Slots are the most popular casino-style games, loved for their diverse thematics, gorgeous graphics, simple gameplay, and accessibility. Thousands of popular slot game titles came from real money online casinos into the sweepstakes space years ago, and now nearly all US players have an opportunity to play slots for real cash prizes without spending a cent of their own money.
Sweepstakes Slots: Free Online Slots with Real Cash Prizes
The advantage of online sweepstakes casino sites is that they enable you to play for money prizes where land-based and online casinos aren’t legal yet. If you’re new to the sweepstakes casino industry and want to learn all about the best slots it has to offer, SweepsKings has got you covered.
In this article, we’ll explore a variety of popular casino style games, review some of the trendiest titles, and recommend top sweepstakes casinos where you can play them, so let’s start from the top.
SweepsKings treats readers like royalty. Our team works around-the-clock to source you with honest and in-depth information on sweepstakes casinos. Our reviews, guides, bonuses, and coverage are based on hands-on testing and 100+ years of combined industry experience.
We may receive financial compensation if you play at the legal sweepstakes gaming sites we advertise. Still, our content remains impartial to financial or outside influence and is guided solely by our ethos, research, and industry knowledge.
SweepsKings Picks: 10 Best Slots to Play in the US
Thousands of casino style slot machine games have received virtual emulations and are now available in US sweepstakes casinos for free.
With real cash prizes at stake, you can play your favorite games, or you can check out SweepsKings’ review of the best sweepstakes casino slots available in the current market. You can check our in-depth reviews below; here’s a quick overview of what we’ll cover:
- Money Train 3 by Relax Gaming
- Big Bass Bonanza by Pragmatic Play
- 5 Lions Megaways by Pragmatic Play
- 3×3 Egypt Hold The Spin by Gamzix
- Candy Jar Clusters by Pragmatic Play
- Gates of Olympus by Pragmatic Play
- Wanted Dead or a Wild by Hacksaw Gaming
- Viking Forge by Pragmatic Play
- Alladin’s Chest by NetGame
- Day of Dead by Pragmatic Play
Money Train 3
- Slot Developer: Relax Gaming
- RTP: 96.10%
- Volatility: High
- Max Win: 100,000x
- Available in casinos: Fortune Coins
The third installment in the popular Money Train tetralogy is debatably the most popular one in the series. High volatility, high max payouts, high RTP – pretty much everything about this game is within the upper margins, especially graphics and feature spins. We recommend playing it at Fortune Coins for a chance to win up to 100,000x of your wagers but make sure to demo it first with gold coins since it’s quite a complex slot.
Besides the usual wilds and respins, Money Train 3 has one unique thematic feature called the “Money Cart Round” that the SweepsKings team instantly fell for. By drawing three “Bonus” symbols, the screen changes, and brand-new symbols are introduced. The empty sockets hold instant prize rewards that can go up to 10x of your bet, but there’s a range of other “characters” that can affect them.
For instance, the “Collector” pulls all visible prizes and increases their value by the same amount;
the “Sniper” doubles the prize value of up to 8x symbols (if fewer symbols are eligible, they can be triggered more than once); the “Collector-Payer” is a duo that grabs up to 5 prize values, increases its value by the same amount, and then “updates” the prize symbols with its value. Nine additional special characters can change the rules of this bonus game, so make sure to check out the paytable.
Another special feature of Money Train 3 that our team adored is the Respin feature. Not only can you receive a free respin at any time, but a random symbol will become sticky, and drawing the targeted symbol will result in new respins.
Big Bass Bonanza
- Slot Developer: Pragmatic Play
- RTP: 96.71% RTP
- Volatility: Medium-high
- Max Win: 2,100x
- Available in casinos: WOW Vegas
Big Bass Bonanza is the progenitor of modern fish slot games, bringing tons of special features and a groovy background track to the table. Firstly, its RTP is far above the industry’s average while its volatility is below the danger zone. You can win up to 2,100x of your wagers at any time, and you can play it at WOW Vegas for free.
The main goal of this game is to collect fish, which Pragmatic calls the “money symbol”. Each fish holds a flat credit prize that can range from 2 to 2,000x of your bet. You’ll need to hit at least 3 scatters to activate the Free Spins round to catch fish, though.
