Best Online Slots in the UK for 2024

The best UK online slots by category

UK online slots come in a huge range of themes, designs, volatility ratings, reel setups, and paylines. If you like fishing-type games, you'll love Big Bass Bonanza. If playing for a shot at big money is more your thing, check out jackpot slots like Thunderstruck II Mega Moolah and Bonanza Rush Express. No matter what your preferred style of slots play, there's a game out there for you.

Here's my take on the best slots in 10 different categories:

Category	Game	Provider
🎰 Best for the Jackpot	Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania 2	IGT
🎲 Best for Payout	Serial	Nolimit City
💎 Best for Variance	Dracula	NetEnt
⚡ Best for Features	Halloween	Play’n GO
💳 Best for Betways	Da Vinci Diamonds	IGT
📋 Best for Graphics	Horror Hotel	Relax Gaming
🤵 Best for Mini-game	Wolf Run	IGT
🏆 Best for Music	Siberian Storm	IGT
✔️ Best for High-rollers	Spartacus: Gladiator of Rome	Real Time Gaming
🚀 Best for Our Team	Halloween Jack	NetEnt

The UK's most popular online slots in 2024

2024 has been a fantastic year for new slots, with the hugely popular Big Bass series seeing their collection expand with new titles like Big Bass Vegas Double Down Deluxe. The Fire and Roses Joker series also grew in 2024 with the upward trend of 2023's Fire and Roses Jolly Joker and 2024's Fire and Roses Joker 2 All-In. And don't forget the continuing feather-brained madness of Pirots 3.

However, despite the launch of many fantastic slots in 2024, it's the tried and true player favourites like Book of Dead, Big Bass Bonanza, and Gold Blitz that continue to dominate our lists. If you're looking to start with the best online slots, I highly recommend these three for their excellent playability, engaging features, and quality design.

A very popular way of finding the best UK slots is to sort by payout. However, since all slots pay out different amounts, the metric I use for a standard comparison of payout potential is called Return to Player (RTP). The RTP is defined as the percentage of played funds that is paid out to players in the long term (i.e. over millions of spins). The average RTP for slots is 96%, so anything above that is considered a high payout slot.

Halloween Jack (NetEnt)

Perfect for the spooky season, Halloween Jack provides immersive graphics and mysterious perceptions. Released in October 2018, it is a solid choice for high rollers due to its high volatility. If you’re a fan of horror-themed slots, you will enjoy the cursed jewellery box theme, complemented by the Jack’O’Lector bonus feature. 

Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania 2 (IGT)

This 40-payline slot is a spin on your typical fishing slots that are commonly found at online casinos. Larry is the main character of this slot, but he is dressed as a fisherman, adding to the quirky theme. The RTP is slightly above average at 96.52%, but the main draw is that you can win 50,000x your line bet if you can claim the Mother Lode. 

Horror Hotel (Relax Gaming)

If it is graphics that you are into, then Horror Hotel supplies a supernatural experience from the get-go with a cartoon-style appearance. It’s not the most chilling of slots around, but it has a fun twist on its graveyard setting. 

Can I play these slots for free?

Free slots are perfect for exploring everything the game has to offer without having to risk any of your own money. If you like the idea of playing UK online slots for free, you can join a recommended UK online casino that offers you the option to play for free, usually by clicking the Try Free or Demo button on the game image.

Here are my top 5 free slots:

• Book of Dead

• Fishin' Frenzy: The Big Splash

• Rainbow Riches

• Cleopatra

• Eye of Horus

Real money slots by type

There are many ways to categorise real money slots, including by theme, number of paylines, reels, volatility, and features. If you want to sort slots by categories, most online casinos let you do so in several ways, including by provider or alphabetically. The best UK slots sites arrange their slots collection into categories, making it easier to home in on the ones you like.

Take a look at a few of the most common slots categories and some examples of each:

• By Theme: You can sort the best slots by theme, for example, ancient Egypt, Greek mythology, Irish luck, animals, fruits, space, aliens, gems, and many more.

