Sports-themed slots are a very popular choice for slot enthusiasts, sports fans, and casual online gamers alike, with a constantly evolving market for the slot games. There is a wide variety of different sports that now have slot games created based on it, ranging from horse racing to football. Plenty of different types of slot games are available, with the likes of megaways, slingo and even jackpot slots available for players to try. With that being said, let’s take a look at the top sports-themed slot games.
Football Star Deluxe
Football Star Deluxe is the sequel to the original Football Star slot game and takes an already well designed football themed slot to a new level with the additional bonus features and even more developed and detailed design. After six years since the original Football Star’s release, in 2020, Stormcraft Studios released Football Star Deluxe with a new and improved display and gameplay.
While the design is relatively simple in terms of the background, it matches the theme of the slot game, presenting an animated stadium and allowing the transparent playtable to stand out from the backdrop. The symbols also maintain the theme and are represented by football-related imagery designed in the style of the previous game from 2014.
One of the main bonus features of this slot game is the cascading reels, making for interesting gameplay that differs from your ordinary slot game. The playtable itself takes on a 5×5 format with up to 88 individual paylines available, supporting the integration of the many bonus features. Further bonus features include stacked wilds, free spins through scatter symbols, consecutive multipliers, growing wilds and your typical wild symbol. All of these bonus features in Football Star Deluxe assist in elevating the gameplay and generating a gaming experience that stands out from other slot games on the market.
Cricket Mania
As stated by the title, Cricket Mania is a cricket-inspired slot game that adopts the visual aesthetics of the sport, coupled with well-designed game bonuses, generating a game targeted towards cricket fans and slot enthusiasts alike.
Released in 2021 by Tom Horn Gaming, Cricket Mania features a design inspired by cricket, with the background featuring an animated cricket stadium and a dark blue playtable situated centrally with a silver border. The symbols in the game are also cricket-related, with even the card symbols being represented on cricket shirts, fortifying the game’s theme.
The 5×4 playtable features 40 individual paylines with bonus symbols that combine to create interesting gameplay. Wild symbols are in play in the base game on only reels 2, 3, and 4, with the ability to assist in landing combinations. The symbols expand across the full reel when it lands in the base game and free spins game, substituting for all symbols except for the scatter symbol.
The Scatter symbol appears as a stacked symbol of three, meaning it covers the whole reel and requires a minimum of seven spaces to be occupied in the playtable to unlock the free spins round. Up to 20 free spins are available to unlock with a new playtable format of 3×3 unlocked. Only higher-value symbols are available in the free spins game, and a reduced number of paylines, 27, are available. The additional bonus features are relatively simple; however, this simplistic style of slot game is preferred by many players.
Basketball King Hold and Win
Basketball King Hold and Win was released in 2023 by iSoftBet with the intention of creating an overlap between slot games and basketball, something that hasn’t been commonly done before. The visuals of this slot game are impressive, with an extremely upbeat and cartoon-like style with flashing lights and animations in the background.
The background itself is a basketball court and features a playtable at the centre, a dark grid with a silver border. The typical basketball aesthetic is met by the bright colours and symbols that involve images associated with the game, ranging from a basketball player to caps and high-top shoes. The visual design of the game is incredibly well done and fits the theme of the game accordingly.
The mechanics in Basketball King Hold and Win are equally as well integrated as the design, with bonus features that elevate the overall gaming experience and maintain a strong, structured gameplay.
Firstly, a random giant Wild can appear on the playtable either fully or partially, substituting for symbols to assist in landing combinations. This is a different approach to many other slot games; however, it provides a different experience with the Wild symbol and maintains the easy-to-play nature. Other features include the bonus symbol that, when three or more land in play, free spins are awarded to players with the potential to land multiplier symbols during that extra round.
Finally, the ‘Hold and Win’ element is the game’s key feature and is unlocked when five or more value symbols land in view of the playtable. This feature unlocks a new playtable with the Hold and Win mechanics popularised in modern slot games. The mechanics couple with the theme and design perfectly, and despite being relatively detailed regarding bonus features, the game remains easy to play.