Substitute (wild) symbols in Big Bass Bonanza can only appear during free spins, but on the upside, they’re collectible and will retrigger the bonus round as soon as you’ve caught 4. Moreover, whenever your free spins are retriggered, the multiplier on all “money” symbols is set to 2x, 3x, and 10x, respectively.
We recommend this game to all players since it’s a well-rounded slot with relatively simple but unique mechanics.
5 Lions Megaways
- Slot Developer: Pragmatic Play
- RTP: 96.50%
- Volatility: High
- Max Win: 5,000x
- Available in casinos: Stake.us
While most slots typically feature 10-20 paylines, 5 Lions Megaways boasts 117,649 lines that can connect your wins. Fortunately, you won’t have to memorize all of these connectors since only some of them will be active at any point. The reason why this slot is so fun is that the active paylines and symbol sizes change whenever you tap the “Spin” button.
We’ve bagged plenty of coins during the base game, but the biggest wins are only possible when three Golden Lion scatter symbols appear on your reels. When the bonus game starts, you can select between different sets of free spins with wild multiplier symbols, essentially optimizing the bonus volatility.
The main feature of 5 Lions Megaways is that its wild symbols carry random multipliers whenever they connect a winning combination. The multiplier might be a “blank” (1x), but it could also go as high as 40x no matter the game mode.
The maximum number of coins you can win in this slot is 5,000x, which shouldn’t be difficult given how generously the multipliers are raining via special features. You can play 5 Lions Megaways at Stake.us and quickly tackle the wagering requirement on your bonus funds.
3x3 Egypt Hold The Spin
- Slot Developer: Gamzix
- RTP: 96.1%
- Volatility: High
- Max Win: 1,500x
- Available in casinos: Pulsz
As its name implies, 3×3 Egypt Hold The Spin is a slot played on a 3×3 board, resembling the classic penny slot machines and fruit games.
What sets it apart from the latter is the Bonus Game, which can be triggered if you draw three Sun symbols in the middle reel. The Sun symbols that triggered the game will remain in place, and you’ll receive 3 respins to fill the board with as many Suns as possible. Each Sun holds a prize, and each subsequent Sun being drawn refills your respin meter to 3. Fill out the table, and you’ll instantly receive the top prize of 1,500x.
We dub Egypt Hold The Spin a perfect game for beginners. There aren’t too many rules you need to worry about, and it’s surprisingly addictive for such a basic slot game.
Candy Jar Clusters
- Slot Developer: Pragmatic Play
- RTP: 96.08%
- Volatility: High
- Max Win: 10,000
- Available in casinos: McLuck
Candy Jar Clusters is a popular “cluster pays” slot jam-packed with bonus features from jackpots to free spins to wilds with multipliers and beyond. Moreover, it also sports purchasable bonuses in case you’re not feeling overly lucky.
What makes this slot game so different from the ones we reviewed so far is the cascading “tumble” mechanic – winning combinations are replaced with symbols above them, and the game will keep bringing you wins as long as any clusters of at least 6 identical symbols are on the field.
Pragmatic Play is famous for its generous “hidden” mechanisms, and in Candy Jar Clusters you have a chance to score a random multiplier of up to 100x provided that a win can be achieved.
Keep collecting lucky Candy symbols through the base game, and there’s a chance that whenever a new one appears you’ll receive free spins with special modifiers. Yellow candies enhance wild symbols; red candies bring retriggers while green candies bring jackpots to the table.
Overall, Candy Jar Clusters is a perfect game to kickstart your SC rollover progress since there are so many ways to win. We also warmly recommend it to high rollers since it accepts wagers of up to 240 coins.
Gates of Olympus
- Slot Developer: Pragmatic Play
- RTP: 96.50%
- Volatility: High
- Max Win: 5,000x
- Available in casinos: Sweeptastic
Similar to Candy Jar Clusters, Gates of Olympus is a slot with a tumbling mechanism. Symbols pay when 8 or more appear anywhere on the reels, and every win will refresh the board.
The Zeus in the right corner of the screen isn’t there just for show – he will strike special green, blue, purple, and red symbols with a random multiplier (up to 500x) whenever they appear. If more than one special symbol is drawn, all will be smitten by Zeus’s lightning, and their multipliers will be summed before calculating your win.
