When people think about the best online pokies, they usually think about NetEnt or Microgaming. There are, however, well over one hundred online slot manufacturers available, and if you concentrate purely on NetEnt or Microgaming pokies, then you are going to miss out on some great games – that much is guaranteed!
One of the best ‘second tier’ pokie providers is Aristocrat, a company that began life over sixty years ago in Australia. Since its founding, Aristocrat has expanded and expanded and can now be founded in both real-world and online casino, slots and bingo sites all over the globe.
If you keep on reading this article you will discover the rich history of this hugely successful company, find out about many of the very best online pokies that Aristocrat has to offer, and most importantly of all you’ll learn where you can play Aristocrat pokies for real money or for fun at the top online casinos in Australia.
Aristocrat – a genuine Australian success story
Aristocrat came into being in 1953, founded by Len Ainsworth (now the head of one of Aristocrat’s sister companies, Ainsworth, one of the richest men in Australia and a well-known philanthropist who has donated millions to charitable good causes) in Sydney. At the time, there were strong rumours that New South Wales were about to legalise online slots or poker machines, which has previously been banned.
Ainsworth ‘gambled’ by creating a company in New South Wales that was locked and loaded to produce poker machines as soon as the ban was lifted. When New South Wales legalised online poker machines in 1956, Aristocrat began to release their machines onto the market.
Aristocrat soon became incredibly successful, and they expanded into Europe. Last Vegas casinos soon heard of this new-ish company and demanded Aristocrat send machines for use in their clubs. It heralded a new dawn of success for the Oz company.
Aristocrat is credited with creating the globe’s first five-reel slot
Most modern online casinos now have pokies with five-reel configurations – indeed it is the most common format seen with online pokies. Aristrocrat claim that they were the originators of the five-reel slot, which they released in the 1970s. They also released their first all-electronic game in 1979, which was called ‘Wild West’.
In the 1980s Aristocrat opened an office in London and began to market their slots even more aggressively with huge amounts of success all over the world, and particularly in Las Vegas. In 1996 they were listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
By the 2000s Aristrocrat had become a major player online too, with countless classic online pokie titles, some of which are reviewed later on in this article.
To this very day Aristocrat remains based near Sydney (in a town called North Ryde) in New South Wales. The company also has major offices in Seattle and Oakland in the United States.
A quick overview of some of Aristocrat’s most popular pokies
Since creating its first online pokie, Aristrocrat has created around forty online pokie titles, which can be found in over one hundred online casino, slots and bingo sites all around the globe. Here are details about a few of the most popular slots that this Oz-based company has created.
Dragon Lines
Dragon Lines is a 50-pay line 5-reel slot with free spins, scatter symbols and wilds. This is an online rendition of one of Aristrocrat’s most popular real-world pokie titles. It, like many of Aristocrat’s leading pokies, has a distinctly Asian feel.
The reels all contain aspects of mystical Asian life including firecrackers, ingots, lanterns, drums and gold coins. The reels are completed with the standard playing card values, this time from nine through to ace.
The ying-yang symbol acts as the scatter symbol in this game. You only need to land three scatters anywhere to win double your stake as a reward. If you land four you’ll gain ten times your stake and five will win a massive one hundred times your bet. With five, you’ll also trigger the free games feature.
You will initially be awarded ten free spins when you enter your freebies, and you will also get a new set of reels with greater benefits. If you manage to land scatters (three or more) during your bonus spins you are awarded a further five free spins.
Choy Sun Doa
Aristocrat obviously know a good theme when they see one as Choy Sun Doa is another of their online slots based on Chinese mythology. ‘Choy Syn Doa’ translates (roughly) as ‘God of Wealth’, and this slot is an online rendition of one of Aristocrat’s most popular real-world video slot titles.
This game has five reels and 243 ways to win, which means that all possible pay lines across the five reels are in play at all times. The symbols are all what you would expect them to be – Chinese themed with playing card values too.
The main feature of this online slot revolves around the ‘gold nugget’ symbol with appears on the middle three reels. If you finish a spin with a gold nugget on each of the middle three reels in any position, then you trigger the free spins feature.
You have five choices when it comes to free spins. You can choose a low number of spins with high multipliers, or a high number of spins with low multipliers. The maximum number of spins you can receive is twenty.
50 Dragons
Aristocrat sure do love their dragons, don’t they? Here is another dragon-themed game with five reels and four rows. This slot is simply a rendition of another popular Aristocrat slot which is known as 50 Lions.
There may be 50 Dragons in this game, but the one that really counts is the Golden Dragon. This symbol, if you land it on one of your pay lines, will set the dragon roaring and your slots balance spiralling upwards. There’s also the ‘pearl’ icon which is wild and substitutes all other symbols. It appears on all reels aside from the first.
The ‘gold ingot’ symbol is a scatter symbol in this game, and if you land three of them on each of the first three reels on the same spin you trigger the free spins bonus round. This is a bonus game that awards you ten free spins with stacked symbols include the wild symbols. Big wins are more likely during the free spins round.
Miss Kitty
Miss Kitty, by Aristocrat is for many the purr-fect online slots game. Miss Kitty herself may look like a refined pussy, but in reality she is something of a wild cat as she’s a wild symbol on reels two, three, four and five. She substitutes for all other symbols aside from the moon scatter symbol, and she can lead to some big wins! Miaow!
