Here at LuckyMobileSlots, we write slot reviews. But this is not a science. Anyone who reads our reviews will know that we do our best to figure out:
- Who is this slot machine for?
- Is it fun for that kind of gambler?
- Does it play well at mobile and online casinos
We hope to generally get it right, but there’s no doubt some favourite of yours we won’t like and vice versa. We can only guide, and at the end of the day, maybe you get lucky on a slot and we don’t.
That said, we play SO MANY slots day to day that we do know a thing or two about what makes a good solid slot machine.
So this is our favourite list of the year. The slot games that we are still playing months afterwards, and why. It’s the 5-star slots and also the 1-star slots. The stinkers. The worst of the worst. The money stealers.
Because it’s Christmas and isn’t the Holidays all about judgment for the year gone by?
The 5 Best Slots Online of 2018
We know it’s not quite the end of the year yet, but you know what? We don’t think we are going to see a whole host of incredible releases now till the new year anyway.
And if we do, we will make sure to update this list, don’t you worry. Or you can always read our new mobile phone online slot lists.
So what counts as ‘best’ exactly? In short, we looked at all the slots that we rated as 5 stars and went through them. It didn’t take us long. We don’t give 5-star ratings often.
But often enough that it was hard to pick our top 5, because there’s so much variety in this list we weren’t quite sure how to categorise. So, in the end, we made sure we could only pick one from any provider and that helps narrow down the options.
5. Spinal Tap by Blueprint
It’s loud. It’s brash. And we loved it.
The Spinal Tap slot by Blueprint Gaming has 243 ways to win and over a dozen different features, you can trigger. You’ve got extra multipliers, scatters, and wilds all there for the taking.
It’s one of those rare medium-to-high variance slot machines that have an amazing 10,000 times your bet max win, but keeps the action coming.
Any honourable mention?
NextGen Gaming didn’t make our top 5, which is a shame as they released a couple of brilliant and underrated games in the branded The Mask slot and the far more generic looking Cleo’s Wish game.
They are both on the higher end of the variance scale, but much like Spinal Tap, you wouldn’t know it for playing. They have lots of features, lots of action, and lots of fun.
4. Imperial Opera by Play’n GO
We suspect this will be the biggest surprise on this list, mostly because this was released in March 2018 without much fanfare. Just another generic Asian inspired slot game.
Looking at this Imperial Opera slot you might see a 20 payline game with wilds, free spins and mega symbols.
Look a little closer though and you’ll find some interesting mechanics where one spin of the reels could win you 2,500 times your bet.
Any honourable mention?
We really wanted to put the new Banana Rock slot by Play’n GO on the list, but as it’s only been out a few short weeks we felt it didn’t have the time to prove itself.
But if you love the Play’n GO casino creations, worth a spin.
Leprechaun Song by Pragmatic Play also impressed, not least because of its 6,000 times your bet maximum win. It’s the kind of number that catches our eye.
3. Jumanji by NetEnt
Say what you will, but NetEnt is still one of our favourite casino game providers around, even if the quality of their games isn’t as consistent as it once was.
But there were a few to pick from this year that made our rotation of NetEnt slots to play, and the one we’ve come back the most often has to be the movie Jumanji mobile game.
We love the way its part board game, part slot, but without losing what makes fruit machines fun; the random big wins.
Any honourable mentions?
There were two other NetEntertainment mobile and online slots we considered for this spot.
The first was the Archangels Salvation game; the first 100 payline slot by NetEnt. But because of it’s colossal reels and high variance nature, we felt it would only appeal to experience gamblers and picks a more well-rounded game for the top spot.
Truth be told our second pick, the Halloween Jack slot machine was actually more likely to get the spot as we’ve probably played it more often than Jumanji. But, it’s a copy of Jack and the Beanstalk game, so we felt it wasn’t unique enough to make the list.
