Slots are among the best and most popular online gambling games among players from across the world.
The speed at which the games progress, the fact that you can play them from the comfort of your home, and the possibility of some mouth-watering payouts are three major contributors to its numero uno status.
There are online slots on an unbelievable range of themes, and a popular theme is summer.
Summer themed slots are great because you can play them any time of the year: if you are chilling at home or on the beach during summer all you need to do is get started on one of these games on your computer or mobile device. And if you are cozily sitting at home on a cosy winter night what could be a better experience than reliving the warmth of summer by playing one of the many exciting summer-themed slots available? The only problem is you could be spoiled for choice given the large number of slots on this theme. We list for you some of the best summer-themed online slots.
The Best Summer-Themed Slots: The Nominees Are…
Given the large number of high quality casino software providers around it is only fair to expect a large collection of summer-themed slots. The best five that we are listing span the range of software providers, and are also irrespective of the year they were released; so you will find slots that are recent launches right alongside some that have been around a while:
Aloha Cluster Pays
NetEnt has been one of the industry leaders when it comes to casino software because of their high quality download-only software. And the quality and passion for innovation that makes it a market leader is very apparent in its Aloha Cluster Pays slot, a slot themed on summer at the island paradise of Hawaii.
There are many cool things about this slot, starting with the fact that it has 6 reels instead of the standard 5. There are no paylines; instead the symbols are arranged in 5 rows. The game has vibrant and exciting graphics and some really innovative cool features that make this a hot favorite among players. This, as the name suggests, is a cluster slot and uses the NetEnt proprietary Cluster PaysTM mechanic, which means you get paid based on the number of symbols clustered together in winning combinations across the reels; the symbols could be clustered horizontally or even vertically.
Other cool features in this summer-themed slot include the stacked Mask and free spins symbols, sticky re-spins and the free spins bonus with Symbol Drop. The sticky re-spin feature is activated in the base game only: the winning symbols remain immobile on screen while the others spin. The free spins bonus round is triggered by landing anywhere between 3 and 6 free spins symbols across the reels and give you between 9 and 12 spins:
3 scatter symbols: 9 free spins
4 scatter symbols: 10 free spins
5 scatter symbols: 11 free spins
6 scatter symbols: 12 free spins
The free spins bonus round can be re-triggered. There are 1 to 10 bet levels with coins of varying sizes that you can use to place your bets. This is a great slot to play when you are in the summer mood and feel like relaxing with your favourite cocktail and spend some time scoring wins.
Spinions Beach Party Slot
One of the big Hollywood grossers in recent times has been the Despicable Me series: yes, Gru and the kids are popular, but none of them compare even remotely to the popularity that the awesome Minions of Gru enjoy. And Spinions Beach Party is a summer-themed slot that could be said to be dedicated to the Minions, but only because the characters in the game resemble Gru’s minions quite remarkably.
This is a newer summer beach themed slot from Quickspin, a company known for its video slots. Everything about the game is exciting, from the superb interface to the excellent graphics right down to the loads of features that the game is laden with.
This summer-themed slot has 5 reels and 25 paylines and comes with a RTO of 96.05%. The high quality fun graphics and animations transport you straight to the biggest beach party you could have hoped to be part of, with the best the most lovable of all in the world – the Minions. The symbols and the background music all keep alive the summer beach holiday theme, and there are cool features too.
Top features in the game include the Spinions Sticky Wild re-spins feature and also the Beach Club free spins bonus round. The Spinions Sticky Wilds feature is triggered in the base game when at least 2 Spinion wild symbols land on the reels, and not necessarily land on winning paylines. The feature continues till there are no more Spinion sticky wild symbols left on the screen. Also, any Spinion symbols that pop up during the sticky re-spins feature also end up being sticky.
The Beach Club free spins is triggered by landing 3 scatter symbols on reels 1, 3, and 5. You get 10 free spins that cannot be re-triggered. Also, the sticky wilds re-spin feature is active during this round as well.