If you manage to land four scatter symbols anywhere on the board, you’ll receive 15 free spins. The best part about this game is that the multipliers from the special symbols persist through all free spins.
The SweepsKings team had a blast testing this game, and we recommend it to all fans of feature spins slots. Its randomness and relatively complex rules might not be as beginner-friendly, but its solid RTP score makes it a good choice for virtually any kind of player.
Wanted Dead or a Wild
- Slot Developer: Hacksaw Gaming
- RTP: 96.38%
- Volatility: High
- Max Win: 12,500x
- Available in casinos: Vegas Gems
We love feature spin slots, but discovering Wanted Dead or a Wild was something else. Hacksaw launched it in 2021, and it quickly became our favorite with three unique bonus features – Duel at Dawn, Dead Man’s Hand, and the Great Train Robbery.
Let’s touch on the base game for a second. It’s played on a 5×5 grid and features 15 paylines, has standard wild symbols, and a unique “VS” symbol that is essentially a stacked wild with a random multiplier of up to 100x. Regarding the latter, a cool animation of two bandits dueling pops up when you land the “VS” symbol, each carrying a different multiplier; the duel’s “winner” will give you their multiplier after the fight is over.
Speaking of dueling dynamics, the “Duel at Dawn” feature can be triggered by drawing 3 “duel” symbols. It gives 10 free spins and greatly increases the chance of “VS” symbols appearing.
The “Dead Man’s Hand” is a “hold the win” with a twist – you can only draw wilds, multipliers, and skeletons (blanks). It’s split into two phases – during the first, you collect any wilds and multipliers that appear; during the second, your collected bonus features are instantly drawn and become sticky, after which you’ll have 3 free spins to rack up major wins.
The Great Train Robbery is a combination of the two, giving you 10 free spins with sticky wilds. Overall, it’s such a fun game with remarkable win potential that we recommend it to all sweepstakes casino players.
Viking Forge
- Slot Developer: Pragmatic Play
- RTP: 96.05%
- Volatility: High
- Max Win: 10,000x
- Available in casinos: Chanced
This slot game is a Viking-themed tumbler by Pragmatic Play. If you liked Gates of Olympus or Candy Jar Clusters, you’ll probably feel right at home with Viking Forge.
What makes it different from similar games is the Coin Collection feature. Throughout the base game and during free spins, any symbol drawn on the table can have a special coin “overlay” symbol. The coin can have a random prize reward that can range from 0.1x to 20x of your wager or a global win multiplier from 2x to 10x; make a winning combination with symbols with coin overlays, and you’ll grab their prizes in addition to regular wins.
Another thing we liked is that the more scatters you collect, the more free spins you’ll receive. Four scatters award 10 free spins; five will give you 20, and six scatters will give you 30 free spins. Once the bonus round starts, you’ll be able to retrigger free spins with only 3 scatters.
Viking Forge could be an ideal slot for tumble game enjoyers who like Gates of Olympus and similar titles but find them a bit too random and volatile.
Aladdin’s Chest
- Slot Developer: NetGame
- RTP: 96.24%
- Volatility: Medium
- Max Win: 1,250x
- Available in casinos: NoLimitCoins
Alladin’s Chest is one of our favorite Hold ‘n Link games. It’s among the few slots with special symbols that can substitute for scatters – the Key can only appear in the middle reel, but it effectively doubles as a stack of Bonus Spheres.
Speaking of which, draw at least 6 (or 3 + one Key), and you’ll activate the Hold ‘n Link round. During this round, you’ll see a treasure box in the center of the grid that will collect the prizes from all Bonus Spheres before evolving into a sticky Bonus Sphere. You will receive three refillable respins, and the counter will reset whenever a new sphere is drawn. Fill out the table, and you’ll get the Mega Jackpot. Smaller jackpots can be won even if several positions are left empty.
Additionally, Multiplier Spheres and Cash Spheres can appear during the Hold ‘n Link round, boosting all non-jackpot wins.
What we loved the most is that free spins, obtained by drawing at least three scatter symbols, change the game by enabling only major, bonus, and sphere symbols to be drawn throughout the bonus game. Should you activate the Hold ‘n Link bonus with your free spins, you’ll be rewarded with a 3x global win multiplier.