2. Penguin City by Yggdrasil Gaming
If you read any of our slot reviews online with any consistency, you’ll notice we have a slight bias toward games that are higher up the volatility slot scale.
We like risky slots with big wins. What can we say?
But we figured at least one low variance game deserves to be on this list and that slot is so much fun, we even put it in number 2 because we think everyone should check this silly crazy penguin jumping fare.
Penguin City slot is a pay both ways, 5 reels, 3 row 243 ways to win machine with sticky wilds and lots of re-spins. But that’s just scratching the surface of this fun gem of a game, which you can spin with a low minimum bet of 0.10.
Any honourable mentions?
Yggdrasil game studios brought out two other games that we considered; both with mega symbols.
The Hanzo’s Dojo game is a beautifully illustrated game, with animations and colours that spring to life. But it’s the extra secret reel at the top, handing out bonuses, that will make you be part of this group of warriors.
Yet the Gem Rocks slot which came out in February 2018 probably stuck with us the longest, thanks to its 4096 Ways to Win, avalanching reels and huge mega symbols. No free spins, but we still recommend it. That’s how much we loved it.
1. Book of Ra Magic by Novomatic
Book of Ra Deluxe is probably one of our favourite games around, and we’ve played many of it’s copies by other casino game software because of it.
So because we felt a little bit like we were cheating on our wife by how often we play Book of Dead by Play’n GO, we were happy when Novomatic brought out this little gem.
The Book of Ra Magic video slot is basically Book of Ra Deluxe but with one key difference: when you re-trigger the free spins you get another expanding scatter pay symbol. And another if you re-trigger. And another.
It adds a little spice and all things nice to an old loveable casino game.
Any honourable mentions?
Although the two we are about to mention probably wouldn’t have come to the number one spot, we feel they deserve notice.
Both are from small providers making a mark, and both try and do something a little different.
The Reel Talent slot by Just for the Win keeps you hooked as you collect three wins in a row in order to get a super spin where you only have 1 to 3 symbols. It’s crazy fun.
Laser Fruit by Red Tiger Gaming, on the other hand, is so crazy only the bravest of real money slot players should try it. This is a game that starts with 243 ways to win, but can expand to 60,466,176 ways to win, and give you 10,000 times your bet.
This one is just crazy, but worth it for the sheer ballsiness of it all.
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The worst slots of 2018 that you should avoid
Here’s the thing. There are many, many, many terrible machines. There are many that we rank 2 stars because they do no harm, but aren’t fun to play.
There are many slot games from unknown providers that we don’t ever put on the site, because the way we see it, they are so bad it’s not worth reviewing.
So instead, this list are games you might come across, you might find appealing, but when you start spinning are a complete waste of money.
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Trust us: avoid these and save your money
These are all bad. So there’s no ranking to them, because they all equal in our eyes. Equally bad.
- Volts and Bolts slot by ShuffleMaster: You can win up to 5,000 times your bet here, but you’ll be so bored trying that you won’t watch the screen, just let it spin whilst you do something else.
- Ambassador by BetDigital: A classic 4 reel 1 payline game, this is one of the absolute worst superbet classic slots we’ve ever played.
- Count Duckula by Blueprint: considering this is a branded game and they have one of our top 5 slots of the year, it amazes us that this is on our worst games list, but there you go. Vegetarian ducks don’t swim apparently.
- Joker Stacks online slot by iSoftbet: this is one of those games that on paper looks great, but it never actually delivers. You’ll be a fool to trust this joker with your money.
- Hold the Safe by Eyecon: This has wins of over 7,500 times your bet. So it’s dangerous because you might be tempted to hit that jackpot but don’t. Just don’t.
In short, there’s a great top 5 list of awesome 2018 slots, maybe stick with those? And hey, if you want even more inspiration you can always read our new mobile slots list.
There are so many fantastic games out there, don’t waste your time on bad one. Read our reviews and play at only the best mobile casinos online.
