Ainsworth Casinos
Ainsworth is a gaming developer based out of Australia, and while the company is perhaps better known for their gaming cabinets and slot machines found within land-based casinos, their online presence has become more dominant, especially in the last few years as the company pushed towards attracting players on mobile devices.
Since the company was founded in 1995, it has grown exponentially, and today holds offices in Las Vegas, Florida, Crawley and even in Asia. Recent partnerships with some of the world’s biggest software providers, like Playtech, Microgaming, and iSoftBet ensure Ainsworth have a global distribution network, and their games can be found at many of the major online casinos around today.
Best UK Ainsworth Casinos & Bonuses
Slots
Ainsworth may not benefit from the number of instantly-recognisable titles that some of the more player facing game developers boast, like NetEntertainment and Microgaming, but many of their games are recognisable and played by loyal players, and in the following section we are going to look at some of the most popular Ainsworth games available, alongside the technology used to deliver the games.
Ainsworth boast a relatively large selection of video slots, and this is the area in which the company has focused on most. While the technology behind their slots isn’t anything incredibly revolutionary, the slots are seen by many players as incredibly solid and reliable, and, thanks to the company’s long history in creating slot machines for land-based casinos, they know a thing or two about what players want to see.
Thunder Cash
One of their most popular slot games which is available online today, is Thunder Cash, and this game combines elements of Greek mythology with modernised video slot design, resulting in an exciting fast paced gaming experience. You will be fighting against Zeus – the Almighty Greek God – as you try to enter the free spins round, where you have a chance of winning up to 3000X your stake.
Sheer Magic
Another popular slot from Ainsworth is Sheer Magic, and this intuitive game centres around the life of a stage magician, who – as the stereotype would dictate – is rarely seen without his famous white gloves and magician’s hat. The free spins round inside Sheer Magic has become somewhat legendary with players, as it is possible to continue re-triggering the spins indefinitely, with some players reporting bonuses of up to 300 and even 400 spins.
50 Dolphins
50 Dolphins is yet another popular Ainsworth slot, and as the name would suggest, this aquatic themed game places you in the trenches of the world’s oceans, and also introduces stacked reels – something we’ve seen become more commonplace in slots today. 50 dolphins is perhaps notable due to Ainsworth’s graphical and animation work, and indeed, it’s one of the first games from the software provider to feature symbol animations that go beyond the abilities of most games; while it may sound like a relatively small thing to note, the design team have worked hard to immerse players into the game, and whether it’s the free spins bonus, or the big win animations, gameplay is diverse and exciting at all times.
Table Games
As a company, Ainsworth focus their time primarily on creating video slots and this has left somewhat of a gap in terms of their casino game offerings. However, to the surprise of some players they do actually offer a variety of casino table games, although it’s worth noting that the majority of the time, these will be distributed under the NYX brand – the current owner of Ainsworth.
In the next section, we’re going to look at a few of the table games either developed by Ainsworth, or created in partnership with them.
Roulette
Roulette has become somewhat of a staple game in any software providers collection, and Ainsworth are no different. While they haven’t shown the originality that’s come from some software providers, in terms of redefining the Roulette game, Ainsworth can be credited with creating a number of high-quality and enjoyable Roulette games, perhaps most notably the standardised European Roulette variation that is aptly titled – Roulette.
Interestingly, while Ainsworth have created a French and European Roulette game, they are yet to release an American variation, which is surprising as the American Roulette game offers a significantly higher house edge, and as a much more profitable game for the casinos than European or French games.
There aren’t really any unique or exciting Roulette games to come from the Ainsworth development Labs, and unfortunately, you won’t find any multi-wheel Roulette or anything like that – their game variations are largely stake based, which means that they often release a few different versions of each game, simply with different betting limits available on each game. This ensures that players on different types of budgets can take advantage of the games on offer, and doesn’t restrict – for example – low staking players from spinning the wheel.
Perhaps in the future we will see more creativity come from the Ainsworth team in terms of their Roulette games, but for now, it’s likely that they will continue to shift their efforts onto their video slot development, particularly as the mobile gaming market grows.
Blackjack
Much like their Roulette games, Ainsworth’s Blackjack titles are also somewhat lacking, and again are usually seen published under the NYX brand. The Blackjack games offered by Ainsworth, or developed in partnership with them, are relatively simple and follow standardised Blackjack rules – this generally means that the dealer will hit soft 17’s, and deal themselves both cards before the players have a chance to make their action.
Unfortunately, you won’t find any side bet games here, and Blackjack really is the one area that Ainsworth appear to neglect, with the software provider offering only around three titles – all of which are just standard Blackjack games with subtle and minor graphical and stake differences.
Video Poker
While Ainsworth are relatively well-known for their Video Poker games within land-based casinos, they have yet to make the transition to take these games online, and relatively little is known about the current status of whether they plan on doing so or not.
Many players assume that just because a game exists in a land-based casino, it can easily be transferred to online casinos simply by using the same code. This is untrue, however, and games (for the most part) need to be made from scratch, due to the complexities involved with Internet gaming, alongside the phasing out of flash, and the inclusion of HTML5, which is the new standard for online gambling.
It’s certainly a shame to see a company like Ainsworth have such a small range of Roulette, Blackjack, and Video Poker titles (with the latter being non-existent), but this may change in the future so be sure to keep an eye out for updates from the company.
Jackpot Games
Ainsworth offer a number of progressive jackpot games in land based casinos around the world. But again, like Video Poker, these games have yet to make their way to the online casino platforms. This is somewhat surprising, given that Ainsworth are a prominent name in the online video slot development world, and quite why they decided not to migrate their progressive jackpot games to online casino platforms remains to be seen – although given the popularity of jackpot slots today, it’s very likely that we will see this change in the near future.
About Ainsworth
- Year Founded: 1995
- Owner: Lee Aristocrat
- Publicly Traded: No
History
Ainsworth was founded in 1995, although the company has roots dating back to the 1950s with its founder – Lee Ainsworth – also Having Founded Aristocrat back in 1953, and subsequently providing games to Las Vegas based casinos for over 50 years.
While Ainsworth have largely focused on their gaming cabinets, in 2013 they begun making the transition to recode their slots on offer to be able to provide online players with access to them. Since this 2013 decision, the company has risen in popularity, and has grown relatively quickly. They now boast offices all over the world, and have headquarters in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and even in Asia.
Ainsworth have come under a fair degree of criticism from critics, largely due to the fact that their games tend to show a lack of creativity, and rely generally on current technology as opposed to working towards creating new concepts. For example, take a software provider like Microgaming; they’ve pioneered the video slot industry by releasing the unique 243-ways-to-win pay line format that’s been adopted by virtually every software provider on the planet. They are also one of the early development companies to offer progressive jackpots on their games.
While Ainsworth have made some strides in this area, perhaps most notably with their land-based casino jackpots, we are yet to see any major technological advancements to come out of the Australian provider.
The Future for Ainsworth
Ainsworth are already busy with insuring the games they offer a mobile compatible, and it’s very likely that we will see them continue to do this until the entire game collection is optimised for mobile use.
Many players – especially those who are extremely loyal to the brand – would like to see Ainsworth bring more of their land-based casino slots to online casino platforms, and while the company have actively been doing this, it is worth noting that it does take a lot of time and money. Ainsworth is one of the biggest companies in the world, so the lengthy process can possibly be attributed to a lack of manpower and maybe even a lack of funding. It can take up to 9 months, for example, to recode a video slot to use on an online casino, so it’s easy to see how costs could rack up into the hundreds of thousands, and even millions of pounds.