Floating Dragons: Hold and Spin

This slot game was created by the talented Pragmatic Play. It features 5 reels, 5 rows and 10 paylines. With an RTP of 96.71% and a maximum win of 5000x your inital stake. The games’ theme is inspired by Asian Culture and you will find floating dragons, Asian princesses, kites, fish and many more Asian-related symbols on your reels.

Gonzo’s quest

This slot game was created by the leading gaming software provider NetEnt. It features 5 reels, 3 rows and 20 paylines. With an RTP of 95.97% and an incredible maximum win of 37,500x your inital stake. The games are inspired by a Mayan theme so you will find many various animals and masks on stone slabs on your reels.

Mega Moolah

This slot game was created by the very well-known and successful gaming software, Microgaming. It features 5 reels, 3 rows and 25 paylines. The RTP is very below average at 88.12% but this game offers the opportunity to win 1,995x your initial stake. And the highest jackpot to be won on this game is a life-changing jackpot of $13.2 million! It follows an African Safari so expect to see all different types of animals symbols on your screen. Such as lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras, parrots and so much more!

Reel Rush

This slot game was also created by the talented gaming software provider NetEnt. It features 5 reels, 3 rows and incredible 3,125 ways to win. With an RTP of 96.96% and a maximum jackpot of 962x your initial bet. The colourful cartoony theme almost reminders you of a Super Mario game. And there’s a soothing electronic backing track which plays throughout the game as you spin the reels.

Ted Megaways

This slot game was released by the innovative Blueprint Gaming. It features 6 reels, 4 rows and an outstanding 117,649 ways to win. The RTP is 96.03% and there is a maximum jackpot of 50,000x your initial stake. If you haven’t already guessed, the theme is inspired by the popular comedy movie TED directed by Seth MacFarlane that was released in 2012.

Age of the Gods: Book of Dwarves

This game is by leading gaming software provider Playtech. It features 5 reels, 5 rows and 50 paylines. The RTP is 95.22% and it has a maximum jackpot of 10,000x your initial stake. The theme of the game is inspired by all things fairy tales and fantasy so expect a magical feeling whilst you spin the reels!

Chocolates

Are you feeling peckish? Big Time Gaming released this slot game. It features 4 reels, 4 rows and 256 ways to win. It has an RTP of 96.6% and the opportunity to win a fantastic 65,536x your initial stake. Needless to say, the theme of the game revolves around delightful and delicious chocolate.

Genie Jackpots Wishmaker

This slot game is also by Blueprint Gaming. It features 5 reels, 3 rows and 20 paylines. The RTP is an average 96.06% but you have the opportunity to win 50,000x your initial bet. The theme of the game revolves around the Arabian folklore and it’s creation of the magical genie that can grant wishes. Just rub the lamp and spin the reels to see which cash prizes await for you!

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1. Cloud gaming services are continuously growing and expanding

For those who aren’t familiar with the term ‘cloud gaming’, it’s essentially playing a game remotely from a cloud. It means you can run video games from remote servers and also stream them onto devices. Some people will refer to cloud gaming as ‘gaming on demand’ too.

Statistics show that a huge increase in interest in cloud gaming in 2021. This is undoubtedly due to the increase of titles added to the ever-expanding game catalogue. With thousands and thousands of games to choose from the possibilities really are endless. You can guarantee that you’ll find a game type to match your gaming preferences.

Cloud gaming essentially takes out the process of downloading games which we all know can take incredibly long. Instead, you can simply stream it in real-time. You can play the games almost instantly so it’s no surprise that the popularity of cloud gaming is increasing rapidly. Consoles that support cloud gaming include PlayStation 4, Xbox One. PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, WII U and many more. Also, it was voted in 2021 that GeForce Now is the best service that offers cloud gaming!

2. A rise in popularity of indie games

Indie games are independent video games that are typically created by smaller development teams or individuals. This means they don’t have the financial or technological support of big gaming companies. People often mistake indie games for being a genre of games but this is not the case. Rather it is a characteristic of the conditions for their creation. Essentially it is games created by independent developers that are the entrepreneurs of the gaming industry.

The best indie game platforms to publish your indie game include Roblox, Steam, GOG, Itch.io, Games Gate and Game Jolt. Reblox is the most popular platforrm and has a 150 million monthly active users. This is no surprise because Reblox helps independent game creators to create and distribute games on a single platform.

There are many extremely popular indie games titles to check out right now. These include Valheim, Stray, Sable, Garden Story, Tunic, Loop Hero, Maquette, Cyber Shadow, Solar Ash, Little Nightmares II and so many more. But Stardw Vallie is the all-time best indie selling game!

