What does volatility mean in slots?
Volatility refers to how often you might land prizes when you’re playing a slot machine. Volatility is the most common description, but we’ve also seen the word variance used on occasion, so watch out for that word too. If you find a low volatility title, you’ll know that it triggers prizes quite often, but they tend to be of lower value. If we check out high volatility titles, we’ll see that prizes are much less regular, yet when they do strike, they stand a better chance of being of greater value.
We’ve put together a table here to give a brief indication of what to expect from low volatility slot machines compared to high volatility slots you will also find online.
| Feature |
Low Volatility Slots |
High Volatility Slots |
| Risk level |
Low |
High |
| Hit frequency (spins that result in prizes) |
High |
Low |
| Prize values (on average) |
Low |
High |
How to find low volatility slot machines
We’ve researched
free video slots
to play at sweepstakes casinos, and we’ve found several features that tend to appear when you’re looking for low volatility titles to play. Check the list below before you start to play. You should still check each individual title though, to make sure you have identified a promising slot to try.
💰 What’s the top prize multiplier?
This is a big tell, and you can easily work out what the biggest multiplier is for any slot you find. We usually look at the loading screen to begin with, as lots of games give the maximum win multiplier there. This can reach into multiple thousands with
high volatility slots, so if you see figures like those, you can safely guess you’re not looking at a low volatility slot machine.
Instead, you should look for a much lower multiplier - something like 200x the number of tokens you play on a payline, for example. Anything in the hundreds rather than the thousands is more likely to point to a slot with low volatility.
We wouldn’t say the age factor always works here, but we have noticed that modern slots tend to be more volatile than older ones. That said, we know there are still plenty of newer slots that keep the volatility level down, as those will attract the attention of players who prefer these sorts of slots.
👀 Watch out for sequel slots
When a slot release is successful, it’s not uncommon for the creators to crank up the volatility for any sequels they might release at some stage. This means the original title might have a far lower volatility level than its sequels. Software developers tend to be keen to build on the success of a recent title - and one way they’ll do this is by adding more features and raising the volatility level.
📜 Check the slot paytable before you play
You will find all the available prizes inside a slot’s paytable. You’ll see all the cheapest prizes for getting three matching icons on a line, all the way through to a jackpot. Every slot has a jackpot of sorts - this might be the top prize for the title or a progressive jackpot. The latter will slowly rise in value as more people play, but progressive jackpots don’t tend to appear in low volatility titles. We’d recommend looking for low prize values or multipliers throughout the paytable if you can’t confirm its volatility level on the loading page.
5 sweepstakes casinos offering the best low volatility slots
You’ll find a
list of the best social casinos
elsewhere on this site. However, if you want the best slots that dial the volatility way down, we can confirm the following sites are worth looking at.
LoneStar: offers over 500 titles
Lonestar Casino: Pros and Cons
- Generous GC and SC welcome bonus
- 300+ varied games from top developers
- Redeem Sweeps Coins winnings
- Optional Gold Coin purchases
We didn’t find details of their welcome offer until we signed up, but we’re happy to confirm that we received 100,000 Gold Coins along with 2.5 Sweeps Coins at this sweepstakes casino. There are two aspects that prove you’ll have plenty of low volatility slot machines to choose from.
Firstly, you’ll be able to try titles from various providers. We noted NetEnt and Booming Games among the possibilities there. Secondly, the quantity of titles has already gone past 500, so while you’ll find high volatility titles there as well, you’re sure to spot plenty that are known to be far lower in the volatility stakes.
Stake.us: don’t miss our exclusive offer
Stake.us: Pros & Cons
- 1200+ casino-style games
- Safe and legit
- Cool promo deals
- Live chat support
This is a big one - sign up with our code, PROMOBOY, and you’ll get 560,000 Gold Coins, 56 Stake Cash, and 5% rakeback. You’ll receive all those perks in three batches:
- Claim 250k Gold Coins and 25 Stake Cash when you sign up and complete verification
- Claim 30 days’ worth of daily login bonuses to receive another 300k Gold Coins and 30 Stake Cash
- Finally, our [bonus code] code will bring you 10k Gold Coins, 1 Stake Cash, and 5% rakeback
Stake.us gives you the volatility level for each of its casino-style games, so it’s easy to pick out the low volatility slots there. We found plenty to try, along with some
free progressive slots
as well.
