What are Free/Demo Mode Casino Slots?

There are so many new online slots being released today that having the ability to try them out in some kind of free play or demo mode is an essential tool if you are going to keep a bankroll for the games that you actually like. Luckily, this is something that developers thought about a long time ago; and “demo” mode has long been a feature included in almost every slot machine created for the online market.

What IS Demo Mode?

When a slot is running in demo mode; you will be given a free balance of credit which you can use to spin the slot. This will usually be in your native currency, as the game or casino will use your IP address to work out where in the world you are located and instruct the slot to use the correct currency accordingly.

From here you can use all of the features of the game just as if you had deposited at an online casino for real. For example, say you are playing at an online casino in Pennsylvania but have not logged into the site. Browse the slots pages and you should find that clicking on any of the games will bring up the demo mode; allowing you to try the game for free before depositing real money.

Demo Mode Restrictions

Some jurisdictions are actually requiring casinos to remove this facility from their website. The reasons for this are not entirely clear; although the fact that these same jurisdictions are also forcing players to register with sites dedicated to demo;-only slots suggests that this is a measure designed to stop people; who are not old enough to gamble from accessing these games, even in free money mode.

Advantages of Playing Slots in Demo Mode

Many online slots are becoming more complex than ever; many games have several modifiers during the base game, multiple feature options; and (when permitted by jurisdiction) feature buy options as well. Even just the ability to check out the base game is a major plus; – some games can be extremely dull if they have very few base game features; and waiting for the scatter symbols can take an awful long time to drop; – these are both things you can test out in demo mode.

Featuring Testing

So, you’ve spent hours and a great deal of money playing a slot and finally hit a feature – what if it turns out to be trash? Demo mode slots help fix this problem in two ways. First of all, you are free to play the slot for as long as you like until you hit the feature enough times; to potentially try out all of the different options – assuming there are multiple options; – so you can decide on which option is your favorite prior to ever loading the slot in real money mode.

Secondly, many slots now have a feature buy mode, which works extremely well alongside the free/demo mode of online slots. Unfortunately, feature buy is another option that may well be on the way out soon – many jurisdictions are deciding that allowing any bet of $/£/€ 50 – 100 (or greater) is just way too much and are forcing developers to disable or remove this feature from their games as a result.

Feature buy options:

For the time being, however, feature buy options are still especially common in games developed by some manufacturers such as Blueprint and Big Time Gaming. A feature buy option will usually cost you somewhere between 50x – 120x your current stake; and allows you immediate access to the scatter-based bonus features of the slot you are playing.

Quite often, games which feature a Feature Buy mode will also have multiple options you can choose from such as 15 spins with a 3x multiplier, 10 spins with a 5x multiplier, or 5 spins with a 10x multiplier. Often, a random mode is also included which can mix any of these values together; giving the possibility of being awarded 15 spins at 10x multiplier.

However, the feature works, being able to access it immediately rather than spending hours waiting for the scatter symbols to drop just so you can test the different feature options is an absolute godsend for many players.  Especially in demo mode, it doesn’t matter how many credits you spend so you are free to enter the feature as many times as you like; test out the different modes, decide if you feel that the feature buy option is worth bothering with; as well as if you actually like the different features themselves.

Wrapping Up

Being able to play slots in demo mode is absolutely essential for many players; who wouldn’t bother playing online slots at all without the ability to try them out without spending any money first. Whilst some top-tier casinos are removing these options, Unibet are not giving in to any pressure to remove this feature from their website and you can still find demo versions of all of their slots when you are not logged in. If you are having trouble finding a good site to play games in demo mode; Unibet might make a good start.