3. Increase in female gamers

It’s no big secret that the majority of games are male and game producers predominately cater to this gender. This is undoubtedly down to the fact that the things that interest men are easier to implement into video games. Such as sports games, action, battle, racing, shooting and more (not to say some females don’t love these types of games too). But it’s also because a huge 80% of people that work in the gaming industry are male. However, in recent years, statistics show that there is a huge increase in female gamers. In 2010 statistics showed that 60% of gamers were male and 40% female. And in 2020 it is estimated that at least 46% of gamers are female. A significant change that is nearly approaching 50/50.

Despite the fact the gaming industry is still male-dominated, gaming producers are starting to release games aimed at female gamers. Such as the series of animal crossing games! Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the fifth addition to the series and was released in 2020 solely for Nintendo or Nintendo Switch. After this game release, the number of female gamers increased significantly.

Games aimed at a female audience will usually include a female protagonist. Such as The Last Part of us II which was one of the biggest releases in 2020. There are also more women than ever working in the gaming industry so it’s no surprise that the female gamers figure is growing! The top 5 most popular video games amongst women include Ark, Animal Crossing, Pokemon Go, Grand Theft Auto, Sims 4 and Minecraft.

4. An increase in remakes and reboots

Gaming providers are starting to make remakes and reboots of old games because of their great popularity amongst gamers. They tweak, polish and use the latest technologies to give life and upgrade previously popular games. Old-School games are being released with ultra-modern gameplay and features. As well as top-quality 3D graphics, animations and sound effects.

Does anyone remember the Crash Bandicoot video game series? It was made exclusively for Sony’s PlayStation console but was quickly installed by many different developers for different platforms. This was because of its great popularity amongst gamers. Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! was released in 2021 and is one of the top-selling games of 2021! So it’s no surprise that game developers are taking note and starting to make remakes and reboots of popular games of the past. With updated technology and advances of course!

Popular remakes of games include Final Fantasy VII remake, Resident Evil 2, The Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. But there are so many! They breathe new life into a franchise that people already know and love. Gaming producers have started to realise that remakes and reboots sell extremely well so it’s no surprise that they are all releasing them. It’s also appealing to game providers because there is much less risk than producing a completely new franchise. If previous sales of the game have been huge then it’s almost guaranteed the new updated versions of the games will be too.

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You probably won’t be too surprised to see TikTok take the top spot for the most downloaded app in 2021. As you already know, the world faced (and still is) the global pandemic due to the spread of COVID-19. This meant people all around the world were locked down at home and started looking for ways to keep themselves entertained. And TikTok quickly became the global sensation of social media! Mostly amongst teenagers but it wasn’t uncommon to see whole families getting involved, including the grandparents! The app became so popular that it has made people TikTok stars with the most followers extremely famous. You’ve probably heard of the names Charli D’Amelio, Addison Rae, Zach King, Loren Gray, right? with some of them having a net worth of $8 million due to TikTok.

Facebook

Facebook is one of the most popular apps of all time so it’s also not surprising to see this as one of the most downloaded apps of 2021. Especially during a time that many restrictions were in place preventing us from being able to see our family and friends physically. We all felt the effects of less human interaction during the lockdown and took to social media apps, such as Facebook, as a way of communication. It provides a quick, efficient and free way to connect to others.

Instagram

Granted, there wasn’t a lot to share pictures of during lockdown apart from endless streams of selfies. But Instagram is the most popular social media platform to share photos and videos at present. It’s not only a great way to stay updated with your family and friends live but also extremely beneficial for the success of all businesses. There are over one billion active users, so that’s a lot of potential customers to target. It’s a great marketing tool that’s for sure! They also used introduced the ‘reels’ feature amidst lockdown so users would upload videos. This was due to TikToks great success… Instagram wasn’t prepared to skip a beat.

Whatsapp

Just like Facebook and Instagram, Whatsapp is also a great free way to keep in touch with others. It has an incredible 2 billion users globally! This should come as no surprise as it allows you to call or video call for free regardless of which country you’re in – all you need is wifi! This means you can connect with your friends and family from all over the world with a few clicks of a button. It’s internationally friendly and that’s why people love it! And it’s now the leading messaging app in the world.

Zoom

And last but not least, Zoom. A video communications app that is used as an online chat service platform for users to connect. It allowed either one-to-one calls or groups call where you could add up to 100 participants! As you’ve probably already guessed, this was just what people needed during the lockdown. Many big businesses used zoom as a way of conducting online meetings with colleagues during a time that everyone was working from home. And it wasn’t just used for meetings! Birthday parties, quiz nights and any other big celebration that wasn’t allowed due to social distancing measures were happening on zoom.

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