RealPrize: 700+ titles and counting
Pros and cons of RealPrize
- Excellent Daily login bonus of 5,000 GC and 0.30 SC
- Fast gift card redemptions often within 24 hours
- Quality sweepstakes casino games from top providers like NetEnt
- Seven-tier VIP program with increasing rewards
- PayPal supported for purchases and redemptions
- Small game library of only 200+ titles
- Live chat support limited to higher VIP tiers
- No dedicated sweepstakes casino app
We love having hundreds of social games to play, and RealPrize gives us just that. We also claimed 100,000 Gold Coins along with 2 Sweeps Coins when we created an account there. We noted lots of slots from big names, such as Sugar Rush 1000, among many other slots on offer.
With well over half a dozen software developers involved at RealPrize, we think there is enough variety to ensure you’ll have lots of low volatility slot machines to choose from. As always, a quick look at the paytable will help you decide which slots to play.
McLuck: social live games alongside the slots
Pros and cons of McLuck
- Great selection of jackpot slots, including the McJackpot progressive jackpots
- Excellent mobile app for both iOS and Android devices
- Over 700 online slots from popular providers like NetEnt
- Live dealer games available
- Claim referral bonus of up to 100 SC
- High redemption threshold of 100 SC
- Limited table game options
We haven’t found live social titles at all sweepstakes casinos, but McLuck delivers just that here. Use our code PROMOGUYSOCIAL when you join via one of the links on this page, and you’ll receive 7,500 Gold Coins plus 2.5 Sweeps Coins for creating your account.
We love how the site makes it easy to find the type of slot you’d like to play. We found sections for Megaways slots, along with everything from classic slots to those offering cascading reels and other modern features. We even spotted a blog post offering information about their best low volatility slot machines - perfect if you enjoy playing them.
High 5 Casino: claim Diamonds alongside your tokens
High 5 Casino: Pros & Cons
- Generous welcome bonus package
- Over 1500 quality games available
- Free daily coin rewards
- Legit with multiple licenses
- Limited table game options
Here’s a great welcome package - sign up via one of our links and you will get 250 Game Coins (you’ll use those the same as Gold Coins offered elsewhere), plus 5 Sweeps Coins and 600 Diamonds. You can use the Diamonds whenever you wish to unlock various features within the slots. We spotted bigger win multipliers, free spins, and even a chance to trigger bonus features more frequently with the Boost feature.
We noted over 1,700 titles and counting on our recent visit. You’ll have the advantage of accessing all the titles from High 5 Games too, since they’re associated with this sweepstakes casino.
Make sure you understand how sweepstakes casinos work before you play
We’ve seen how each site has two tokens to play with. Usually, you’ll get Gold Coins to use when playing any social games. You also get some Sweeps Coins to use for the sweepstakes alternative mode of play.
You can’t win any real prizes using the Gold Coins, although we find them ideal to use when testing certain slots to find some more low volatility slot machines to play. Once we have some preferred titles to try, we swap over to the Sweeps Coins. We know if we win some Sweeps Coins during gameplay, we’ll be able to redeem those to receive a real prize. This might be a cash prize or a gift card, depending on the site we’re playing at.
Note that you cannot redeem Sweeps Coins that you collect. You must play with them first, and you’re usually required to do so at least once. You can get the details for each respective site via the sweepstakes rules. We've also noted a minimum Sweeps Coin quantity in winnings before we can redeem them, so make sure you note this for each site as well.
Our list of low volatility slot machines to play at these sweepstakes casinos
We’ve gone through scores of slots at our five preferred sweepstakes casinos, selecting one of the best titles to try from each site. You might notice that most of them fall among the
best RTP slots
as well.
1. Chicken Chase
Do you fancy a trip to the countryside? Don’t expect a relaxing time though - there’s a blue wolf going wild for the chickens. You can also see if you can spot the golden egg, which pops up as a bonus symbol. You can spin five reels and play on 10 lines here, so it’s a manageable slot to play with Gold Coins or Stake Cash (there’s a clue as to where you’ll find it).
When you spin the reels, one or more may be held depending on what’s on the screen. This provides a second chance at a prize. We couldn’t play any free spins during the game, but finding three or more golden eggs gives you a chance to pick one out of four chickens to reveal a multiplier prize.
