Casino Originals

We’ve come a full circle. 

The very first online casinos had their own original games, and now crypto casinos have come up with their unique casino games. These range from crypto games to slots, table games, and all sorts of unique arcade style games.

What exactly defines such games, are they really original and unique, and which ones should you play? Are they called exclusives, casino originals or original casino games, and why? Read on to learn more.

What Are Casino Originals?

There isn’t any clear definition of what a casino original is, so we’re free to define them as we wish. This is a fresh category of games which are mainly available in crypto casinos, although we’re starting to find them in traditional online casinos too. Let’s start with the obvious bits:

1. Unique and exclusive to the brand.

These games are not available anywhere else. You can only play them at the casino that produced them.  

2. Not copies and Not reskins: Originals

Original here doesn’t mean the first of its kind. It means that the game has been produced by or for a particular online casino. And that means not simply changing the graphics, but making the code, mathematics and other bits from scratch. Once it is available on another online casino, it is no longer an original.

3. Produced by in-house teams…most of the time.

Most online casinos say their games are produced by in-house teams. Coders, graphics artis, etc who work directly for the casino, or for the company that owns the casino. Yet, there are cases where a third-party studio has also produced the games.

There’s plenty of ambiguity here, as most of the casinos we have reviewed have absolutely zero information available about their in-house teams. We’ll get back to that later on.

What you need to know is that these casino games aren’t from the established game developers that you would recognise.

Common Characteristics of Casino Originals

We’re talking about the way the games play and what sort of features they come with.

• Customisable gameplay

Many of the new original casino game titles are built to give players a lot of leeway in customising volatility and risk. For example in most Plinko games you can change the number of rows and the risk. This is always a trade off between scoring bigger wins at the chance of losing more often.

• Simple and fast

Spin, play or roll and get an immediate result with straightforward interfaces. No need to consult paytables and check combinations. The mechanics are easy to understand and the outcomes often even simpler. Special features are a rare sight. There are further options like turning all animations off or enabling fast rounds.

• Mobile-optimized

Everything runs well on mobile devices these days. This is largely a result of the above. The simplicity of the games make them perfect for bit-seized pieces of entertainment on the go, anywhere and any time.

• Provably Fair

It’s not surprising that crypto casinos have embraced Provably Fair to a higher degree than traditional casinos. It’s not uniform across all original casino games, but the majority do use this feature. The way it is implemented depends on the individual casino, with some having vastly superior Provably Fair tools to others.

• Licensing and Certifications

It’s not all roses. As these games are usually found in crypto casinos running under Curacao or Anjouan licenses, the games themselves are rarely tested to the same degree as in other jurisdictions. RNG testing and similar steps are rarely available for the player to view. 

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Different Types of Casino Originals

Casino originals lean heavily on simple gameplay, and especially on games that are either popular in the crypto-scene or origins as crypto-first games. The basic selection almost always consists of Plinko, Crash, Hilo, Dice and Mines. Some casinos go a bit further, exploring table games, multiplier games, and even table games. Online slots seem to be making an entry too, though they are very rare at the moment.

Again, the genre is so young that there are no clear definitions. We’ve listed some common game types here, and what you can expect from them. 

Crash

Read more about Crash originals.

Bustabit originated from the crypto-scene, being the first provably fair Bitcoin crash game. This was followed by Aviator in online casinos, which in a few years led to countless clones. Casino sites introducing their own crash games was the logical next step.

Crash games are multiplayer games, which means that all the players are placing their bets on the same round and outcome. These games display an increasing multiplier which can crash at any moment. The player interaction determines when and if they can cash out with a win.

Major differences between different crash games come from graphics, options, the return to player percentage, and the maximum win multiplier. There are usually no significant differences between volatility levels.

Most crash games are practically copies of each other, and your preference is entirely tied to the casino you like to play at.

Plinko

Read more about Plinko originals.

Another popular crypto game, famously inspired by the Price is Right tv show (of course, peg boards were a thing long before this). There’s no clear timeline of the first Plinko games, but they seem to have emerged on either side of 2020. Both individual casinos like Stake and BC.game, as well as game producers like BGaming releasing their own products.

