We’re using “slot sites” as something of an umbrella term for any site that fits the above criteria and obviously allows for online video slot play.

However, some of the sites we show may be more like casino sites. Often, there will be lots of slots play available, but the design and thrust of the site may be more geared towards table games like roulette and blackjack as well as live dealer casino rooms.

Some featured sites may be more arcade, online scratch card or bingo orientated in their themes and promotions. But for them to appear on this page, they’ve still got to have a really awesome selection of slots to make the cut.

What you won’t find on this page, or on our site at all, are social play slot games and brands that aren’t regulated under the UK Gambling Act.

What makes a good slot site?

The answer to that question may depend on the tastes and preferences of the player. Some will value different criteria, some will be looking for one thing that ticks their box, others will make a decision based on a host of factors.

We want to get as close as possible to objective measures, so it’s clear why certain brands have made this list. In mathematics, you’ve got to show your working. So these are what we take into account to try and find something for everyone.

• Quality of slot games – Are there high quality slots from the most decorated developers?
• Quantity of Slots available – Is the site offering a large enough library of slot games?
• Calibre of welcome bonus – Will the welcome bonus please the player? Will it give them an opportunity to try out the best of the site so they can make an informed decision? Are there constraints on where you can spend the bonus or on which slots free spins are eligible? Are there tiresome and endless wagering requirements?
• Software platform – On which engine are the slots built on? The platform that a slot site is on can make all the difference in terms of the quality of the brand.
• Promotions and Perks – Are there good ongoing promotions once you’ve signed up and used your welcome bonus? Will there be more opportunities to win free spins, enter tournaments and gain loyalty perks throughout your time as a member of a slot site?
• Payment Providers – Are players able to deposit and withdraw funds with the payment methods that they want to at any particular brand?
• Recency – We also take into consideration how new a slot site is – some really great brands are simply over-saturated in the market and that will play against them.

What is the best online slots site 2021?

Our answer is MEGAWAYS Casino in July 2021. We use this question to demonstrate what we believe the current best slot site is at the moment and why. We chose this site because it fulfils our criteria most completely as of this very moment. It has excellent slots from the best providers, a stunning welcome bonus which is fair and transparent, a sturdy software platform, appealing perks and crucially, it is new and fresh.

Slot Games

Our first two criteria are based around the quality and quantity of slot games. These days, having only a few slots available from just one or two games developers is not going to cut it. In this day and age, the player expects to have a few hundred slots to choose from.

Some sites have extraordinary libraries of gaming content like Slots Million, which claims to have over 2,300 games! That is a staggering number which pretty much includes all the most important software developers so you’re unlikely to miss out on anything if you sign up there.

However, in contrast, a site like MEGAWAYS Casino has only a couple of hundred slots in its arsenal but we rate that latter much higher than the former for all sorts of reasons. The quality of slots is still incredible, the platform (more on those later) is more reliable and crucially, the promotions are much better. Slots Million doesn’t even have a UK welcome offer. Size really isn’t everything!

Here, we will give you a quick overview of the games providers that you need to know. We’ve put them into three tiers from most prestigious to least to help you when you’re checking to see if your prospective site has the games they need to have. In brackets, we’ve put a few examples of some of each developer’s most famous slot games.

Slot Game Developers by Importance

Tier 1

• NetEnt (Starburst, Twin Spin, Gonzo’s Quest)
• Microgaming (Mega Moolah, Thunderstruck II, Game of Thrones)
• Playtech (Age of the Gods Series, Frankie Dettori’s Magic Seven)
• Scientific Games WMS (Raging Rhino, Montezuma)
• Scientific Games Barcest (Rainbow Riches Series)
• Eyecon (Fluffy Favourites Series).

Whatever you do when signing up for a new slot site, look out for a Tier 1 game developer. Over 80% of the world’s most famous video slots will come from one of them. If a site does not have games from one (at the very least), then chances are it’s not got high quality slots content.

Tier 2

• Novomatic (Book of Ra)
• Big Time Gaming (Bonanza)
• Blueprint (Fishin’ Frenzy, King Kong Cash)
• IGT (Cleopatra, Da Vinci Diamonds)
• Play’n Go (Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead)

Tier 3

• Nextgen
• Quickspin
• Yggdrasil and many more.