Aladdin’s Chest has some fairly specific and largely conditional rules (e.g. the key can help you launch Hold ‘n Link but won’t count as actual spheres), so we mainly recommend this game to more experienced players.
Day of Dead
- Slot Developer: Pragmatic Play
- RTP: 96.49% RTP
- Volatility: High
- Max Win: 4,500x
- Available in casinos: High 5
The first “regular” Pragmatic Play slot on our list of recommended sweepstakes casino slot games, Day of Dead has a spooky theme, “walking” wilds, scatters that can only appear on reels 1-3-5, and the buy bonus feature.
We found the “walking” wilds amazingly fun – a unique animation plays whenever a stacked wild is drawn, but besides helping you connect more wins, the stack will start “moving” to the left edge of the screen, granting you one free respin per moved reel. This feature can trigger itself, leading to a loop of free spins with stacks of substitutes!
It was somewhat disheartening to realize that scatters are rare since they can’t appear on all reels. The silver lining is that if you do manage to land three scatters, wilds become collectible and “unleashed” as walking wilds. You’re not awarded a predetermined set of free spins, instead, the game will simply continue as long as there are any walking wilds left roaming the field.
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Slots are readily available in virtually all sweepstakes casinos. When comparing the gaming libraries of different casinos, you may notice that some platforms offer barely 100 while others have over 1,000 games. All legit sweeps platforms feature numerous international titles while some sites like Stake.us also have original slots, such as Blue Samurai or Tome of Life.
The best part about sweepstakes casinos is that you can play hundreds of slots from reputable i-gaming vendors for free. However, no two platforms are the same, so we’d like to highlight a few that you may want to check out:
- WOW Vegas: boasts over 1,000 games from Pragmatic, Betsoft, Playnova, Habanero, and other popular vendors. It’s an all-rounder where you can play jackpots, classics, Megaways, feature spins, and various other slot game types.
- Stake.us – famous for its Stake originals, this casino has well over 800 slot games, scratchcards, crypto games, as well as a few live dealer games.
- Fortune Coins – one of the best sweeps casinos if you’re looking for good fish games. It offers upwards of 200+ slots across other i-gaming categories.
- Vegas Gems – home to dozens of proprietary games, Vegas Gems is also popular due to its exquisite treasure chest bonuses.
How Slots Work at Sweepstakes Casinos
Slot games at sweepstakes platforms are minimally different from slot machines you’d see in real casinos. As emulations of real slots, sweepstakes slot games usually have the same rules, graphics, and payouts, but there’s one big difference – the currencies sweepstakes casinos use.
Instead of real money, sweeps casinos use gold coins and sweepstakes coins. Gold Coins (GCs) have no monetary value and are basically your free-to-play chips; sweepstakes coins, on the other hand, can be redeemed for real money prizes once all the bonus rules have been met, but similar to GCs, they can be wagered instead of real money at sweepstakes casinos.
The basic principles of slot gameplay revolve around choosing the game, selecting your wager, and tapping the spin button. Where you’d normally insert a chip or a coin in a real slot machine, you’ll be able to instantly place virtual wagers using gold or sweeps coins at sweepstakes casinos. Whether you win or lose the spin, the difference is instantly reflected in your account balance.
How to Play Slots for Sweeps Cash Prizes
Playing slots at sweeps casinos is the easy part. Finding the right casino with good games, generous bonuses, and efficient customer support channels is difficult, but that’s what we at SweepsKings are here for.
Research sweeps casinos and use our guides to pinpoint the best offers and sweeps platforms. With that out of the way, you’ll only need to do the following to start playing slots for sweeps cash prizes:
- Register an account: tap “sign up” or “join” at your chosen sweeps platform and provide the necessary details. This will usually make you eligible for a no deposit welcome bonus unless you’re also required to verify your account via SMS/mail. We recommend verifying your account anyway since that’s a prerequisite for sweeps cash redemptions.
- Claim all bonuses you can: all sweepstakes casinos have at least a few promotions that you, as a registered player, can access. Some of them offer free participation, such as the alternative method of entry (AMOE) bonus, refer-a-friend bonus, daily refills, and more. Make sure to check out first purchase deals and reload bonuses if any are available. It’s important to note that all sweeps coins you receive will be treated as bonus funds, meaning that you’ll need to play through them at least once and have enough to request a cash prize redemption.