Plinko is a simple game. You drop a ball at the top of the board, and it bounces around until it lands on one of the prize slots at the bottom. Most originals have the ability to change the number of rows and the overall volatility of the game. In essence, this changes the range of multipliers found on the prize slots, and the likelihood of balls hitting them.

Much like crash, there are rarely any major differences between different versions of Plinko. Keep an eye on RTP and licenses.

Multiplier Trail Games

Read more about Multiplier Trail originals.

These games present you with a simple choice: cash out of take the next step. Each step increases the multiplier. You will often find cusotmisable options which offer higher volatility for higher wins. Keep takings risks or walk away with a win that doesn’t count for much? Surprisinly diverse and numerous genre. Most casinos include a version of Mines or Towers in their selection.

Classics

Read more about Casino Classics.

For one reason or another every single site has to have their own take on roulette. Without ever really changing anything. When it comes to casino originals we finally break that cycle. Usually that means simplified versions of familiar games. Such as roulette with only three possible bets. Number games like Keno are also fairly common.

Dice Games

Read more about Dice originals.

Guess if the roll will be bigger or smaller than x. Or perhaps between two numbers? Dice games are a very small category, yet again something that almost every online casino includes in their selection.

PvP Games

Read more about PvP originals.

Perhaps the most unique, though not most diverse set of games. If you’ve ever played a round of poker you know how this works: the casino pits player against player, and instead of RTP or other such measures, they simply take a rake (fee) from every round played. Usually manifested as games such as coinflip.

Online Slots

Read more about Original slots.

Exclusive slots are available in various forms across most online casinos. And in most of those cases they are simply same old slots with graphics made for that particular casino. With casino originals you get your hands on entirely new slots. Ones available on a single site only.

Stake Engine is something that is setting new boundaries here, as it allows slot developers to quickly come up with new slots, publishing them at Stake and Stake only. On the other hand, questions of licensing, testing, and uniqueness remain.

Why Play Original Casino Games?

Truthfully, the reason remains the same as why play any casino game: because you can win money. With normal casino games you can do that just about everywhere, as the same games and providers are almost universally available and present these days. Casino originals change this setting, as the games are only available at a single casino.

It’s that extra bit of punch that can make you choose one casino over another. Often these games also comes with higher RTPs than the games that inspired them. Immersion and chance to win bigger – why wouldn’t you play casino originals?

Where Can I Play Original Casino Games?

These casino originals are only available at their respective casinos.

Why are Crypto Casinos leading the charge?

The rason is a lot simpler than you might thing. Crypto casinos tend to operate in areas where there is less oversight. Casinos operating with Maltese or Estonia or UK Gambling licenses have to skip and hop through considerably more hoops if they want to launch their own games. Everything needs to be tested and licensed before it can be launched as real money games.

With Curacao or Anjouan licenses there doesn’t seem to be such requirements, or at least no one cares if there are. In other words, Crypto Casinos don’t need to spend as much time and money testing and proving that their games are actually fair.

Provably Fair

To somewhat negate the above, most of these casinos have built Provably Fair -system into their games. This software allows you to ensure that every round played comes with a random result. This is done through hashing, server seed and player seed, and other such inputs. Check out our Provably fair guide.

However, what Provably Fair doesn’t do is prove RTP. It just proves that the result was random, not that the payouts are what are advertised.

Exclusive vs Originals and What’s the Difference?

Originals are games produced by casinos and their teams, or closely connected studios and teams, whereas exclusives are games created by third-parties for casinos. Exclusive are either simple reskins (existing games with new graphics) or exclusive launches, which means that the games are available at a certain casino before they become available elswhere.

Originals are unique, exclusives are not.

Branded Live casino tables – are they original?

Live casino tables fall into the category of exclusives rather than originals. The games are still from the same producers (like Evolution Gaming), they simply have the logo cropped on top. Of course, they do only allow players from the casino that offers them to sit on that table.