Money – say the Beatles – will buy you most things but not love. The Fab Four didn’t list it, but alongside diamond rings money will buy you spins. And spinning is the way you win.
But that doesn’t mean that you need to stake high every time you play: value play is something to look for in gambling as it is in every area of life. And staking low doesn’t always mean opting out of the biggest prizes, as our selection of the biggest penny slots means.
Our definition of penny slots – like most sites – isn’t literal. There are very few games that you can spin for a penny these days, but these are our favourite low-stakes games.
1 – Mega Moolah by Microgaming
Why not start with the game that has consistently delivered the biggest prizes in online gambling. Mega Moolah pays out millions of pounds on a regular basis and has twice broken the record for the biggest online pay-out ever.
The prizes are big, but the stakes are often very low. Mega Moolah can be played for penny a pay line stake. In fact, the machine’s most famous win, of over £17 million, was won with a 25p spin. Those prizes come via a one-off jackpot game, but the base game can also deliver big wins and the maximum pay-line stake is just 5p.
Mega Moolah is a great value.
2 – Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead
This game from Play’n GO is a massive hit. If you’re offered free spins as part of a welcome offer at the moment then there’s a very good chance that they will include spins on this game.
That helps give Rich Wilde a foot in the door, but you need more than that to keep a regular place in the UK online slots charts like this game, which dates back to 2016, has managed so successfully.
The Book of Dead is an Egyptian-archaeology themed game, with Rich Wilde starring as an adventurous and treasure hunting archaeologist.
There are a lot of classic elements to this game, including the layout and the relatively low number of pay-lines, and you can stake on those lines from a penny upwards (and you can pay as high as 100 coins a line too).
This great value game is incredibly good value.
3 – Disco Bar 7s by Booming Games
Let’s go really classic with this new release that qualifies as a penny slot by our definition with a 10p starting price.
The game plays like a classic slot from any time in the past few decades, with a 3-by-3 grid. The low variance – which means smaller prizes are paid out of more often – adds to the value of the game’s experience, but it doesn’t short change players with the experience, which includes plenty of bonuses and a free spins round.
There’s no massive jackpot (though you can win many thousands of pounds if you stake high), but Disco Bar 7s has the soundtrack to match its name and experience to qualify as a penny slot.
4 – Gold Factory by Microgaming
Everyone would love a gold factory! This one might turn your credits into big prizes, but you shouldn’t expect to win when you play any slot.
This game is a big favourite and has been around since 2011. It’s got 50 pay lines, medium volatility, and is played on a standard five-by-three grid.
It’s a great looking game, despite its age, and plays like a classic. And you can start to play it from as little as a penny a line a spin.
There are still big prizes up for grabs too, and if you want to try it you should start your staking low, which is good advice whatever game you’re playing.
5 – Mystery Joker by Play’n GO
Classic games are a good bet if you want to find the best value games.
First of all, games that are older are likely to have lower stakes baked into their DNA through the simple mechanism of inflation.
And classic games are usually marketed on being a quick and easy gaming experience, and great value fits in better with this image than with some of the more complex and sophisticated games.
Mystery Joker is a very classic game, and you can start to play it from just 10p.
Stars, bells and fruits (grapes, lemons, and cherries) is the total sum of the symbols. The bonus is a free spin round triggered via a scatter symbol. The playing grid is a nice and lean three-by-three grid.
With just five pay lines the simplicity of this game fits budget gaming perfectly.
6 – Rainbow Riches by Barcrest
The Rainbow Riches slot game is perhaps the perfect example of a penny slot. The opening stake is genuinely 1p (on 20 pay lines). And the game sticks to the simple stereotype we’ve started to explore.
It dates back to 2009, and it’s not a very sophisticated or good-looking (to our eyes, these are matters of taste) by modern standards, and the games and bonuses are all super simple and easy to understand.
You can win a decent prize from the base game, but the way to hit big is to hit the bonuses or to hit one of the jackpot games that deliver the big prizes.
Players love this game. It is far and away Barcrest’s biggest hit in the UK and has spawned a massive family of sequels and related games that add different levels of sophistication to the recipe without adding to or altering the established winning formula.
Penny slots are a great way into slots. We like to go on about safe play here, and one way to keep safe is to keep your stakes low. It’s no guarantee, of course, and you should keep all your other safeguards in place and be ready to ask for help if you need it.
Keeping the stakes low and the games simple is popular now, and getting even more popular on mobile devices, and is unlikely to ever go out of fashion.