2. Starburst
Here’s a classic - arguably the best-loved slot online today. It pops up at lots of sites, including RealPrize. You can spin five reels with 10 lines in play - but this time, those lines work in both directions. We spotted one special symbol, and that’s the wild icon. Displayed as a multicolored star, it expands whenever it turns up on any of the middle three reels. If this happens during play, you will receive a free respin of the other reels. Land another wild and the same happens again - this time with both expanded wild reels held. Since the wild can appear on all three middle reels, it means you could potentially land up to three of them - and three respins to improve your chances.
| Creator |
RTP |
Max Win |
Available At |
| NetEnt |
96.1% |
250x |
RealPrize |
3. Finn and the Candy Spin
Sometimes it’s nice to find a low volatility slot machine that is different from anything else on offer. This NetEnt offering ticks that box, for sure, because while it provides a 5 x 5 format, you won’t see any reels spin. Instead, the game moves around in a circular fashion, before stopping with the icons in new positions.
The loading screen revealed a few of the highlights we might see in the slot, including free spins, Swirly Spins, and a Yeti Destroy feature. We liked the usual top-notch graphics we can always count on from NetEnt. It was also good to see Finn return after two previous adventures online.
| Creator |
RTP |
Max Win |
Available At |
| NetEnt |
96.6% |
336x |
LoneStar |
4. Mysteries of Egypt
You may have a few slot themes you like to see. One of our favorites is the ancient Egyptian theme, as there’s so much potential there to add Pharaohs, ankhs, and other iconic imagery into the mix. Red Rake has brought us this offering, and while it was originally released in 2015, it still looks stunning today.
This is a five-reel slot, and we could find hieroglyphic-style symbols on stone blocks during play. We could look for wild scarab beetles and two scatter symbols - one featuring Tutankhamun and the other highlighting Anubis. Tutankhamun can bring free spins into play, while you can collect Anubis icons to turn others into wild symbols.
| Creator |
RTP |
Max Win |
Available At |
| Red Rake Gaming |
95.5% |
611x |
McLuck |
5. 3 Genie Wishes
This is one of our preferred low volatility slot machines to play at High 5 Casino. Genie icons go wild here, and you can look out for scattered magic lamps as well. You can spot those on reels one, three, and five.
Landing three lamps gives you an opportunity to make a wish. The genie will appear and grant your wish as you select a lamp. You then find out what’s inside it, which could involve an instant token prize or the chance to get some wild icons on the reels. If you get a wild feature, you will see it in play during some free spins. You can see there’s lots to watch out for in this 50-line slot.
Pros and cons of low volatility slot machines at sweepstakes casinos
Pros and Cons
- Easy to check prize potential
- Lower risk levels
- More accessible
Play More Free Casino Games
Try some low volatility slot machines at these sweepstakes casinos
We’ve researched and recommended several sweepstakes casinos here, and found lots of less volatile slots to play in the process. You can visit any of the sites by following the relevant links spread throughout this guide. You’ll find a welcome bonus at each of them; don’t forget to use the relevant exclusive bonus code if required, depending on the site you join. If you use our tips on how to spot low volatility titles, you’ll soon have plenty to play, either as social games or for a chance to win Sweeps Coins that you can redeem for real prizes.
Try these top social casino bonuses
1.
Get 200% More Coins on First Purchase - 1.5M CC + 75 SC
Playthrough: 1x Bonus
2.
Get up to 500K Gold Coins + 105 FREE SC + 1000 VIP points
3.
25 SC and 25K GC signup bonus
+ 10K GC and 1 SC daily for life
4.
150% First Purchase Offer: Up to 600K Gold Coins + 303 SC FREE
5.
100% More Coins: 80,000 GC + 40 FREE SC + 75 Free SC Spins
Low volatility slot machines FAQs
🎰 Is low volatility a good slot to play?
It depends on your risk preference. Playing a slot with low volatility means you have a better chance of securing more frequent prizes, even though they will be of low value. Conversely, a high volatility slot may drop prizes far less often, but anything you do win could potentially be worth more.
🔍 How can you recognize the lowest volatility slots?
The easiest way to work out whether a slot has high or low volatility is to read the paytable before you play. You should see plenty of low multiplier values for the potential prizes.
🎉 Are you more likely to win prizes on a low volatility slot machine?
Since smaller prizes are won more often on these slots, there is a greater chance that any individual spin may result in a prize. However, there is no guaranteed outcome for any spin, since slots use random number generators to provide a truly random experience for all players.
Daily picks from betting experts on odds boosts and casino promos