Sugar Rush: Summertime
There are a number of software providers apart from the industry leaders who have their own bouquet of summer-themed slots, and one of them is Pragmatic Play. The game in question is Sugar Rush: Summertime. The settings for the game are the summer, as indicated by the brilliant beaches and beach chairs that make up the background graphic, in the place that is every candy lover’s fantasy – Candy Land!
The game has 5 reels and 20 paylines, with the symbols arranged neatly across the reels in 3 rows. There are a number of fun things to do: if you love competition there is a Cake Tower competition that you can try out: all you have to do is build the Cake Tower and you could be a winner and the recipient of some great prizes.
While the casino’s look itself is classy, the game play is simple and fun. There are free spins that are triggered by landing 3 or more Beach Ball symbols on the reels. You get up to 20 free spins at the maximum in a single free spinb bonus round:
3 scatter symbols: 10 free spins.
4 scatter symbols: 15 free spins.
5 scatter symbols: 20 free spins.
Bikini Party
Microgaming has always been considered an industry leader; its range of 850+ high grade online slots are testimony to its supremacy. One of its exciting summer-themed slots is the risqué Bikini Party. This slots takes you through the good times that the beautiful women on the reels – Sunny, Daisy, Kiki, Honey and Daisy – have on the beach as they either relax or play beach volleyball.
This is a 5-reel slot with the symbols arranged across in 3 rows that gives you 243 different ways in which to pick up wins. The girls in the bikinis make for some great graphics. The game has 2 exciting features that give you a shot at some good wins:
Re-spin feature: This feature allows you to spend extra credits to re-spin the reels at the end of a spin. This feature is not available in Auto Play mode and also during the free spins bonus round.
Free spins bonus round: This feature is triggered by landing at least 3 ball symbols across the reels. You get 15 free spins when this happens, with the wins getting tripled during this round. The free spins bonus round can be re-triggered.
You also get a Microgaming special, the Paytable Achievements feature, which allows you to track the status of your winnings. This is done by highlighting the symbol combinations you won with during a spin.
The Tipsy Tourist
One of the most fun things to do during the summer is hop across to your favorite holiday destination, down a few drinks and have a good time being the tipsy tourist, and that is the theme of the exciting slot from BetSoft Gaming that is The Tipsy Tourist. The holiday destination showcased in this game is Miami and the game itself kicks off with an incredible animation clip showing an overworked and stressed office employee deciding on the spur of the moment to go on a summer holiday to Miami.
The game has 5 reels and 20 paylines, with the reels set against the backdrop of a spectacular beachfront. The game has excellent graphics and some exciting features, including:
Free Spins: You get 8 free spins when you land the beach ball symbol on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th reels. The free spins can be re-triggered and come with clingy wilds that remain in place until the free spins mode is over.
Drinking Bonus Round: This round is triggered by landing the red cup symbol anywhere on reels 3, 4, and 5. A coin flip happens and you must predict the outcome. A correct guess gives you wins and gets your opponent to drink, while an incorrect guess means you have to drink. The bonus round ends the moment one of you drinks up all the 3 cups.
Double-Up mini game: This feature can be triggered by clicking the Double Up button at the bottom right of the screen at the end of a winning spin during the base game. On the fresh screen that appears, you must predict the color of the card shown – red or black.
A correct guess doubles your winnings.
An incorrect guess causes you to lose your winnings from the spin.
And the Winner Is…!
All the 5 summer-themed slots listed above are great in their own way, and the features they come with enable you to have a good time playing them and winning. However, for the sheer innovation and features, one that is most popular currently is the Aloha Cluster Pays slot. The cluster pay mechanism ensures you get great wins during the regular game. If you are looking at free spins and bonus rounds, then Bikini Party and The Tipsy Tourist are great, but the other two are equally good too! At the end, it all comes down to what you as a player are personally looking for.
