WMS Review
By Alex Smith Oct 11, 2024
Verdict
WMS - one of the world’s largest online gambling game creators - have a steep history in the gambling sphere, and their roots date back to 1943, when they were first founded under the “Williams Manufacturing Company” name.
Known today as either WMS, or Williams Interactive, WMS began their career creating video poker games for land-based casinos, and 1991 saw them release their first virtual lottery machine (the first at the time, too) to US casinos, allowing players to experience interactive gameplay for the first time.
1996 was the year that saw WMS launch its first slot game - Reel ‘em In - and since this initial release, the game developer has grown in leaps and bounds, developing a portfolio of titles that are enjoyed by millions of players around the world, each year.
While WMS have been slow to adapt to the online scene, many of their games are now available in HTML5 (ensuring full mobile compatibility), and their new releases tend to operate on substantially more-stable frameworks than their early games.
Software Platform
WMS’ games are all available to play through what’s known as an ‘Instant Play’ format, and this means you don’t need to download any software, or install any plugins.
While not all of their game range is built using, or ported over to HTML5, around 60% of their titles can be played on mobile devices, and those that can’t - currently - will likely see updates made relatively soon.
Games
While WMS have developed a host of games, spanning multiple game-categories, below, we’re going to look at 10 of their most popular video slot releases.
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Montezuma: Montezuma is one of the game developer’s most successful titles, available to both on, and offline players, and the success behind the slot largely comes from the generous free-spins feature, which comes with an unlimited re-trigger, and a multiplier, which can see wins multiplier by up to 10X.
Ruby Red Slippers: Another popular game, Ruby Red Slippers uses an older game engine than Montezuma, but despite this, it continues to be one of the developer’s most-played slots, and 3 exciting features can trigger on any spin, with real audio and visual clips from the Wizard of Oz movies! There’s also an in-game randomly-triggered feature, which sees Dorothy turn between one, and five reels wild - and wins are then multiplied by either 2X, 5X, or 10X!
Raging Rhino: Possibly the developer’s most popular release in history, Raging Rhino was one of the first slots to feature a ‘Bonus Guarantee’ - a minimum amount you’re guaranteed to win from the bonus… and while it comes in more than some players would like, the win-potential within the slot is huge, thanks to the 2X and 3X multipliers present during the free-spins round.
Amazon Queen: Another of WMS’ slots to still use one of their older game frameworks, Amazon Queen has long been a popular hit with players, thanks to the exciting free-spins feature which is triggered by landing 3, 4, or 5 of the scatter symbols anywhere in view. During the feature, the highest-paying symbol - the Gorilla - pays both left-to-right, and right-to-left - and there’s HUGE win-potential for matching even 4-of-a-kind of the symbol!
Black Knight 2: A follow-on game to the already successful ‘Black Knight’, Black Knight 2 is another of WMS’ most notable releases, again, thanks to the bonus round found within. Triggered by landing 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols on consecutive reels from left-to-right, the bonus can see the middle three reels turn fully-wild… and STAY fully-wild… leading to fantastic wins.
Bruce Lee: There’s few souls on earth who haven’t heard the name Bruce Lee… and while you may not have necessarily seen the movies, you can almost certainly picture the martial arts ‘god’ in your head. WMS’ slot of the same name may not be quite as famous as the man himself - but amongst slot enthusiasts, it’s become a popular game of choice, thanks to the two exciting bonuses, which see wild reels added, and up to 20 free-spins awarded.
Kiss: Shout It Out Loud!: One of the few WMS games to feature a branded-theme, Kiss: Shout It Out! Is a game based - unsurprisingly - around the band of the same name, and while it’s essentially a clone of another WMS title - Spartacus - the rock-inspired slot offers ferocious gaming, thanks to the background soundtrack, and the bonus round - while hard to land - can often prove lucrative, too.
The Wizard of Oz: Road to Emerald City: Capitalizing on the popularity of their other Wizard of Oz slots, WMS chose to release another title in the series - The Wizard of Oz: Road to Emerald City - and while the game has yet to see the same levels of success as the earlier releases, many players find it more exciting, given the 6 bonuses which can trigger on any spin.
Zeus III: Regarded by many players as one of WMS’ ‘best games’, Zeus III is a follow-on from the original Zeus, and the game features a highly-unique layout, with reels increasing in size as you move from the left-hand-side to the right-hand-side. The bonus - while hard to trigger - is capable of paying 1,000X + wins fairly easily, and expanding wilds help to nudge those big wins along.
Bier Haus: Bier Haus is a 40-payline slot from WMS, and while it’s not one of their most well-known releases, again, slot enthusiasts generally rate it highly, and that’s large-in-part down to the way in which the bonus can trigger. It’s possible to win anywhere from 5, to 50 free-spins initially - and if the feature is triggered by any of the pink scatter symbols, they’ll transform into wilds, and lock in place for the duration of the bonus!
While WMS’ games may not look as up-to-date as some other game developers around, the care and attention that goes into making their games is clear, and their slots are capable of paying GIGANTIC wins, far-greater than that offered by most providers.
In 2013, WMS became a wholly owned subsidiary of Scientific Games.
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Pros
Games tend to have much higher maximum-wins than slots from other developers.
Slots are almost ALWAYS unique - clones and re-skins of old games are very rare from WMS
Staking-options are diverse, and many slots can be spun from as little as £0.15.
Cons
Players in the UK are currently unable to use the ‘Autoplay’ function on WMS slots due to licensing complications.
The mobile-optimization of their games is poor.
Some of their games look very dated, and haven’t quite ‘caught up’ with the look and feel we see in most of today’s video slots.
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