The moon scatter symbol triggers the bonus game if you land three symbols on the first three symbols, one symbol per reel. Miss Kitty now really gets her claws into this game as she becomes a sticky wild. If you land her during your ten free spins she stays in place until the free spins are concluded. You can win up to another five spins during the bonus game and if you do, you will really ramp up the rewards.
In total, Miss Kitty has 50 pay lines and an impressive return-to-player of 94.76%. It’s no wonder that Miss Kitty has become one of Aristocrats most popular online video slots.
Red Baron
The ‘Red Baron’ was the nickname given to Manfred von Richthofen during the First World War. He was considered to be the greatest fighter pilot of the conflict and claimed around 80 air combat wins during his time in the air. His winning run came to an end on 21 April 1918 when he was shot down and killed over France. His airborne prowess is commemorated in many ways, including the slots from Aristocrat that bears his nickname.
The Red Baron slot has five reels and the maximum of 243 pay lines. There are several types of bonus round all triggered by different combinations on the reels. For example, if you land the iron cross on the middle reel it transforms into a wild symbol and a bonus round is triggered where your total pay-out may be multiplied by up to 8x.
Another bonus is activated when a player lands three or more target icons on the reels, albeit in the middle three positions only. The player will receive fifteen free spins where they have to guess how many target symbols will appear during the spins. If they guess correctly they could win a multiplier up to 140x.
Other popular Aristocrat slots:
- Red Baron
- Lucky 88
- Big Ben
- Queen of the Nile (and Queen of the Nile II)
- Where’s The … GOLD
- Zorro
- Pompeii
- 50 Lions
- Buffalo
- Tiki Torch
- Pelican Pete
- Big Red
- Sun and Moon
- 5 Dragons
- Wild Panda
- Dolphin Treasure
- More Chilli
- Imperial House
- More Hearts.
Top Aristocrat Online Pokies
| Pokie | RTP | Jackpot | Overview | Demo |
| Red Baron | 95.70% | No | This is a 5 reels and 3 rows pokie with a huge 243 paylines. The game is based on a famous war hero with the same name. The pokie is full of wild and scatters symbols that can increase your payout. The game also has free games along with several multipliers that can increase to a large 140 x your bet amount. | Yes |
| Miss Kitty | 94.94% | No | This is a 5 reels and 4 rows pokie game that is based on cats. It has a wild as well as a scatter symbol. The medium variance pokie is for people who want a fun game of pokie. The game also has a bonus and free spin round. | Yes |
| Zorro | 95.44% | No | The Zorro pokie is based on the popular movie the Legend of Zorro that features a fearless sword fighter. The 5 reels and 3 rows pokie has 25 paylines and is a medium volatility game. It has lots of special rounds like the Zorro Bonus Tornado, Zorro Bonus, Gold Coins, Wild Z, Zorro Bonus barrels, etc. | Yes |
| Dragon Emperor | 95.19% | No | The 5 reels and 3 rows pokie are based on Dragons and have an oriental theme. It also has a huge 243 paylines and a medium volatility rate. The game is loaded with wild symbols, scatter symbols, as well as free games, and a new reel shuffle feature. | Yes |
| Lucky 88 | 95.60% | No | The Lucky 88 is a 5 reels pokie game with 3 rows and 25 paylines. It is a medium volatility pokie and has a wild symbol and a balloon scatter symbol. This is an oriental-themed pokie so there are lots of oriental symbols like golden statues. There are lots of special features like free games, extra choice, Dice feature, and Roll you’re lucky dice feature. | Yes |
| Big Ben | 95.55% | No | This 5 reels and 3 rows pokie is based on the Big Ben tower in London. It has 25 paylines and is a medium volatility game. There are lots of wild symbols, scatter symbols, and multipliers to increase your wins. You will also find several special features like the Free games feature and Big Ben feature in the game. | Yes |
Where to play Aristocrat pokies at online casinos in Australia?
Despite Aristrocrat originating as an Australian company, there are only a few real money casinos in Australia where you can play Aristocrat pokies. This is mainly down to licensing, as online casinos tend to need licensing from Curacao if they hope to be able to accept registrations from Australia based players. Here is a quick run-down of a few of them.
FAQs
What are the most popular pokies by Aristocrat?
Red Baron, Miss Kitty, Zorro, Dragon Emperor, Big Ben, Lucky 88, Choy Sun Doa, Where’s The Gold, Werewolf Wild, and Sons of Anarchy.
Do the pokies by Aristocrat offer bonuses?
Yes, the pokies by Aristocrat offer lots of special bonuses and multiple special rounds. Aristocrat always develops pokie games with several features like wild symbols, scatter symbols, and lots of multipliers that can multiply your wins. Moreover, you will also get many bonus offers in the online casinos if you play pokies by Aristocrat.
Are there jackpots in Aristocrat pokies?
Yes, many Aristocrat pokie machines have lots of progressive jackpots.
How many Aristocrat pokies are available?
There are around 60 Aristocrat pokies.
Conclusion
Despite their long history of creating real world slots in Australia, Las Vegas and beyond, Aristocrat have never really taken the online world by storm. There’s nothing wrong with them, but the company’s titles simply are not as numerous as those created by Microgaming, and not as flashy as those created by NetEnt.
There are plenty of casino players who adore Aristocrat’s online slots, and if you are one of them, then we hope you’ve found this guide to playing Aristocrat pokies for free and real money at the top Australian online casinos useful.