Play free penny slots online in Canada 2024

Starburst is one of the best penny slots games of all time. The simple 5x3 configuration and lack of bonus rounds are deceiving, as NetEnt has crafted an exciting game that is visually striking.

Starburst features powerful wilds, which appear on the middle three reels, providing three respins with wild reels. With its funky colours and immersive gameplay, Starburst is one of the best penny slot games to play at online casinos in Canada.  

Rich Wilde will take you on an adventure to find ancient Egyptian treasure in the Indiana Jones-esque Book of Dead. Play'n Go’s classic casino penny slots game has 5 reels, 3 rows and 10 paylines.

Known as a high-variance slot, you can expect plenty of wins when playing. Bigger prizes are triggered through the free spins feature that can potentially deliver unlimited spins. Look out for the expanding symbol that covers reels and hands out up to 5,000x your stake wins.  

If you’re looking for a potentially big penny slots payout, Eyecon’s Fluffy Favourites is a high-variance game that likes to reward players. It has 5 reels, 3 rows and 25 paylines.

While the theme is cutesy, this is a serious penny slot with a pink elephant scatter and wild symbol, a Toybox Pick bonus round (triggered by collecting three or more claw symbols), and a free games bonus that delivers up to 400 free spins with a 3x multiplier on all wins.  

Games Global (formerly Microgaming) is taking you on a heist. Can you crack the safe to take a massive prize in this thrilling penny slots game? With the game logo wild, you will get 5x payouts, as well as something to help you form winning combos.

Get three vault symbols and open the 25 free spin bonus round where the wild becomes a 25x multiplier. The slot’s 95.43% RTP is quite low compared to other online casino penny slots, but the game still pays out a solid amount thanks to its medium variance.  

The cheeky Irish vibe offers a vibrant backdrop as you chase riches at the end of the rainbow in this classic video slot. Alongside three bonus features, you will have 5 reels and 20 paylines to play on.

The Road to Riches bonus round allows you to spin to move along a path and win increasing prizes, while the Wishing Well is a picking feature where you can claim one of three multipliers. Lastly, Pots of Gold allows you to select a pot that delivers a prize, including a potential jackpot of 500x your stake.  

Some penny slot games come with a progressive jackpot feature. Simply put, this means the top prize accumulates each time a player bets on the game (but does not win) until someone lands the jackpot. Life-changing sums of money are up for grabs, and some of the best progressive jackpots are also penny slots, including: 

• Mega Moolah: $2,000,000+ 

• Mega Fortune: $500,000+ 

• Book of Atem Wowpot: $2,000,000+ 

Penny slots payouts can be truly life-altering, making you rich on a single spin. The progressive jackpot games in the list above have massive base-level (seed) jackpots, but as they grow, the prizes can run into millions of dollars. Don’t believe us? Check out these huge record payouts won by lucky players of popular penny slots: 

While playing a penny slot machine is ultimately a game of luck, one way to potentially give yourself a better chance of success is by picking a game with a higher payout rate. Slots with a high RTP (Return-to-Player) percentage pay back more to players on each unit spent on average. Some of the best penny slot machines to play with a high RTP include: 

Penny slots or 1 cent online slots are video slot games you can play for as little as one cent per line (not one penny per spin as some people mistakenly think).  

Online slot games have paylines, which are active betting lines that you must wager on to be able to win. Different slot games offer different numbers of paylines, with some featuring as many as 243 or 1,024 paylines. If a slot game has fixed paylines, it means you must wager across all lines, while a variable slot allows you to wager on only some (or all) lines.  

For example, if a penny slot has 20 fixed paylines, you’ll need to bet $0.20 as a minimum bet per line. If the paylines are variable, you could choose to bet on just one payline, which would be $0.01. Many gamblers prefer to bet across as many paylines as possible because each line represents another way to win.  

Nonetheless, 1 cent bet slot games are an inexpensive way to boost your chances of winning by betting across all available paylines without hitting your bankroll too hard.  

Penny slots work in the same way as online slots that have higher minimum betting limits. When you launch a 1 cent slots game, you’ll see a grid showing the reels and rows with symbols on them, along with the betting amounts. Here you can adjust how much you want to bet on each spin.  

When you’re comfortable with the amount you want to bet, click the ‘Play’ or ‘Spin’ button to start the reels. All online slot gameplay is automatic, so you can sit back and wait for the reels to stop spinning. If you have a winning combination on a payline, you will win cash. You may also see a combination that triggers something else, such as a modifier or free spins bonus.  

All games have a paytable detailing symbol values, potential payouts and information on how to play bonuses. Because slots are automatic, if you win and are unsure of the symbols, the game will pay out either way. 

Penny slots come in many different shapes and sizes, with several variants and gameplay mechanics available. While there’s a lot of variation across these games, the core mechanics stay largely the same. Here are some of the standard features you can expect: 

The paylines in penny slots are the lines that cover the reels in set patterns. Winning combinations from regular symbols can only be formed on active paylines. Your total bet depends on the number of paylines. 

