A potted history of the online casino sector could be summed up like this: In the 1990s, like the rest of the pioneers of the net, the goal was to program the first casino games and software, and launch the games on static websites. By the late 2000s, there was the shift to mobile, optimizing games for newly launched technology like the iPhone. The 2010s saw a big shift, incorporating live dealer games into the platforms. This meant that you could access real games with real dealers, cards, dice etc. It was a huge triumph, and it was arguably the point where the online casino sector reached its ultimate goal – offering everything that you could in a ‘real’ physical casino.
Yet, it is interesting that the innovation didn’t stop there, and the sector posed itself a different question: “What if we could offer experiences not possible in physical casinos?” That goal was arguably met with the introduction of live casino game shows, a whole new experience that upended what we would consider as a casino game. They first appeared in the late 2010s, but they have really taken hold now in the mid-2020s, creating a whole new genre of casino game.
So, what’s the fuss all about? Well, for a start, game shows don’t really look like typical casino games. The moniker, ‘game shows’, feels quite apt, because they look more like television game shows than casino games. Indeed, the croupier basically acts as a game show host.
Examples of Live Casino Game Shows
Highly popular game shows include Crazy Time and Adventures Beyond Wonderland. You can find these games at DraftKings Casino by clicking here. The games take place in a studio, designed in a theatrical manner. You can picture what we mean by looking at Adventures Beyond Wonderland, which is based on Lewis Carroll’s surreal novels.
The games include basic play, placing bets on a spinning wheel, but they will also incorporate fascinating bonus games. The prizes can be massive, much greater than, say, roulette or blackjack, though the games can be considered a bit more volatile.
The Key to Live Game Show Popularity
Arguably, the main reason these games have taken off is that they are undeniably more social than regular casino games. Beyond the hosts being good-natured and fun, calling the action rather than acting as dealers, there is a sense among players that they are winning and losing together. The games are also less repetitive than most traditional casino games. A lot can happen in those bonus features in games like Crazy Time and Adventures Beyond Wonderland.
How to Play the Live Game Shows
Each game is different, but there can be a similar structure to some of the popular ones. Basically, you place bets on the outcome of a wheel-of-fortune-style spinning wheel (some games won’t use a wheel, but many do). You can place bets for small wins, such as multiplying your win by 2X or 5X, but you can also place bets on the bonus features, which, when triggered, are the keys to the big prizes. The bonus games can be massively different, sometimes playing out on huge 3D game boards.
Live Game Shows: The Future
This genre of gaming is definitely sticking around – the games are too popular to ignore – but we also see them evolving. A lot of talk has been going around for years now that online casinos will soon adopt AR/VR. We don’t know when that will happen, but we can say with certainty that live game shows represent the most suitable genre of casino game to match up with the AR/VR experience. For now, expect to see more new concepts added to the lineup.