As hard as it may be to imagine this at this day and age, back in the day, slot games are not played online in the comforts of your home. People actually have to head out to the nearest casino to enjoy a game or two of good old slots on the slot machines.

In fact, not many people know that the very first traditional mechanical slot machine, the Liberty Bell, was invented by a car mechanic from San Francisco, California by the name of Charles Fey in 1895. Back then, the machine was incredibly simple – all you need to do is to put a nickel in and if you manage to get 3 Liberty Bells in a pay line, you’ll win the jackpot. It’s actually quite fascinating to know how these traditional mechanical slot machines work because they are mechanical marvels in their own right. After all, without these machines, we wouldn’t have our favorite slot games today!

That said, in post-WW2 era, the most popular slot games would probably be the Mills Hi Top. Herbert Mills, the inventor, actually based his machines on Charles’ “bell” mechanisms. The machines are still being manufactured in various forms after Mills sold the rights to Sega and eventually moved on. The popular cheery and melon slots came out soon thereafter, followed by the famous BAR slots.

However, in 1963, Bally invented the very first electromechanical slot machine, a game called Money Honey. It is the first of its kind that has a bottomless hopper and an automatic payout system, making the need of an attendant quite redundant. This machine managed to eventually drove all the other competitors out of business and became the golden standard for the electronic slot games that millions of people worldwide play on their computers and mobile devices today.

Of course, we mustn’t forget about the emergence of the very first progressive slot game, namely Megabucks, that featured life-changing jackpots. Developed by IGT, the people behind the highly popular “Wheel of Fortune” TV game show, it is not at all surprising to see their slot machine gain the popularity that it enjoyed mainly because of the use of the “Wheel of Fortune” name as well as the allure of winning millions in one incredibly lucky lever pull.

Fast-forward a few years to the slot games today, the slot game to hold the title of being the most popular slot game is definitely Mega Moolah. It is literally impossible to find a slot player who has never heard of or even played the game before. The game features a wild Africa theme and a fun and unique gameplay that consists of 5 reels and 25 pay-lines along with a Wheel of Fortune-style jackpot game.

With millions in jackpots to win, Mega Moolah, like Megabucks before it, is the “Millionaire Maker” of today. In fact, did you know that the world’s largest jackpot ever won on any online slot game – a whopping 13 million Euros - as recognized by the Guinness Book of Records is actually from Mega Moolah? Well, now you do!

However, as time goes on, better slot games with even massive jackpots will eventually be designed and who knows? You might end up being a winner on one of these slot games down the line.