Although ice hockey is not a super popular sport in Australia, the same cannot be said for hockey-themed games, which make up a large share of sports-inspired slots on Australian-friendly gambling platforms.
What makes hockey slots favored among Aussies are high-quality graphics, innovative game features, and new technology, which, when combined, elevate the gaming experience to a higher level.
With that in mind, check out our guide to find out which hockey-inspired slots you’ll most often find on the Australian online casino platforms and why you should give them a go.
What Are Hockey-Themed Slot Games?
These are 5 to 6-reel pokies whose main theme is hockey. In other words, once you spin the reel, you’ll be drawn into the rink, whose atmosphere will be enriched with sizzling sounds of skates and cheering fans. As for the symbols on the spins, they will contain hockey-related motifs, such as skates, pucks, twigs, and hockey helmets.
The graphics of hockey pokies are at a high level as they are powered by well-known names in the iGaming world, such as Pragmatic Play, Microgaming, and Playtech. That said, here’s our list of the most popular hockey-themed slots.
The Ideal Hockey-Themed Slots To Try Out This Year
There are many pokies whose themes are inspired by ice hockey. However, if we have to single them out, we’ll give priority to games provided by prominent software developers, such as the above-mentioned Pragmatic Play, Microgaming, and Playtech.
We must also add providers like Inspired Gaming, Push Gaming, and Wizard Games since they, too, deliver high-quality titles. Here’s what makes their games impressive.
Hockey League by Pragmatic Play
Pragmatic Play is a renowned game developer that offers a large number of sports-related slots, including hockey pokies. That said, the Hockey League is a medium volatile 5-reel slot with an RTP of 94.11%. The game was released in 2015, and it features 20 paylines, substituting wilds, scatters, and free spins.
Regarding the visual design, this game captures the aesthetics of the hockey arena using simple graphics and sound effects of cheering crowds. The bets range from AU$0.2 to AU$100, which makes it suitable for both beginners and high rollers.
Hockey League Wild Match by Pragmatic Play
Hockey League Wild Match is a sequel to Hockey League, which was released in 2016. The design of the game is almost identical to its predecessor, although the spinning of the reels is much smoother on Hockey League Wild Match.
However, unlike the Hockey League, this 5-reel pokie has a smaller number of paylines, i.e., 9, as well as a lower betting range – between AU$0.09 and AU$45 per spin. In terms of RTP and game features, Hockey League Wild Match offers better conditions to players. Its RTP stands at 96.52%, while in-game features include free spins with tripled payouts.
Hockey Bonanza by Pragmatic Play
Hockey Bonanza is the latest Pragmatic Play title that saw the light of day in 2023. This highly volatile game has six reels and five rows, and what makes it unique is its Pay Anywhere mechanic. Namely, players can win by matching 8 to 12 symbols anywhere on the grid.
Betting options on this game range from AU$0.20 to AU$100, and there’s a Bet Double option, which can boost the bets by 25%. Players can win 5,000x their stake, while the main features of Hockey Bonanza include free spins and multipliers. This game has an RTP of 96.5%, which is above the industry standard.
Break Away by Microgaming
Microgaming is one of the pioneers in the iGaming scene. It is known for its high-quality branded slots audited by eCOGRA. In 2012, Microgaming released its first hockey-inspired slot game, Break Away, which quickly became one of the most popular pokies in Australian-friendly casinos thanks to its large number of paylines and high RTP.
Break Away is a medium volatile 5-reel slot with 243 paylines and an RTP of 96.42%. The bets on this game range from a minimum of AU$0.50 to a maximum of AU$50 per spin, while its main features include Rolling Reels, Smashing Wilds, and free spins.
Jagr’s Super Slot by Inspired Gaming
Jagr’s Super Slot by Inspired Gaming is a 6-reel 4-row slot game that has 4096 paylines and an RTP of 95.91%. This is a medium to high volatility pokie that builds its atmosphere on suspense. Its sound design doesn’t incorporate cheering noise but music that the players can control by clicking on the spin button.
Hockey fans will be familiar with the theme behind this game, as it’s based on Jaromír Jágr, a Czech hockey player who is also one of the best scorers in the history of the NHL. Bets on Jagr’s Super Slot range between AU$0.20 and AU$40 per spin, and its main features include wilds, scatters, free spins, and mini-games.
Hockey Hero by Push Gaming
Push Gaming is a UK software provider known for slot games that incorporate symbols with multipliers. One of their most popular hockey-inspired games is Hockey Hero, a graphically impressive 5-reel slot that was released in 2016.
What makes this pokie popular among players are its innovative features that include re-spins and free spins that can be doubled, tripled, and quadrupled through multipliers. This med-high variance slot has 40 paylines, its bets range from AU$0.40 to AU$100 per spin, and its RTP stands at 96.60%.
Ice Ice Hockey by Wizard Games
Ice Ice Hockey is a medium to high 5-reel 4-row slot game that came out from the Wizard Games studio in 2022. This pokie has 40 paylines and an RTP of 96.60%, while its bets range from AU$0.40 to AU$40.
What makes Ice Ice hockey worth your time are features like sticky wilds, free spins, and multipliers, as well as its high-quality graphics. In addition to that, players from Australia will be able to use the Buy Feature to get additional free spins, while maximum wins go up to 17,916x the wager.
Ice Hockey by Playtech
Playtech is an iGaming giant that has created a 5-reel hockey-based slot game that will bring players the closest to the atmosphere of a real hockey match. On that note, players will get to choose two teams that will face each other on the rink.
The group of teams includes Finland, Sweden, the US, Canada, Russia, Germany, and the Czech Republic. This means that the symbols for each nation will be different, which shows that Playtech gives great importance to details.
Ice Hockey has 15 paylines and an RTP of 95.26%, while its betting range goes from AU$£0.01 to AU$15. The main features of this game include free spins, wilds, scatters, and mini-games.
Main Features of Hockey-Inspired Slots and Where to Play Them
As you can see from our recommendations above, hockey-inspired slots incorporate features like wilds, scatters, free spins, mini-games, re-spins, and multipliers. Their RTP ranges between 94.11% and 96.53%, which is on par with the standard. On the other hand, their paylines usually range from 9 to 243, although you’ll find titles that have 4096 paylines, such as Jagr’s Super Slot.
Another thing that makes hockey-based pokies stand out is their medium to high volatility, which means that they have high payouts. This is probably one of the biggest advantages of playing online slots.
When it comes to betting options, they vary from a minimum of AU$£0.01 to a maximum of AU$100, depending on the game provider.
That said, players from the Land Down Under will be able to play hockey-based pokies in both free-to-play and real-money modes on almost all Australia-friendly online gambling platforms.
Skate To Where The Puck Is Going To Be
As you can see, the influence of hockey on the design of online slot games is very strong. The best example of their popularity lies in the fact that many well-known software developers, like Pragmatic Play, have created a large number of hockey-inspired pokies.
What sets these types of games apart are innovative mechanics, such as the Pay Anywhere system, high RTPs, and medium to high volatility. What’s best is that hockey slots are suitable for both beginners and experienced players since their betting options range from AU$0.01 to AU$100 per spin.
On top of that, you’ll find games with paylines that go up to 4,096, and max wins that go up to 17,916 times the stake. However, you should know that hockey-inspired slots rarely incorporate progressive jackpots.
If you want to play hockey-based slots, we suggest you try your luck on one of the titles recommended above.
