Top Trends for Online Slots 2022

2022 has been a fantastic year full of amazing new games for online slot players. Top game providers all over have been releasing the best online slots we have ever seen. Many have the most stunning graphics to date, we have also encountered exciting new in-game features, and there has been a resurgence of popular slot franchises throughout the year. 

Money Train 3 has been the most anticipated hold and win slot of the year!

While there have been amazing new slots released all year, these were the top trends of note for 2022. 

• Franchise expansions
• Innovative game designs and features
• Hold and win slots

I’ll walk you through each top trend, and we’ll play through a few games while highlighting some others and see what has made this year so special for online slots.

Franchise Expansions

It’s true, slot players can’t get enough of a good thing. And this is why 2022 saw massive franchise expansions for many of the top online slots you love. Whether it be a new installment of a popular title or the return of a beloved character, we saw many top providers bring us new and improved variations of already popular titles.

Here were the ones I was most excited to see this year.

Money Train 3 by Relax Gaming

All aboard! The most anticipated online slot of the year, Money Train 3, pulled into the station this past September, and its freight has been loaded with goodies. On board the train, you’ll find a number of passengers, such as the Sniper, who doubles the value of multipliers and symbols, or the Collector, who collects all multipliers on the board. The game also features a fantastically designed hold and win game where players look to collect as many high multipliers as possible with each respin. 

The Necromancer reactivates up to two other special bonus symbols on the board.

Our last excursion aboard the Money Train was in 2020, and players have quickly bought their tickets to claim their seats on this new variation. Relax Gaming has also DOUBLED the potential max win from this game’s predecessor to up to 100,000x your wager. 

Take in all this beautiful digital art Relax Gaming is bringing us.

But really, this game has the most visually stunning graphics of any game released this year. The intro alone had me hooked on its video game-quality animation.  It is 100% breathtaking and a must-play slot game this year!

Machina Reloaded Megaways by Kalamba Games

The much-anticipated sequel to Kalamba’s Machina slot game has returned bigger and better than ever. Now, players can enjoy turning characters into cyborgs with even more in-game features than before, including four jackpot prizes. This game has stunning graphics, and the bonus game is certainly one of the most inventive I’ve seen. 

Cat Wilde and the Pyramids of Dead by Play’n Go

Play’n Go’s Cat Wilde character has proven extremely popular amongst players. This is her fourth adventure, this time using the “Book of” mechanic to help you discover even more big wins in her free spins bonus game. Book slots have proven super popular with players, so it was very exciting to see Cat return this big win feature.

Innovative Game Designs & Features

Every year, game providers try to one-up each other by attempting to create “the next best thing,” and 2022 has been no exception. This time around, game providers went above and beyond to bring us something new, whether through new types of in-game features, creative themes, or unique game concepts.

Here are some of the top online slots with the best designs I’ve seen this year. 

Space Stacks by Push Gaming 

I know this game just came out, but it is on the list for good reason. Push Gaming continues to exceed expectations in how they rethink the design and gameplay of online slots. This time they have introduced their newest feature, they have dubbed Reel Bets, where players can wager on the outcome of each reel on the slot. This means that regardless of the outcome of the spin, there’s a chance the player will win something from their wager. 

You can win along multiple reels if they both reach the top simultaneously. 

This game is truly out of this world! And, let me say, it is so refreshing to find game makers who don’t regurgitate the same in-game features with a different theme. Space Stacks also features three bonus games for players to enjoy. 

• Astro: A bonus wheel game where players spin the wheel to collect instant cash prizes and multipliers. The game continues until you land on a collect space. 
• Flip: A bonus game with a 6×6 grid where select tiles to collect instant cash prizes and multipliers. You get three picks total, and if you land on rocket symbols, you’ll increase multipliers across the board. 
• Apex: It’s a race to the top in this drop-and-win bonus game, where you’ll win the multiplier prizes of at least two columns. 

Spin the wheel and collect your instant cash prizes.

Push Gaming continues to “push the boundaries” with how we think and play online slots. And games like this make me very excited to see what comes next from this provider. 

Mad Cars by Push Gaming

Is Push Gaming on this list twice? Yes, it is, and here’s why. The provider recently introduced another new feature never seen before they’ve dubbed Race Reels. In this slot game’s bonus game, players will collect massive multipliers and additional free spins while racing cars to the finish line. This was definitely one of my personal favorites of 2022. 

Paradise Trippies by Caleta Gaming

If you’ve been in need of a vacation, Caleta Gaming has just the trip for you with their Paradise Trippies online slot. When we are talking about crypto slots, this is what we mean. Not only does this game have one of the best NFT themes of any game, featuring artwork from the Paradise Trippies collection from OpenSea, but players can actually win genuine NFTs as prizes while playing.

Hold and Win Slots

2022 was the year of the hold and win slots! This in-game bonus feature has taken over online slots like something not seen since the introduction of Megaways slots.

Not all bonus games work the same, but many use the respins feature where you receive three respins, and every time you land a prize on the board, the respins reset. The game continues until you are out of respins or have collected all the prizes. Many of these games also have multiple jackpot prizes up for grabs. 

Here were my favorite hold and win online slots of 2022. 

Magic Spins by Wazdan 

Wow! Wazdan really threw me for a loop with this one because I did not see it coming. Magic Spins is another sensationally designed game that takes online casino gaming to the next level. Gone is the usual board we are used to of a 5×3 or even a 10×10 grid. Instead, with one of the most unusual layouts played along 29 reels. 

But the developers didn’t stop there with surprises. Magic Spins also allows us, the players, to choose the game’s volatility. That’s right! Set it to low, medium, or high variance; whatever you prefer! 

Add to this the beautiful imagery of the game and the hold and win bonus game that you can purchase with the bonus buy feature, and you have one top-notch online slot. This was one of the first hold and win slots I was introduced to, and it still lives in my mind daily. The ingenuity of this game truly has to be played to be believed. Bravo! 

Elvis Frog Trueways

The King is back, and he’s bigger and better than ever in this Megaways version of the extremely popular Elvis Frog in Vegas online slot. But this Megaways slot goes above and beyond with its paylines, as players now have 262,144 ways to win while spinning the reels. The game also has two bonus games: the hold and win game and the free spins game + mega symbol. 

Misery Mining by NoLimit City

NoLimit City is the king of “shock slots” for 2022. They’ve released a slot game about using the bathroom (Punk Toilet), another online slot featuring a cannibal (Karen Manetater), and this lovely gem of a game featuring mines, rats, and feces. Here, you can choose your bonus game: either a set amount of free spins with high volatility or a hold and win game with three respins and extreme volatility. While certainly not the oddest game from this provider this year, it makes me curious to think of what on earth they will come at us with next.

Final Thoughts

Now that we see where we have been, how excited are you to see where we are going? I, for one, can’t wait to see what the best online game providers come up with for 2023. Based on this past year, it will surely continue to be another banner year for online slot players full of great games with innovative features and intriguing themes.