Penny slots games are played on several reels, which randomly display rows of symbols. Most modern options have five reels and three rows. Classic machines generally have only three reels and one or three rows showing.

These are special symbols that can play the role of other symbols to form higher-paying combinations. Wild symbols can help generate more payouts during a session. They sometimes come with a multiplier or another modifier.

Scatter symbols have the power to unlock bonus features such as free spins or mini-games. While other symbols have to be lined up on the payline to trigger wins, the scatter symbol simply needs to appear on the reels to open up bonus features.  

Free spins are a great way to win more money without betting anything. This bonus feature is normally triggered by scatter symbols and is played within the same bet. A fixed number of free spins is instantly awarded.

Modern penny slots can come with a variety of bonus games. Some require the player to make random picks for revealing the prizes. Others can have bonus wheels with fixed payouts and even progressive jackpots.

Playing penny slots online is very straightforward. Just follow these simple steps and you'll be spinning the reels in no time:

The golden rule of online slots is that there’s nothing you can do to influence the result of a game. Penny slots are entirely luck-based, with software providers using random number generators (RNG) to ensure all spins are random. Although there’s no foolproof strategy, there are some things you can do to try and be a more successful penny slots player in the long run: 

• Choose wisely: Pick a game carefully by looking at the payout percentage, volatility and hit frequency. It can also be fun to choose a game you like based on design, features and theme.  

• High RTP games: A higher RTP does not guarantee you will win more often or enjoy bigger prizes, but it does theoretically offer you a better chance. Penny slot machines with a high RTP will pay back to players more often on average. These games are ideal if you have a small bankroll.  

• Play for free: Even if the bet is small, it’s still a good idea to practise playing free slots before betting cash. This way, you can see what the game is like and how it pays over a quick session. Many top real money casinos in Canada offer games in demo mode.  

• Bet as many paylines as possible: Play across as many active paylines as your budget permits because you will have more ways to win. It is better to wager small amounts across multiple paylines than bet big on a single line.  

• Gamble responsibly: Due to the low betting limits, it can be easy to lose track of the amount of money spent. Set aside a fixed budget and don’t exceed it by chasing losses.

Penny slots are arguably the most flexible type of casino game. You can wager small amounts, but still potentially win big. Of course, there are some factors you should consider before playing 1 cent bet slot games: 

Many players are curious to know the difference between penny slots and dollar slots. Both types have the core online slot mechanics players love: varying themes, reels, paylines, modifiers, bonus features and jackpots. Check out the main differences below: 

There are hundreds of software providers around. Most of them are worth checking out, even smaller studios, but some developers stand out for excellence. The following providers combine amazing graphics with dynamic gameplay, big prizes, supreme functionality and total fairness: 

It has never been easier to play the best penny slots on the move in Canada. Mobile casinos are available either through your web browser or by installing an app. Whichever option you choose, modern penny slots are built on HTML5 technology to ensure they run seamlessly on mobile devices.   

A lot of hard work goes into recommending the top penny slots games at online casinos in Canada. We never pick a game at random and always put slots through our rigorous review process that covers the following factors: 

Our experts always check a penny slot game’s overall quality, including its performance across devices, design and sound, so you get the most seamless and dynamic gameplay experience.  

To make it onto our recommended penny slots games list, we demand that independent agencies test games to ensure they have RNG software that provides random outcomes. If a game is not provably fair, we do not list it. 

Some games come with bigger prizes than others, and players have different preferences. Even so, it's important to us that we highlight payout rates and how likely you are to win on a penny slot we recommend. 

Top online casinos should offer generous bonuses and promotions to new and existing players, such as welcome bonuses, no deposit bonuses and free spins.

Security is our number one consideration. We list operators that use modern SSL encryption technology to keep their players’ personal and financial data safe. We also expect online casinos to hold licences with reputable gambling bodies, such as the Malta Gaming Authority and iGaming Ontario.

Modern players demand flexibility and want to be able to play on desktop and mobile as they see fit. When we test a game, we rate it based on how it performs on PC, smartphones and other devices.  

Volatility dictates how likely a game is to land wins and payout to a player. Each slot we recommend is rated for volatility, so you will always know how much risk you’re taking when betting.  

If you're still thirsty for more slots knowledge, then check out our other expert slots guides:

• Top 14,000+ free slot games to play

• Play Vegas slots online

• Best online casinos for real money slots

• Best progressive jackpot slots

• Online slots with the highest RTP

Coming from a strong media background, Lauren has been working in the iGaming industry for a while. She graduated from university with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Production. Since then, she’s gained considerable experience and knowledge of Canada’s online casino market.

She combines her passion for writing and love of casino games. Lauren’s a keen blackjack player, yet she also loves spinning the reels of thrilling online slots in her spare time.