- Playing slots: as soon as you register, you’ll be able to access the game lobby and choose your favorite slots. Since sweepstakes casinos use a dual currency system, play using your gold coins first to demo games before using sweeps. Tapping on your account balance or wallet will usually allow you to switch between GC and SC playing modes. You are required to play eligible games using sweeps coins to make “rollover” progress. Most casinos set the minimum prize redemption limit at 50 to 100 sweepstakes coins. Use our tips to make sure you reach this target without making any purchases.
- With sufficient redeemable sweeps in your account, you can convert this currency into real money by tapping the “Redeem” button. All sweepstakes casinos require players to pass a know-your-customer check before allowing them to request sweeps redemptions. Once that is done, choose from the list of available redemption methods (e.g. credit cards, e-wallet, online banking), provide your banking details, and wait for the money to be wired to the account you nominated.
Real Money vs Sweepstakes Slots
Sweepstakes slot casinos evolved from real money casino alternatives to full-fledged i-gaming platforms coveted for their unique games and widespread availability.
While real money gambling is only legal in six US states (Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia), sweeps casinos are available in virtually all states and enable slot enjoyers to play their favorite games.
Moreover, gaming at sweeps platforms is free – they’re required by law to ensure no real-money purchases are necessary, so you’ll be given at least some free currency to use on slots and other available games.
Even though many bonuses at sweepstakes casinos are free, they’re rarely as big as promos at real money casinos. Namely, sweeps platforms can’t give deposit match bonuses, which can rack upward of $10,000 in bonus funds on the leading welcome bonus packages, so you’ll typically be looking at no deposit bonuses of up to $5-10.
Another major advantage of real money casinos is sky-high progressive jackpot networks. These jackpots at a real money casino are massive, often eclipsing six-digit numbers. Some sweepstakes casinos like McLuck offer something similar, but these jackpot prizes can’t compare to real money venues.
Our Tips: 10 Do’s and Don’ts at Sweepstakes Slots
Dos:
- Register at as many legit sweepstakes casinos to grab as many bonuses as you can. Making an account is free, and each platform has a different selection of slots.
- Use gold coins to demo slots you’re unfamiliar with, test your strategies, and play for fun.
- Check out as many slots with RTP scores over 96%, and play them using sweeps coins to reach the rollover target while mitigating risk.
- When playing for sweeps prizes, prioritize games from verified, licensed i-gaming developers like Betsoft, NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, BGaming, and Wazdan.
- Always check the bonus rules of your chosen sweeps casino. This will allow you to create a better slot gaming strategy and maximize your chances of cashing a prize.
Don’ts:
- Avoid playing slots at any sweepstakes casino that asks you to make a purchase. They are required by law to ensure players can enjoy slots for free.
- Some sweeps platforms have rigged or pirated slots. Check out our blacklist and thoroughly research the site you’re about to register with before playing.
- Don’t instantly play for sweeps just because you’re feeling lucky. Sweepstakes coins are hard to come by, so only use them once you thoroughly comprehend the chosen slot’s rules, features, and payouts.
- Don’t be intimidated by more complex slots like Megaways and Feature Spins. They may not be as simple as classic slots, but they usually offer exceptional max wins.
- Never tap the “Spin” button at your chosen slot before checking your wager size.
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When you play at sweepstakes casinos, you’re given free currency to play slots that are identical to the games in real online casinos and have a chance of redeeming your hard-earned sweeps for real cash.
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned player looking for the best sweeps casinos, games, and bonuses, we’ve got your back. Check out our list of the top sweepstakes casinos and use our exclusive codes and links to kickstart your sweeps slot gaming journey!
Author: Mike F.
Updated:
Mike is SweepsKings’ SEO wizard and uses his skills to produce content that answers questions you haven’t even thought of yet! He personally fact-checks all articles posted on SweepsKings and leverages his vast iGaming marketing experience to keep the site feeling fresh.
Mike is SweepsKings’ SEO wizard and uses his skills to produce content that answers questions you haven’t even thought of yet! He personally fact-checks all articles posted on SweepsKings and leverages his vast iGaming marketing experience to keep the site feeling fresh.
