Intro. Diversity is one of the key captivating peculiarities of games that attract players with various tastes and interests. Half of them represent specific themes associated with movies, fantasy, sports, or any other particular subject.
Sports games are among the most popular gaming genres players choose today to enjoy. Whether it’s basketball, football, hockey, or more extreme sports like skateboarding, mountain biking, and skiing, sports gaming has a lot to offer to everyone who enjoys such type of themes. Apart from a dedicated large fanbase, many people seek to try their skills at virtual sports.
Today, there are a few categories of games that use the winter sports theme reviewed on blog: Katie Wager’s online slots, video games, and land-based slots at ski resorts. While winter sports video games are mostly about action and competition, winter sports slots attract gamers who want to get relaxed, have fun and win some cash.
Summer sports are as entertaining as winter ones. For some people living in a tropical climate, winter sports are exotic. Chances they have skied, done other winter sports or even seen snow are tiny. And the winter sports games provide opportunity even for always sunny Australians to learn the wonderful nature of sports played on ice and in the snow.
Gamers get inspired due to the fresh winter sports themes. The thrill and fun experiences that deliver sports gaming are comparable to the real ones thanks to the top-notch visual effects. Also, winter sports games induce a competitive spirit that adds more excitement to the gaming experience. So games are a perfect way to show your skills and prove you are the best skier or snow kiter whether competing with friends or other people.
Online winter sports slots: Types and titles
There are online slots depicting various winter sports. You can find video slots featuring more unusual sports like dog sledding, ice karting, or snowkiting. However, just like in real life, skiing, ice skating, and hockey are the most popular winter sports themes in slot games.
The world’s leading slot developers use these sports themes in their gaming products. Gaming giants like IGT, NetEnt, and Betsoft have many sporting thrilling themes to offer players. The mentioned companies are well-known for the quality of their games. Along with creating amazing game visuals, these providers are pros in designing specific themed slots paying attention to every detail.
Yet the gambling world is much larger and the list of great game development companies is far longer. It’s also worth mentioning such providers as Microgaming, Playtech, and Play’N GO who shine when it comes to online themed slots. Likewise, they couldn’t ignore the popularity of winter sports themes. So, sports fans have quite an extensive choice of titles.
We have selected 4 most exciting winter sports slots for you to try.
1. Winter Gold
Winter Gold is a Microgaming slot game that can be found in a host of online casinos. This is a five-reel and 15 payline online slot with an attractively high 96.4% RTP. A game developer devoted this bright themed slot to the winter Olympic Games held in Canada in 2010.
Therefore, Winter Gold slot features numerous icons related to the most popular disciplines including, ice skating, bobsleigh, biathlon, and ski jumping. When getting a winning combination, each of these icons animates. There are also card symbols and a variety of other winter-themed traditional symbols.
If you ever thought of being a contestant of the Olympics, Winter Gold is your chance to do it.
- Special features
The Winter Gold wild symbol attracts more wins as it can be substituted for other symbols except the scatters. If you are lucky enough and get 5 wilds on a payline you will win lucrative 5,000 coins. The scatters in the form of the Golden Medal can trigger a bonus round once you collected 3 of them.
A bonus round will open a different screen featuring the Bonus Wheel. It’s an eight segment wheel containing free spins and coin payout sections plus 4 bonus rounds. Each bonus game is centered around one of the Winter Olympics disciplines. These mini-games not only bring more action to the game but allows players to multiply the winnings and win gold prizes.
2. Break Away
Break Away is another winter sports slot game from the Microgaming company. The slot brings hockey action directly to your mobile device or desktop and gives the chance to win cash in 243 ways. This stunning slot features the hockey-related symbols and bonus features, which make the game highly interesting and awards players with prizes.
- Special features
Like many online slots, Break Away involves wilds, scatters, and multipliers. Apart from traditional wild symbols though, there is the Smashing Wild feature that adds action to the gameplay. The hockey player may randomly appear on the screen and start to crash the reels turning some of them wild.
3 or more scatters will activate the free spins game, which is combined with the Rolling Reels feature. This bonus game gives you a chance to win up to 10x multipliers.
The great thing about playing Break Away is that you have full control of the game since you can regulate such details as bet amount, a number of paylines, and even coin value.