• By Paylines: Slots can offer varying paylines and even move away from the concept of traditional paylines altogether. If you like a classic setup, go for games with one to five fixed paylines. Many slots let you adjust the number of paylines you play, which can be useful for setting a budget and gaming style that best suits you.

• By Reels: Many players like to sort slots by the number of reels involved, with classic slots usually sporting just three reels, while the most complex slots have more reels of varying sizes and even those with unlocking reels.

• By Volatility: The volatility of a slot is a measure of the variation in payouts between small and frequent and larger and less frequent. Suppose you want to play slots that pay out little and often, go for low volatility slots. My personal preference is for high volatility slots, as I like the mystery of not knowing how big your next win is going to be!

• By Feature: Slots can have a variety of different features, such as free spins, multipliers, jackpots, respins, and sticky wilds, and sorting them on this basis is a great way to find the best slots in the industry.

Understanding RTP rates

The concept of Return to Player (RTP) can be a bit difficult to grasp, so let's start with a clear definition. Then, I'll give you some examples. If you've heard of RTP before but you're not sure what it is, this section is for you.

RTP is a commonly referred to metric that is most often used to compare the payouts of casino games, usually slots. Almost all providers give a theoretical RTP of their games so that both casinos and players have an idea of how generous (or not!) that slot is in terms of payouts.

Defined, RTP is the percentage of played funds that is paid out to players in the long term. Note that it is not how much of your own played money you can expect to win in a single session, as some people assume. RTPs are worked out over millions of spins and, therefore, give a theoretical average over time, not in a single session.

That said, RTPs are a good way of comparing slot payouts in terms of the industry average, which is around 96%. Anything below that is considered sub-par, while anything above is deemed to be generous.

Here's a comparison of the RTPs of two popular slots: Starburst has an RTP of 96.09%, just a shade over the industry average of 96%, while Book of Dead has an RTP of 94.25%, which is well below the average. Both slots are popular, but Book of Dead actually attracts more players than Starburst, which just goes to show you that players take into account more than just the RTP of a slot.

A slot's RTP can usually be found in the game's paytable information within the menu.

What is an RNG?

RNG stands for Random Number Generator, which is the algorithm that determines the randomness of casino game outcomes. If you're a fan of slots, you've most likely wondered how (maybe even if) the games' fairness is determined. RNGs are responsible for ensuring that the reels always land completely at random and without bias in terms of previous results. A complex mathematical formula is used to produce numbers at random, which are associated with the symbol positions of the reels. These determine how the reels will land and whether you get a payout or not!

Because of RNGs, there's really nothing you can do to influence the outcome of online slots. However, the use of RNGs also means you have a fair shot at winning, just like everyone else. The random number generators of the best online slots providers are thoroughly, comprehensively, and consistently tested by third parties to ensure their efficiency - another good reason to choose trusted providers.

Tips for choosing the best real money slot sites in the UK

There are three important factors to consider when looking for the best real money slots in the UK: game mechanics, jackpots, and bonus features. If you want to experience the best online slots the UK has to offer, you'll find they all excel in at least one of these three areas.

Mechanics of the game

How a slot actually plays is a critical factor in determining its popularity. Mechanics can refer to how many symbols you need to trigger a win, how they must be arranged (e.g. along paylines, in clusters, in lines, on any consecutive reels), how any special symbols play (e.g. wilds, scatters), and the layout of the slot itself (e.g. standard reels, Megaways, grid, etc.).

I also recommend considering the slightly more mundane elements of slots, such as the minimum and maximum bets, whether you can adjust the number of paylines you can play, and if there are any options to set autoplay spins, for example. I find some of the best slots offer many ways to personalise your experience.

Huge jackpots

Jackpots are traditionally a massive draw for slots players, originating on land-based casino floors along with all their bells and whistles. If you fancy your chances at big money wins, the jackpot slots are your best bet. When considering jackpot slots, think about whether you want to play for fixed or progressive jackpots. Fixed jackpots pay out a set amount, while progressive jackpots use a percentage of played money to fund an ever-increasing jackpot amount, which can reach millions.

