In its many kinds, social casino gaming has turned out to be a tremendous experience. Punters from every part of the world who enjoy playing free slot games for fun have taken to it, catching the attention of not only operators but also software providers. How do we define social gaming, and what are its expectations and challenges? Keep reading to find out more about this new way of enjoying casino games online.

What are Social Games?

The name says it all. Social casino gaming is a kind of gaming that takes place over social channels, and there’s no wagering of real money. Its main objective is to establish the spirit of togetherness with the other punters who usually are family and friends.

While this is a relatively new trend in the gaming industry, its popularity has grown pretty fast on social media platforms such as Facebook, and the market for such entertainment is getting even bigger. Some of the most popular social casino games include the likes of:

• Slots Farm
• Jackpotjoy Slots
• High 5 Casino
• MyVegas Slots
• Zynga Poker

How Do the Social Casino Games Work?

Essentially, these games are free-play editions of the games you’ll see at online casino sites. The games are currently popular because they offer players a chance to enjoy Macau style entertainment via social media and the user experience and gameplay is usually as good as that of fully-fledged online casino games from the likes of Net Entertainment and Microgaming. The most defining characteristics of social casino games are as follows:

Bonuses and Promotions

To make sure that players keep coming back for more, social casino games usually offer players free bonus chips or spins every day. As soon as you finish your daily bonus, you can’t continue playing until you pay for more virtual currencies that are used to play those games.

The Social Factor

Back to the social backbone of these types of games, they are built on the connections that players usually have on social media. For the case of Facebook, for instance, you can ask for tokens from your friends or send gaming tokens to those who don’t have. Some games can also allow you to watch your friends play in real-time.

Tournaments and Challenges

Another of the biggest attributes of online social games that inspire players to keep playing is the competitive factor. You’ll find leaderboards that feature players with the highest points and the player rankings keep changing as the tournament participants keep beating each other. Moreover, the games also come with some pretty interesting challenges that will earn you some tokens so that you can keep playing.

Social Vs Traditional Casino Games

The biggest difference between the long-established casino games and social games comes down to two main aspects; the way money is spent in the game and the intention of playing. In the traditional casino games such as roulette, slots, poker, or blackjack, you get to make real money bets with a primary objective of winning real money.

For social casino games, on the other hand, players just play for fun, and there’s no option to withdraw or even convert the virtual tokens to real money, even in circumstances where you used real money for in-game acquisitions like extra tokens and chips. With social games, it’s all about playing for fun and, above all, socializing. There’s no valuable prize to look forward to. When you hit a win, you’ll be awarded extra chips or spins to play, but that’s as far as the excitement of the rewards goes.

Monetization of Social Casino Games

The software companies that create social casino games get to monetize them via direct in-app purchases and the controversial loot boxes. Loads of games offer players a limited number of tokens to create an opportunity for upselling. For instance, players can be offered the option to pay $15 for 200 chips but if you spend $5 more, you get a comparatively higher number of chips, say $20 for 300 chips.

This model sometimes turns the free-to-play games into pay-to-play games, only that there’s no real-world benefit of spending the money other than offering you loads of fun.

Final Thoughts

For fans of the online casino style of gaming, the social casino games will offer an incredible opportunity to enjoy the adrenaline rush of the games without breaking the bank. Better yet, unlike real money online casino games, software developers of the social gaming titles often have the leeway to explore new concepts for offering a richer experience without facing lots of regulatory constraints. If you have never had a taste of social casino games, this is a gaming vertical you should try out especially if you are looking for exciting games that will help you wind down after a long day.