We love slots. We really do. However, not all of them are great and there are many different reasons why some online slots are great while others should be avoided.
We intend to use our expertise to guide players to better games and exclusively to the highest Return To Player (RTP) versions (when several payout versions are available).
Our reviewers have an extensive background in the online casino industry and have been playing hundreds (in some cases, thousands of slots over the years. Some of us can also share information from the inside after working for +15 years for online casinos. With this experience, we have gathered a know-how that is hard to match.
Our current slot reviewers are Sami Kurvinen, who has a solid background working in the online casino industry since 2009, and Martijn van ‘t Riet, who has been playing online and land-based slots for more than 10 years and also frequently visits land-based casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, London, and the Netherlands.
Are our slot reviews better than those found on other review sites?
That’s up to you to decide, but what we can guarantee is that we are real players and slot enthusiasts and not some paid content creators or AI-generated mish-mash.
On this page, you will find the following info:
- Who are these slot reviews for?
- This is how we review slots
- What we look after
- How the final rating is decided
- Your voice
- Does it matter where you play the slot?
- The importance of RTPs
- How we research and find the highest RTPs
- How we earn commission
Who are these slot reviews for?
Our slot reviews are mainly for players who value:
- An expert’s point of view
- Guidance on where to play the best-paying version
There are many old, new, and upcoming slots to choose from, so how can you know which one to play?
Before spending your hard-earned cash on online slots that don’t give you the best user experience when better alternatives are out there, you can avoid the pitfalls by checking our slot reviews before you play.
Our slot reviews are based on our expertise and personal opinion. You might not always agree with everything we say, as people’s tastes vary depending on what they are looking for. Still, you will always get a clear overview of how the game is played, its features, and our overall opinion of the game.
We also point players toward the highest RTP versions, as here on CasinoWizard.com, we have exclusively researched and found trustworthy online casinos that offer the best-paying version of every single slot.
This is how we review slots
In most cases, we get access to the slots before they are launched and try the game’s demo. This demo is a version of the same sample that will be offered to players in real money mode after it has been officially released and available at online casinos worldwide.
We spend at least one hour playing each slot that we will review, taking notes, and getting an overview of what the game offers.
What we look for in a slot
With experience, you can automatically compare a slot with others. We look at the theme, the features, the risk level, the soundtrack, the RTPs, what makes it stand out, the stats, the max win potential, and more.
All this information is combined with the overall look and feel of the game.
How fun is the base game, and what about the free spins? Are there other bonus games on offer?
What are the innovations in this slot, or is it a reskin?
Who is this game intended for, and will this particular slot fit that demographic?
We want to help players make better decisions by comparing all these factors and avoiding slots that aren’t up to standard.
How the final rating is decided
After analysing the abovementioned factors, we put them all into a summary.
In this summary, we give you all the reasons why this slot is good, average, or bad and our input on who this game could be suited for.
We also give each slot a star rating, ranging from 1 to 10, based on the following:
1 – 2,5: Horrible. We hated it. Avoid it at all costs.
3 – 4,5: Subpar. It’s not great, but it might have some features or details that can still make it enjoyable.
5 – 5,5: Mediocre. A decent slot that has some minor flaws.
6 – 6,5: Pretty good. It is not unique, but still of high quality.
7 – 7,5: Great. A tremendous slot that just falls short of a higher rating. It’s still highly recommended.
8 – 8,5: Top stuff. It is an outstanding game that most players will enjoy playing.
9 – 9,5: Outstanding. An excellent slot that deserves to be played.
10 Magic! It doesn’t get better than this. A superb slot!
Only a handful of slots have received a 10 out of 10 rating and may be called the best of the best according to CasinoWizard’s high standards. These include Guns N’ Roses, Money Train 4, Reactoonz, and Darkness.
Once a slot has been rated, we may feel a score wasn’t correct in hindsight. Sometimes, a slot turns out to be better the more we play it, and sometimes, a slot’s initial rating may have been too high due to the newness factor or the hype. It happens. In those cases, we will revise the review score. Whenever we do that, we will clearly state this at the beginning of the review.
Your voice
It’s one thing to listen to experts, but do they always know what’s best for me? How often have you checked the score on a movie review site where the experts praise a particular production while the audience hates it, and vice versa? It does happen.
The same can happen in our slot reviews. While we give our visitors honest opinions based on expertise and experience, some might disagree with our conclusion.
This is why we allow you to share your point of view by emailing us at [email protected]. We appreciate all feedback. While we might know a thing or two about slots, the learning process never ends, so please share your views with us, as this is invaluable.
Does it matter where you play the slot?
A slot is the same wherever you play it, right? I mean, you either win or you lose.
This is a common understanding, but unfortunately, it is wrong.
Somewhere down the line, game studios started creating online slots with various payout versions. This is also called the Return To Player (RTP) percentage.
Online casinos can then freely choose which version to offer to their players. A high RTP version will give players more chances of winning on average, while lower-paying options increase casinos’ profits.
The importance of the RTPs
Ok, so there are different payout versions of the same slots available. Now, what does this mean in reality?
Let’s look at an example:
Book of Dead is one of the most played slots and is popular in online casinos worldwide.
Book of Dead is available in five RTP versions, ranging from 84.18% to 96.21%.
The following table shows how many spins you will theoretically get to play before your money runs out, based on a starting balance of £100 and a stake of £1 per spin.
| Book of Dead RTP | Number of spins |
| 96.21% | 2,612 spins |
| 94.25% | 1,721 spins |
| 91.25% | 1,131 spins |
| 87.25% | 776 spins |
| 84.18% | 625 spins |
Why would you accept to play a slot with a lower RTP version when better alternatives are available?
There are mainly two reasons why RTPs are neglected at the moment:
- Players have no clue that various RTP versions exist
- Don’t know how to find the RTP
Now you know that different payout versions exist. To find the best-paying versions of slots, you can either manually find the slots’ RTP or follow the CasinoWizards’ guidance.
How do we research and find online casinos that offer the highest RTPs
Our sophisticated algorithms scan the internet to find reliable online casinos offering the best RTP versions of all slots we review. We check and constantly update the slots from the industry’s leading game studios.
Once a new slot is live, we research and exclusively list the top casinos where you can later play the game with the best odds.
How do we earn commission?
Game studios don’t pay us a dime because we don’t want any conflict of interest. All our reviews are honest, based on our expertise and personal opinions, and never influenced by slot developers’ thoughts or will. It is not possible to buy a high review rating on CasinoWizard.com.
Instead, we earn a commission when visitors click on one of our links to the recommended online casinos.
You, as players, are not affected by this in any way, as the casinos pay us as a marketing partner fee for each referred customer.
The commission that online casinos pay us ensures that we can continue operating CasinoWizard.com, reviewing slots, and guiding players to the best-paying RTP versions.