There’s really only one way to find out the best new casino games coming out in the next year or so, and that’s ICE – the gambling world’s biggest industry event.
Even if you love slots, I hope you’ve got better things to do than walk for miles around a conference hall full of blinking, bleeping machines, so I did it for you. Of the thousands of games and providers I saw, these are the most interesting new slots and casino games to play now and later in the year.
Slots
As many as 100 new slots come out in the UK every month. Are you keeping up? I’m not, so it’s lucky that some games stood out a mile at the conference. In the case of fearless game studio No Limit City, their games don’t just stand out. They swagger up to you and punch you square in the face.
Their latest effort, Tombstone Slaughter, is the one.
It’s got typically bonkers graphics, tons of reel mechanics and a 500,000x max win.
Fans of bass – the ‘big’ kind, not the ‘drum n’ kind – will no doubt be pleased with the arrival of Bigger Bass Splash this month. It’s already out and plays as well as you’d expect.
I’m more excited about Finn and the Dragon Tales. This one looks like a box office hit. Stunning graphics and animations don’t always translate to popularity, but I expect this NetEnt slot to do the business more than previous ‘Finn and’ slots.
Arcade-style gaming – retro looks, social features, fun dialled up to the max – is big this year and one slot that fits this bill is Stakelogic’s Garden Gladiators. It’s out on 26th February and comes with a one-of-a-kind free spins round that pits characters against each other in an arcade game brawl.
Those are the slots I like for the first half of this year. In terms of providers, keep an eye out for Reevo, Ela Games and BF Games. They’re not available at PlayOJO just yet, but if the games I played at ICE are anything to go by, we’ll have some fun when they do finally launch.
Game shows
If there’s one category of casino games that is moving at light speed and achieving ridiculous things, it’s live game shows.
I’m sure you’ve played games like Lightning Roulette or Crazy Time. If that’s your jam, then 2025 is going to be a good year.
Pragmatic Play just released Fortune Roulette but it’s Evolution Gaming to watch. Later this week, we’ll get a first look at Race Track, a horse racing game that blends high tech with a vintage arcade format and 8-bit gaming vibes. Lovely.
Fire Ball Roulette is one for the calendar on 30th April, but the game I am most looking forward to playing in 2025 is Ice Fishing Live. I don’t even have a date or a screenshot to show you, but this is another wheel of fortune-style game with bonus rounds, where the host reels giant fish out of a frozen lake. You have to see it, frankly. Words don’t do it justice.
This is turning into an Evolution advert, but I’m not on commission. I just like good new casino games with a bit of imagination and big production quality.
Crash games started as a Bitcoin thing, then became a bit of a fad in UK casinos, and now they’ve proved they deserve a place in the lobby. Aviator has been top dog in the crash game world for years, but it might be time for Aviator to return to earth with a bump if Red Baron from Evolution flies high when it comes out later in the year. Expect classic pilot energy (chocks away, chaps) and lots of aviation-flavoured action.
Arcade games
At industry shows, you get to see stuff that’s coming out now, stuff that’s coming this year and stuff that studios hope might catch on in the future.
One example from that last group is lucky tap games. Think ‘instant win’ style games like scratch cards – low stakes, low volatility and relatively low maximum wins – with even less effort.
Tap the screen, see if you win a prize or hit a bonus feature. Simple as gaming ever gets! It might not be for everyone, but lucky tap games are supposed to be fun, colourful, fast-paced social multiplayer games you can figure out in seconds.
Lucky tap has been popular in Asia for a while and the first lucky tap games are already here at PlayOJO. Go give Piggies and the Bank Lucky Tap or Fluffy Favourites Lucky Tap a try. Or tap, I should say.
I saw other arcade-style games that aren’t yet out in the UK, like the real money version of the classic Battleships from 7777 Gaming and Cash Crab, a live interactive claw machine game from Ela Games. If either of those landed at PlayOJO, you’ll see me first in line.
That’s enough crystal ball gazing for now. There are over 7,000 casino games at PlayOJO with maybe 100 new titles added every month. It’s easy to miss ‘em, so if you ever fancy switching up to something new, fire up the Search Box and tap ‘New’ in the Game Tag section.
As my wife is forever telling me, newness is what it’s all about.
