Posted in Industry March 5, 2019
Microgaming’s Book of Oz Reaches Top 20 Slots List
It is that time of the month when we receive the update from the iGaming Tracker software. It is the most reliable way of getting valid data analysed and served in a readable and easy-to-understand format.
Their proprietary software goes through thousands of slot machines and hundreds of different online casinos before compiling all the data and releasing a report consisting of more than 50 PDF pages. The content is premium and costs a lot of cash.
Today, we are here to reveal some of the most interesting details from the latest January report.
Book of Oz Surges 197 Spots
The most shocking movement in December was by Jingle Spin developed by NetEnt. The game went up by 254 spots and reached number four. If you still haven’t understood why that happened, just think about it. December and a Christmas-themed slot? Bingo. You won’t find this game anywhere near the top 20 this month, although it isn’t a bad game at all.
However, what surprised us the most this time was Microgaming’s Book of Oz. The game was released on December 11th, 2018 and that’s probably why we didn’t see it on the top 20 list last month. You can see that the most popular slots from iGaming remain more or less on the same positions in the monthly report throughout the year, which is why everyone is genuinely surprised by how successful Book of Oz has become. It is true that Microgaming did a bit of advertising, but not as close as they did for some other projects which never appeared in the iGaming monthly report.
About the Game
SEO experts say that the title is one of the main reasons why people click on brand new games, besides the thumbnail, if available. Judging by this one, you can tell that you are about to enter the magic world of Oz.
The developers didn’t go crazy with the background. Instead, they went with the static green interior presentation, which beautifully complements the rest of the game screen. There are 9 regular symbols — card values going from ten to ace, three potions (red, purple, and blue), and the wizard. You can see how much each symbol combination awards, but at least three of a kind are required for the card values and only two for the remaining four symbols.
Wilds and scatters are special symbols in slot machines. If you aren’t an experienced gambler, it might surprise you that the book symbol acts both as the scatter and the wild. Five book signs will reward you with both 2,000x instant cash prize and 25 Free spins. Three and four scatters award 20x and 200x or 10 and 12 Free spins, respectively.
The betting span is something both beginners and veterans look at first when analysing a slot machine. Book of Oz doesn’t have insanely high upper limits, but the minimum sits at 0.10. That actually presents a 0.01 minimum bet per line, except that there are 10 fixed paylines, forcing you to spend at least 0.10 per spin. Those playing at the higher end of the spectrum can pay 25.00 per roll and hope for the biggest prizes.
The “Re-Spin” feature is the most interesting feature in the game. It allows you to respin any of the five available reels at the end of a regular spin. You can do that for as long as you like, but only if your balance allows you to. The catch is that not every respin will cost the same — the algorithm calculates the value of the respin and in case you can connect a very valuable combination, the price of a particular respin goes up by a lot. The RTP for Book of Oz is 96.39%. Read more about RTP (Return to Player) here.
Starburst Holding Strong
The last report showed five NetEnt games on the top 20 slots list. The Swedish giant still dominates the list but with one game less — the Jingle Spin which we talked about earlier in this report. Unless something new appears on the market, chances are that we will be seeing Starburst at the number one spot. When it comes to popularity and regular daily users, the game stands out from the rest.
Although the machine was released back in 2013, there are still new people registering in online casinos and going straight to the Starburst gameplay. Online casinos know that they are most likely to retain their customers by offering Starburst on their landing page. Bonanza is similar to Starburst, and depending on which casino we are talking about, chances are that you’ll see one of the two games the moment you log in.
Mega Moolah went up by 11 spots and is currently third. The main reason for that is that the Mega Jackpot went above the 20 million euro threshold before a lucky gambler won it at the very end of the month, on January 30th. The game will most likely drop by a couple of spots in February. Nevertheless, it is a game which people genuinely enjoy, although going for massive jackpot rewards is another reason many people play it.
Predictions for March
As we said last month when we talked about the report from December, it’s almost completely impossible to predict movements on the list, apart from the obvious ones. The Mega Moolah slot is bound to go down by a couple of spots because of the mega jackpot reset. Other than that, anything could happen. Starburst is definitely staying on the first spot unless we see an unexpected release from one of the major development companies.
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