3. Ice Picks
Ice Picks slot machine will immerse you in the dangerous travel to the frozen caves and snow peaks in a search of treasure. Developed by the Rival company, the casino slot has 5 reels of different icy and winter symbols that reflect the adventure spirit. Instead of the traditional reels spinning, the symbols in the game fall on the reels.
- Special features
The thematic bonus round, scatters, free spin games and wild with multipliers wait for players to award them. The most generous and entertaining part is within a bonus game where a player has to smash the ice blocks and collect coins. The wild symbol in a bonus round will ensure an 8x multiplier to your winnings.
4. Ski Jump
Ski Jump is a casino slot produced by the American Genesis Gaming development company. It’s a 5-reel and 10 payline slot, which offers to take part in the competition. A ski-themed game proposes you to select the country you will represent.
- Special features
After any spin, the skiers may jump on the reel and turn into wild symbols. If both of them land on the same game icon you will get your wins doubled. If the scatters appear on the reels, they will be frozen while the rest of the reels will be spun one more time. Getting 3 scatters and more will activate the bonus Ski Jump feature where a player will need to show the skills of landing in this winter sports.
Video games focus on snowboarding and skiing
Snowboarding and skiing themes are extremely popular in video games. These winter sports games weren’t really a thing until the early 2000s when the graphics have been significantly improved just like the game control. But since then, a host of superior designed games have been developed to cater to the sports fans. And here are our 4 picks.
1. SSX Blur
This is one of those amazingly created video games that put the game experience to the highest level. SSX Blur is the most popular franchise out of 6 main series. This is due to the Wii’s wireless as well as motion sensing remotes that allowed to better control the action.
The players can participate in trick competitions, races, or SSX Blur’s new slalom event. You can also choose either skis or snowboard to reveal the thrill of the game. Alongside the races and competitions, players can earn points by completing the special tricks.
2. Amped 3
This is a snowboarding game by Indie Built that has a single-player story mode. However, apart from the main story, Amped 3 features a few ski resorts with various challenges a player has to complete. It can be sled or snowball challenges, performing certain tricks, or timed runs. You are unlikely to get bored playing Amped 3 as you will be encouraged by discovering new areas and gaining respect points.
3. 1080 Avalanche
1080 Avalanche is another snowboard game yet with a more focus on racing rather than doing tricks in contrast to the SSX Blur and Amped 3. Created by Nintendo, the game delivers an exciting sensation of speed. Also, 1080 Avalanche game features a number of nice touches you can hardly find in other snowboarding or skiing games. The only thing is that it has very limited lasting value.
4. Stoked
Stoked is a snowboard game designed for Xbox 360. One of the interesting features is that the game provides up to 5 mountains to race. The game’s adaptive system is able to recognize different ways of riding and scores the players based on the way they ride. Once collecting 50 thousand points, the gamers obtain the helicopter license enabling them to reach the mountains and designate their drop points.
Land-based slots at ski resorts
Ski resorts are the perfect places to combine two great entertainment options like skiing and gambling. What can be better than spending vacation time at a ski resort with a casino attached? Enjoying mountain retreat at the day time can whet the appetite for thrill you can find at the slot machine at night. Here, you are more likely to find slots of general themes designed by IGT, Aristocrat, or Amatic.
Lucky slot winners at ski resorts
- Atlantis Casino
The Atlantis is America’s most popular ski resort, which boasts an impressive nightlife with top casino activities and progressive jackpot slots. This is a place where people win thousands of dollars while vacationing. A casino has a few lucky slot winners each month, and has already paid over $9 million to thousands of winners.
- Casino Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
It’s a popular resort for skiers and snow lovers with a not big but cozy casino full of gambling options. It offers around 59 slot machines that accept as little as 1 cent per spin. But don’t allow yourself to be deceived by small sizes as it usually pays generously. And if you are lucky enough you can win a couple of thousand euros and extend your vacation.
- Harrah’s Lake Tahoe
A couple from Dallas won a lucrative prize – $6.7 million dollars during their vacation in Tahoe. The Wheel of Fortune machine at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe made Susan Kurth a millionaire. She and her husband have been spending their vacation at this ski resort for more than 40 years. However, it was the first time Kurth hit such a huge progressive jackpot.
She has been dreaming about building a retirement home and the won jackpot has made her dream come true. In addition, a couple has extended their vacation at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe to celebrate the occasion. Well, they can afford it.