What Does the Future Hold for Scottish-Themed Slots?

The influences of Scottish culture in popular entertainment, be it movies, cartoons, or video games, are all too common. Movies like Highlander and Braveheart introduced aspects of the culture to people who knew nothing of it beforehand. Watching Scottish knights wear their iconic kilts and wielding their battle-axes in Braveheart gave me goosebumps!

And it’s only fair.

Slots have recently adopted a more themed approach. They are made thematic, sometimes based on the country of origin of the slot developers. While these themed slots play the same as regular ones in most cases, the iconic references make them all the more exciting.

Scottish culture has found its way into slots like Highland Reels, Loch Ness Monster, and Ivanhoe. However, as you can clearly see, compared with the influences of its Irish and English cousins, the Scottish culture is, in a way, vastly underrepresented. 

Popular Scottish-Themed Slots

Even now, Scottish-themed slots are quite decent. 

To start, we have Ivanhoe – a classic slot game with historic mythology blended into it. The original legend of the same name is centred on a Scottish knight who embarks on a perilous adventure after being disinherited. 

He often partners with other fictional characters of the era, like Robin Hood and King Robert the Bruce, in the pursuit of honour and love. The slot version of the legend is not story-centric, but it does feature icons from the tale. Its features are a bonus game, wild symbol, scatter symbol, multiplier, free spins, and 3 Reels.

Ivanhoe Slot has an RTP of 96.3%, high volatility, and 17 paylines. 

Another iconic legend from the Sapphire Highlands is that of Nessie or the Loch Ness Monster. This one has even withstood the test of time. Many speculate that Nessie is a plesiosaurus that has just outlived its cousins and continues to reside in the lake. But so far, the only concrete proof we have is a couple of photographs. In any case, this is perhaps the single best-known example of Scottish mythology and has the greatest influence as well. 

Naturally, we also have a slot version of Nessie with icons and themes inspired by Highland mythology and rewarding bonus rounds. The slot has 5 reels, 25 pay lines and a wild symbol. Also, it provides free spins and bonus games. RTP is 96.11%. 

It features the more realistic aspects of Scottish culture, especially caber tossing. 

Eyecon’s Highland Reels has 25 paylines, 5 reels, 3 rows, an RTP of 95.05%, and scatter symbols. 

However, this is a medium-risk pokie with no jackpot, so you might not end up with one big win. 

However, other than these, there aren't many notable mentions of Scottish culture in slots and online casinos. However, there are a lot of cool casinos on the website https://payid-casinos.com/ that have games on various topics. 

Highlander references are too common in Hollywood movies, animation films, and video games. For example, everyone's favourite spy, James Bond 007, is of Scottish origin, and this is all too obvious in the movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The film Highlander also derives content from Scottish culture and history.

Even Scooby-Doo and his pals travel to Loch Ness as Mystery Inc. Here, they witness the best of Scottish traditions while solving the mystery of, you guessed it, the Loch Ness Monster. And how can anyone forget how Braveheart depicts the exploits of Scottish knight Sir William Wallace in his bid to win independence from the English King Edward Longshanks?

The Scots and their accent have also found a decent share of the limelight in video game Age of Empires 2. The game’s tutorial campaign features the Scottish faction. Scotland is also a playable faction in Medieval 2 Total War and its expansion faction – Britannia. 

I will give my personal opinion, but I think that such trends may influence even more popularisation of slot machines with Scottish themes in the future. 

Possible Inspirations for Future Scottish-Themed Slots

However, there's much more to be explored here. Slot games can base their theme on the story of Robert the Bruce and the Spider, whose struggle inspired the Scottish King to turn his defeat into a victory against the English.

Another enduring legend from the Highlands is that of Brigadoon, a city that appears out of thin air only once a century! You probably don't know, but there's a movie based on this concept. However, it does not explore the mythological roots to the extent that we'd want it to. A slots game can do so, though — good old gambling fun coupled with a vital cultural lesson, the perfect combo!