Child-Friendly Slot Machine Games: Why are they still allowed?

It may seem alarming to some that you can buy mini toy slot machines for children. Some are not directly aimed at them, but because of the design and the bright colours used, it is clear to see that they would still be extremely appealing to kids. In the actual real slot world, there are no gambling games that are aimed at the young, because this is highly illegal, but again, the designs and animations on these games can unwittingly appeal to those that are not of legal age to gamble – try 7s to Burn slots.

This is not a new phenomenon because brightly coloured fruits on so-called fruit machines which do contain a gambling element also, unfortunately, appealed to children. Youngsters obviously could not access these games if they were in betting shops, casinos, pubs, and gambling arcades, but they could come into contact with them if they were available to play at motorway service stations and similar environments. 

Back in Time 

The origins of having gambling games that mistakenly appeal to children can be traced back to the 19th century and the creation of the first-ever slot machine. The very first slot machines were aimed strictly at adults-only, but complete bans on slots forced them to take on a new identity to survive nationwide gambling bans. 

A New Audience 

To achieve this, slot machines took on the appearance of family-friendly vending machines. Anything associated with gambling was removed from the reels and replaced with child-friendly imagery instead. This meant that playing card faces were swapped for brightly coloured fruits, and these dominated the reels throughout the complete duration of the gambling ban. Slot machines gave out noncash prizes of sweets and gum instead, and the fruits expressed on the reels were usually the flavours of the sweets or the gum that had been won.   

During the duration of these gambling bans, slot vending machines became very popular with children and parents alike. The problems began when gambling bans were eventually lifted, and proper slots decided to keep the brightly coloured fruit symbols on the reels. This meant that slots with the gambling element back in place still appealed to children 

Modern Times 

Even today in the world of digital video slots, fruit slot machines that are also described as being retro or classic games, can be found displayed in many online casino slot lobbies.  All it takes to ignite children’s curiosity is for them to surf the internet without parental controls being activated and they could enter the brightly coloured slot libraries and see these games. However, thankfully it is far harder to start playing them for real and it takes a lot more than landing on a casino homepage to do so. 

Final Thoughts 

The problem is that slots need to be created to appeal to males and females and ultimately, they have to be fun. Games like The Dog House, where the stars of the reels are an array of cute cartoon dogs, ticks all the mass appeal boxes, but this game and others like it, can mistakenly appeal to children as well.

About Lisa Baker, Editor, Wellbeing News 4212 Articles
Editor Lisa Baker is passionate about the benefits of a holistic approach to healing. Lisa is a qualified Vibrational Therapist and has qualifications in Auricular Therapy, Massage, Kinesiology, Crystal Healing, Seichem and is a Reiki Master.