Many jackpot slots have just a single jackpot, but you can also find lots of slots with multiple jackpots. A great example is the Mega Moolah series of progressive jackpot slots, with each game offering not one but four progressive jackpots: Mini, Minor, Major, and Mega.

Fun bonus games

Many players, myself included, love discovering the extra bonus features of online slots, such as free spins, bonus picks, character battles, respins, cascades, sticky wilds, win multipliers, and many more. If you're looking for extra value for your real money spins, it's a good idea to see what features you could potentially trigger, as they tend to be free.

For example, cascades (also called tumbles or avalanches) are a great feature as they could potentially trigger additional wins while only costing you the bet amount of your initial spin. Free spins are similar in that landing the right number of scatter symbols will unlock a set number of spins that cost you nothing beyond the triggering spin but could land you substantial wins.

The bonus features of the best slots tend to add extra win potential to your gameplay, whether that's through sticky wilds, non-resetting win multipliers, or simple respins. My advice is to pick games with a variety of features, especially random ones that can trigger on non-winning spins.

Best slot providers

There are more than 550 slot providers offering their games in the UK, but only a few of them are regarded as the industry's best, including NetEnt, Microgaming, Playtech, Play'n GO, and Reel Kingdom. If you want to play the best slots in the world, you won't go wrong by choosing ones created by these quality developers.

NetEnt

One of the oldest slots developers in the industry, having launched in 1996, NetEnt is the brand behind some of the world's biggest slots, including the most popular slot of all time, Starburst. NetEnt has a massive portfolio of over 430 slots, which includes world-renowned games like Gonzo's Quest, Ms Robin Hood, Fruit Shop Megaways, and Finn and the Swirly Spin.

Microgaming

Microgaming was launched way back in 1994 and is recognised worldwide as the creator of the very first online casino software. The brand was absorbed by Games Global in 2021, but not before they'd pumped out some massive industry hits like the famous Mega Moolah jackpot slots and classics like Immortal Romance, Thunderstruck II, and Break Da Bank Again.

Playtech

Founded in 1999, Playtech is the developer behind more than 460 slots, but they are also skilled in the creation of some innovative live dealer games. The Playtech brand is best known for epic slots like the Age of the Gods series, the powerful Buffalo Blitz, and the rare jackpot slot Beach Life. The Age of the Gods and Buffalo Blitz slots have also been adapted to feature in the provider's most popular live casino games.

Play'n GO

With a focus on mobile-compatible games, Play'n GO launched in 2005 (although previously operated as a subsidiary since 1997) and is the source of some of the industry's most ingenious slots, including Reactoonz, Moon Princess, Book of Dead, and Rise of Olympus. Play'n GO's collection of 360+ slots features an insane amount of variety, both in themes and slot mechanics, making them a treat to explore.

Reel Kingdom

Responsible for the creation of the explosively popular fishing slots, Reel Kingdom is actually a subsidiary of massive games developer Pragmatic Play. They focus almost exclusively on fishing-themed slots, with their greatest hits including the ever-popular Big Bass Splash, Big Bass Bonanza, Big Bass Vegas Double Down Deluxe, and Big Bass Amazon Xtreme.

Things to consider before you play

By far the world's most favourite type of casino games are online slots, making the abundance of high-quality and equally as poor titles unsurprising. However, the factors mentioned above should give more than an indication of which slots to choose. I always recommend deciding beforehand, which kind of slots you enjoy, considering how you like to play, in which setting, for how long and especially, how much you are willing to spend responsibly. I find using a free slot demo before spending any real money can make your choices even easier, along with giving you a strong sense of the game's themes and how the symbols feel in context.

Of course playing at one of the recommended online casinos, with a strong reputation and adherence to licence regulations in the UK is of the utmost importance, as is considering the types of payment methods you are comfortable using. Make sure that these suit your gameplay and the transactions are completed at the rate you prefer.