Welcome Bonuses at Slot Sites

The calibre of the welcome bonus is one of our top criteria when determining how good a slots site is. First impressions are so important and a generous welcome package is the best first impression possible. We have many pages on our site that go into great detail about each type of bonus, so here we’ll summarise what makes the best and most enticing welcome offers for prospective slots players and show you where to go for more information.

• Free Spins Offers – There is no better way to welcome a slot-head than with free spins. Design, marketing, good reviews; these are all things that may attract us to a certain brand. However, the proof is in the pudding. You won’t truly know that you love a certain site unless you actually get to play on it. Free spins are a perfect perk to let a new player give the games a test drive. The best of the best free spins offers allow you to use them on many slots or a slot of your choice. Some sites may only let you use your free spins on one slot game. This will downgrade the quality of the site, unless the slot is truly one of the best.
• Deposit Bonus Offers – Much the same as above, a match deposit bonus will give you a chunk of change to test out the old slot road on a new site. Again, it’s important to look into the terms and conditions to see how flexible and favourable they are (or not as the case all too often can be!)
• No Deposit Slots Offers – If you’re a really hard sell, sceptical and unwilling to part with your hard earned cash, then a slots site with a no deposit offer could be for you. You’ll have to register at a new site and you’ll likely have to go through KYC and input debit card details, but your reward will be a bunch of free spins for no deposit at all. These tend to come with the highest wagering requirements, but the no deposit slot site has had something of a renaissance recently. There are more available on our site than there have been in a few years.

Wagering requirements, fairness and transparency

It’s all very well having grandiose looking welcome offers, but the best slot sites have welcome bonuses that have favourable and fair terms. The sites which are the most upfront about the nature of their bonus, how to claim your winnings and don’t make you jump through a million hoops to get your winnings are often the best. Simple as!

Wagering requirements, the mechanism through which players much play through the value of their bonus and/or deposit a certain number of times, is the single biggest indicator of how good and fair a welcome bonus is. We have lots of information about slots sites with no wagering requirements, if you want to learn more about them or if you just want to see sites with these fair and transparent bonus terms.

Promotions and Perks

Of course, it’s not just the welcome bonus that’s important once you’ve signed up. You’ll want to keep the party going! Many of the best brands have regular free spins and bonus offers that you’ll often earn just by depositing some more funds now and again. These can also be tied to loyalty schemes, so the more regularly someone plays, the more they’ll receive in bonuses.

Some slots sites have a constant roster of exciting competitions and slot tournaments. This competitive slot playing rewards avid slots players for doing what they love! In a tournament, the more you play on the designated slot game, the further up the leader board for that content you’ll rise. Then, at the end of the promotional period, those at the top will win prizes. Sometimes these can be cash prizes or other tangible rewards.

Some sites have really innovative loyalty programs which include levels. Again, the more that you deposit and play, the higher you’ll ascend, often gathering all sorts of rewards and bonuses along the way. It is the slots sites with incredible perks like these which offer players the best longevity.

New Slot Sites

This is an important criteria in our rankings because the industry needs new brands to keep pushing and innovating. There are some great brands online that have been around for over 20 years. Sometimes you need some fresh blood to jolt the old guard.

However, on this page, newness is not the definitive ordering factor. Head to the new slot sites page if you prize newness over everything else. It is but one of many factors that determines the definitive top 100+ here.

Ways to Pay

Flexibility in payment options for both depositing and withdrawing is very attractive to slot lovers. These days, credit cards are no longer allowed at regulated gambling sites, and for good reason. However, a regulation debit card deposit is not going to do it for everyone. What if you don’t bank traditionally? Or you’re a bit of a sceptic and you don’t want some of your private details going directly to the site?

Slot sites which allow PayPal transactions are especially prized. Again we have a whole page dedicated to PayPal Slots UK if you want to see those. But equally, there are some very good e-wallet alternatives, some with much longer histories in the Gambling industry, like Skrill and Neteller. As with everything, personal preference is key but flexibility is likely to please the most people at once.

Responsible Gambling Provisions

Finally, a good site is a trustworthy site. As we’ve explored, fairness and transparency are huge components of this. So is a site that’s willing to be upfront about the responsible gambling tools that it has at its disposal, and encourages those who shouldn’t be gambling to use them. All slots sites are covered by the GAMSTOP scheme, where players can self-exclude from all UKGC licensed sites. But some of the best sites have their own bespoke tools, if you feel as though you need something less drastic. These can include time to cool off, limits on deposit amounts as well as reminders of how long your slots session has been. Find all this and more on our responsible gambling page.

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